Ride from Bengaluru to Vatican: 1994 with pal, 2022 with wife

BENGALURU: It was the autumn of 1994 when Bengalurean Deepak Kamath and his friend Basavaraj Horkeri reached St Peter’s Square at the Vatican as part of their global motorcycle expedition, which they began from Bengaluru. The two got a picture clicked at the famous square. Twenty seven years later, Deepak, 52, fulfilled a promise to his wife Anitha, 48, when the couple rode all the way from Africa to the same spot and got themselves photographed on Friday.

Sarjapur residents Deepak and Anitha always believed that partners travelling together stay together. Their motorcycle has only made their bond stronger. The duo did many memorable rides on it, including a 62-day road trip through the length and breath of Canada and Europe in 2018.

Back in 1994, Deepak, a banker, and his buddy Basavaraj from Kamakshipalya set a record by circumnavigating the world across six continents covering 42,038km in 47 days on an Yezdi Roadking. On November 4 that year, they clicked the photograph at the famous St Peter’s Square. “That photograph holds a special place in my heart and in my home. I got married to Anitha after the big trip and told her tales about my rides to different corners of the globe. I had to impress my new wife,” Deepak laughed.

Deepak also promised Anitha that he’d one day ride with her to St Peter’s Square and pose for a photograph at the same spot where he and his buddy stood over 27 years ago. “She never expressed interest in joining me on the pillion, but I knew her mind,” said the biker, who began taking Anitha on road trips after their daughter reached college.

On the morning of June 10, the couple rode into St Peter’s Square on their Bajaj Dominor and clicked a picture at the same location, thus fulfilling a long-pending promise the biker had made to his wife. “It was so surreal to come to the exact location which I had seen in his photograph from 1994. It was indeed a great experience for him to revisit the place on a motorcycle and this time in my company,” Anitha told TOI on phone from Italy.

Deepak had prepared well in advance for what he calls an Afro-European odyssey. The pandemic had hindered his expedition, but finally on November 26, 2021, he set off from Durban in South Africa to reach the Moroccan capital Rabat, where he was joined by Anitha, who flew in from Bengaluru.

“My initial plan was to join him in London after meeting our daughter, but the Covid crisis dislodged all our plans. Then I decided I will join him in North Africa and flew into Morocco with my biking gear,” said Anitha. The Bengaluru couple then rode out of Africa and entered Europe before reaching the Vatican in June. “Riding with your partner is a unique experience in comparison to riding with your friends,” says Deepak.

Deepak and Anitha are now throttling towards Switzerland and will be riding through France and the UK to end their expedition in Turkey on August 15, marking 75 years of India’s independence.



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