A helmet-wearing Instagrammer, Valmakry or Mr V has more than three lakh followers. But none of his followers, except close family and a few friends, knows what he looks like or who he is. Valmakry (tadpole in Malayalam) revels in the anonymity, because he believes he gets heard without distractions. The helmet, besides being a good cover, has added significance — it reinforces the importance of using one.
“I want to make it part of the riding culture among people,” says Mr V, over the phone. To stress the importance of riding safe and spreading the word, Valmakry and friend, Kyatgirl, are on a six-month ride, ValKyat All-India Ride (VAR) 2019-2020, on his motorbike ‘Shado’. They started the ride, from Kochi in the last week of July and will ride through the length and breadth of the country before returning to Kochi in January. From Delhi, they are scheduled to take off to Ladakh, with a promise to make it to the places they missed such as Daman, Mumbai, Pune and others because of rain in the second leg of their ride. Valmakry hopes that by the time they are done with Ladakh, the situation in Himachal Pradesh would have improved.
Although they narrowly escaped the rain in Kerala, it caught up with them and they had to skip Mumbai and Pune. “We had a couple of activities planned there, but it felt inappropriate given the weather conditions.” The plan was to reach Delhi on Independence Day, but they lost a week on account of the weather and mechanical issues with the motorbike. “The ride so far has been good, except for the mechanical hitches.” They start riding early every day, at 5 am, and ensure that they call it a day by 6 or 6.30 pm. They have activities planned for their cross-country ride, which include meet-ups and road safety awareness sessions.
“It is not only about what one looks like, your actions matter more than how you look. I represent everybody,” he says. The 27-year-old (which is all he will reveal about himself) started this journey, as Valmakry—‘the curious tadpole’ two years ago, in 2017. The helmet is linked to an accident he was in and how, wearing the helmet, saved his life, “That’s why I appear in it, always. Each time I get an opportunity, I reinforce the need to be geared for safety. I see it as a responsibility as an influencer that I ride safe.” By the way he has four helmets.
Of becoming Valmakry he says, “First, and most important, I wanted a Kerala identity. A tadpole is a simple creature, but that small creature has so much potential. I have heard that of the 20,000-odd eggs that a frog lays, not all become tadpoles or frogs. That says something about it. I also wanted to catch people’s eye, rouse their curiosity—cartoon characters such as Tom and Jerry or Mickey Mouse are very popular, which grab the attention of adults too. So I came up with this idea. This way I am heard,” he says. And of the genesis of the look, he says, he arrived at an event in all black riding gear complete with his helmet. And he liked what he saw, “I saw the character (Valmakry) in myself, even a tadpole is black and Valmakry was born.”
Kyatgirl joined him last November, like him she is also anonymous and like him appears in a black helmet. The difference is that, in an allusion to her name, her helmet is customised with cat ears.
Valmakry clarifies that the persona is a character for social media and that he leads a regular life outside it, the anonymity gives him that. Even his matt black Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle is a ‘character’—“these are characters who are travellers or explorers, wouldn’t say riders as we use other modes of transport as well.” For now, neither he nor Kyatgirl is planning a reveal, but he does not rule out one later. When they do, it will be like a comic book, with a back story for each of the characters.
Although their photographed public appearances are ‘in-helmet’, pre-event interactions and meetings are via mail and phone calls.
He delivered a TED talk wearing his helmet. “The helmet was fitted with a mic, and I was on stage talking about a near-death experience where I almost drowned. There was a single spotlight on me, it got hot inside the helmet and it misted up. I couldn’t see anything for a few minutes... it was like a flashback of my experience. I couldn’t speak till it cleared...those attending the event were very gracious. They waited for me to resume and were very supportive!” Being in a helmet and doing the things he does, whether it is a photograph or an event is not easy and he gets his share of questions and comments, “Most I handle with humour and the others I let pass.”
