Guwahati: How many people actually have the guts to leave their jobs and live their dreams? Well, Nirmali Nath is doing just that.
The 37-year-old Guwahati native, also known as ‘wanderbug.in’ among her Instagram followers, spends most of her time on her Royal Enfield, travelling to new places and meeting new people.
Now, Nath is all set to lead the baton when Women Riders World Relay, a worldwide motorbike rally, passes through Northeast India in July. She will take over from other riders on July 18 and lead and supervise the relay through Guwahati before handing over the charge at Dawki along the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya on July 22. She will do this along with another rider from Belgium, Trui Hussein Hanoulle.
Women Riders World Relay started in Scotland in February this year. The year-long journey will cover more than 80 countries around the world and will end in January next year. It will reach India through the Wagah-Attari border on July 4.
More than 20,000 women riders are participating in the relay.
Belonging to a family of Army officials, Nath was always enthusiastic about adventure and travelling. Hailed from Guwahati, she did her schooling in New Delhi due to her father’s transferable job.
“I always loved travelling and meeting new people and go to new places. If I travel via train or flight, I would miss many places in between. A motorcycle is the only medium by which I can go wherever I want, stay in the places as long as I want. This thing has always motivated me to ride,” said Nath, an MBA in human resources.
Also Read: Manipur: How these 8 bikers are promoting cultural integration
Nath worked in several multinational companies before she started her first bike ride from Guwahati to Leh-Ladakh in July 2016.
“Doing a world tour is always a dream for me; but before that I wanted to travel the whole country. Experiencing the diversity of Indian culture, food habits, human interaction, etc, is something that I cannot express in words.”
The travel enthusiast has covered a total distance of 73,000 km on her bike and travelled to almost all the cities of India, besides countries such as Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
However, her biking journey has not been without its challenges. Once, when Nath was riding from Dimapur in Nagaland to Nagaon in Assam, her ankle got completely fractured and she had to stay bedridden for eight months.
But nothing could stop the biker in her, and she started riding again.
“Up next, I am planning to do a four-month ride through the Himalayan ranges up to Arunachal and after that I am planning to ride to the South Asian countries. For getting to guide the international baton like WRWR is a great pleasure for me and I welcome other riders to join us in the relay,” said Nath, who now owns a Royal Enfield Himalayan, which is her second motorcycle after Classic 350. She wishes to own a BMW R1200GS someday.
