Meet Fatema Rehman, aka Freya. The wanderlust grabbed her and pushed her to explore India alone, on her faithful Yamaha RX-100. A month-long trip extended to eight months.
The beginning
Someone asked George Mallory why he wanted to climb Mt Everest. “Because it’s there,” he said. To him, it wasn’t a record or an achievement; it was an experience at pushing his own limits. It was this romanticism that urged me to travel; to discover myself. In 2006 I quit my job as a trainer with a call centre and started out on the road.
My plan was to travel for as long as I could or for as long as my money would let me…with friends. But after over two years of planning, they dropped out, and I planned to take-off alone. I had saved Rs30,000 and that was just enough to reach Ladakh and a bit more. The trip was dubbed ‘Leh Jayenge’. A trip that initially started out as a month-long one, lasted eight months. To me travel is about the people, the food, the places, the weather...the experience. There is so much out there to see, feel, touch, taste, and understand, and so little time. This is why I travel.
Why a Yamaha RX100?
There are many practical reasons why I chose to ride an RX100; its weight, reliability, etc. But the main reason was that I did my first road trip on it, as a pillion, and on that day she sang to me.
Fatema Rehman to Freya
In Indian society most women are conditioned to believe there are certain things they can never do. That wasn’t so for me. My parents always supported my choices. My father was a horse trainer and he travelled on work. My love for travel began then. When I took up my first job at a call centre, we were asked to change our names to something less Indian. I chose Freya. I loved mythology and Freya was my favourite goddess. She was powerful and had strength of character. She was good, but had a negative streak too. The name just stuck.
Today almost everyone except my family knows me as Freya. Freya gives me freedom. The name has no cultural or religious connotations, and while traveling, sometimes that’s an advantage. I did have my inhibitions though: what would I do if my bike broke down, would I be safe alone on the road, how would I manage if I got stuck somewhere. Well, I did have my adventures but came back safely.
Sights, people, places
I travelled through Spiti, Ladakh, Punjab, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Gujarath, and Madhya Pradesh. Words cannot do justice to all I experienced. Each day, I fell more in love with India, its diverse beauty. When I was in Leh, the place saw a flood, after almost 30 years. I arrived in Leh the night before the deluge and very briefly, interacted with the guesthouse owners. Next morning I left early to explore and stayed out all day. I met some friends for dinner. It was raining when we got a phone call saying that the bridge between where we were and the guesthouses had been washed away by the floodwaters. We rushed out to cross the next bridge before that was lost too. When I reached the guesthouse, I found the owners walking about in the rain. They had been looking for me at the broken bridge fearing the worst. I have never felt more wanted in my life.
God’s sense of humour
I had just started to climb up towards TangLang La Pass, when there was a hail storm. It seemed to end rather quickly as the valley was soon bathed in bright sunshine, so I continued on ahead. But, it was not to be. The valley and mountains on the other side remained golden with sunshine while I rode up in strong winds and hail. I went over the pass with fingers and toes numb. I haven’t ever forgotten nature’s paradox.
How travel changed me
Travelling brought me closer to myself and my country. I started my trip irked with life; I wanted to change the world. But by the end of my trip I realised I just had to be a good person and the world would take care of itself. I just had to live my life to the fullest. I returned from my trip knowing I will always be on one forever; a journey called life.
Now, I dream about back-packing across Europe with my husband. And I hope to see all of India. My advice to anyone who wants to travel is ‘just go’. Take precautions, plan a bit. But don’t let your inhibitions stop you from living your dream. Go with an open mind and heart. The world is waiting to be experienced.
Find Freya at http://blog.fatema.in/ and on Twitter @freya3377
dnasunday@gmx.com
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