Humanity in a Bottle

With a heavy heart, Kaka starts his beloved bike at 7 am today morning. He must clock the longest continuous distance in the Bharat Organ Yatra 2.0 until date – 302 kms! The rising panic and necessary precautions for COVID-19 in India has changed today’s route and B.O.Y. 2.0’s future.

Halting the journey at the right time is wiser than being irresponsibly brave!

Red Land Brother’s Axom bikers – Deepjyoti Das, Anup Madam, Mukut Borah, and Indrajeet Nath drop Kaka off from Tezpur towards Dhemaji. They gift him their club’s sticker as a mark of respect. Kaka extends gratitude, on behalf of ReBirth too, for accommodating B.O.Y. 2.0 in these testing times.

On the way, Kaka keeps a vigilant eye for medical stores. He tries his luck in a couple of stores; all have run out of sanitiser bottles…

Kaka spots a big medical store somewhere in Lakhimpur. He enquires for a sanitiser; the owner is helpless and stockless… Kaka explains his dire need owing to him being a traveller from Pune; turns out the shopkeeper stayed in Pune for six years! The conversation takes them down memory lane. However, it doesn’t translate into a sanitiser materialising.

A fellow customer overhears the conversation; a burst of humanity overpowers him. He interrupts the conversation and offers to share his sanitiser. “But only 50ml!” he forewarns… 

Kaka thanks this stranger profusely! Humanity is what will help us overcome this looming adversity!

Royal Jaguars’ bikers welcome Kaka to Dhemaji at 4pm late in the afternoon. Bulon, today’s biker-host, and 5 of his biker friends escort Kaka to the accommodation.

Once done with the felicitation, the bikers sit down with him and talk about the happenings around. Two foreigners are put in quarantine today at Dhemaji; the situation is getting serious…

Bulon has tried contacting press reporters to cover B.O.Y. 2.0 and Kaka’s arrival in the city; however, they are all preoccupied with covering COVID-19 news. An English press note is shared with Bulon for future reference, if required. 

Bulon and the other bikers wish Kaka the pinkest of health. They gift him a good quality mask for his return journey to Pune and the coming days.

As Kaka calls it a day, he mentally prepares to wind up the journey; it is the last bike ride tomorrow until the current crisis is over. 

Bharat Organ Yatra 2.0 has decided to take the best precautions; ReBirth has decided to pause B.O.Y. 2.0 until the Government of India deems the situation safe…

Day 60
Tezpur to Dhemaji | 302 kms
– Juhi Kothari/Shetty