The 35-year-old Ashish, a resident of Somerset, U.K., suffered a bruise after the autorickshaw he was riding overturned on the stretch between Mahabaleshwar and Ratnagiri a few days ago. But this did not dampen his spirits and he has continued with his ride to Chennai. Ashish, a former Insurance company executive, is among the nine foreign nationals taking part in the Mumbai Express Rickshaw Challenge, riding in an autorickshaw from Mumbai to Chennai, via Mangaluru, Mysuru and Bengaluru. “I quit my job to be part of this exciting and challenging journey. I am enjoying the time spent in seeing the countryside,” said Ashish.
Ashish and the eight others started their 11-day long journey from Mumbai on August 9. They arrived here on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, they were at the Government Higher Primary School in Bikarnakatte here where they interacted with the schoolchildren.
Shamir from Puerto Rico said that he and two of his fellow countrymen were searching on the Internet for some challenging activity. “We found this ride challenging and we joined it,” said Shamir, who quit his job as an electrical engineer before joining the challenge. Shamir’s countryman Hector, a tour guide, and Naomi, are also part of the challenge.
Hector said that before the start of the journey, they all underwent a short orientation on how to ride an autorickshaw. “These wheels (of the autorickshaw) are small and we take care while riding it (to avoid overturning),” he said.
These foreign nationals and members of Round Table 115, which organised the event, had a formal function at the government school. They then left the school in their autorickshaws around 9 a.m. towards Mysuru. After Mysuru, they will visit Bengaluru, Vellore and reach Chennai on August 20.
