Taste on the journey

In a different zone and full of positivity after we received blessings from His Holiness Dalai Lama, we wanted to stay longer in Dharamshala.  But we have a journey to finish and had to leave for our next destination — to Ludhiana, a new addition to our route. I would suggest that you not leave Dharamshala without trying the Cheese Tomato Lasagne — one of the best vegetarian dishes I’ve had recently.

We were on the border of Dharmashala when my trusty bike broke down. There was no garage around, so I just sat on the bike as it moved forward on its own thanks to the slope. After 15 minutes, we managed to find a garage and decided to break for lunch. Unable to find any vegetarian food out, we explained to a roadside restaurant owner about De Paix Yatra and he happily cooked up something vegetarian for us to relish.

On the opposite side of the road I saw a man running a food joint by the name Fouji Dhaba. I couldn’t contain my curiosity and had to know more. He introduced himself as Omkar Singh, 53 years who joined the Indian army when he was 21 and served the nation for 18 years. But in 1992 he realised that war is not a solution for peace - but inspirational stories and talks are. He left the army and started ‘Fouji Dhaba’ and now he shares his inspirational stories with those who stop by.

When we were two hours away from Ludhiana, we decided to stop by Jalandhar, were we didn’t really know anyone. Luckily, I checked my phone and realised that my friend, actor Seep Taneja is in Jalandhar. Though I had never met her, I decided on this journey it seemed fitting to meet with her as we were discovering how open this world is to random and new guests. I just causally asked Seep, if we can stay her place and she happily agreed. It’s wonderful to say that through our journey we have been constantly welcomed as part of family by strangers.

The next day Seep introduced us with Gaurav Bhalla, who lives 30 kilometers away from Jalandhar in a city call Phagwara. People call him Green boy. “I was always passionate about cycling and I come up with the cycle marathon in 2012 with about 6,000 participants. Our aim was to spread awareness on saving the environment and go green in our daily life.” Today Gaurav, roams around in his city only on cycle, has painted his cycle green and tries to wear t-shirts with go green quotes. “What we see and read, we act in our life in the same way. I am from a well-to-do family so people wondered why do use a cycle as a mode of transport. But this campaign is working - it has made two big industrialists in my city leave their cars and use bicycles whenever possible,” adds Gaurav.

Next week we head out of India. Keep reading to discover some international inspirational stories.

Photographer/Filmmaker Nitesh has undertaken a Peace tripfrom India to England on his trusty bike