CHENNAI: Still photographer, cinematographer, writer, director and actor, Raju Easwaran has worn several hats over a four-decade-long career, but there’s one love that has remained constant — motorbikes, an obsession of his ever since he was a boy.
“Motorbikes weren’t as common back then as they are today; in fact, they were a luxury item within reach of only the affluent. So every time we had visitors on a motorbike, I would insist on being taken on a ride,” recalls the Chennai-born Keralite. And the moment he began earning, the first thing he bought was a Royal Enfield, and thus began a long affair with road trips, beginning with Coorg in 1989-90. At 61, he’s gearing up for the Himalayan Odyssey organised by the Rider’s Mania in Goa.
The man who started his movie career as a cameraman for filmmaker K Hariharan would later don multiple roles in the industry as executive producer, scriptwriter, and actor, eventually directing Panchamirtham in 2008. Since 2020, Raju has been in semi-retirement, partly due to the pandemic and partly because his profession was infringing on his passion for bike rides. “No point in slogging and earning if you can’t give time for yourself,” he says.
No childish fancy
And yet, Raju’s love for long trips on his motorbike is no mere fancy or show of machismo. Riding a two-wheeler, he believes, is more liberating than a four-wheeler since it put one in direct contact with the environment, unlike the air-conditioned cocoons of a four-wheeler. There’s also something to be said for the experience one accumulates when going on long road trips on a motorbike, especially through rural India.
“One can take a flight from Chennai to Leh or some other place, but one misses the sheer experience of travelling through places like Chandigarh, Manali etc., eating at a local dhaba or interacting with a shepherd in Ladakh. It would simply be a trip connecting hotels and airports,” he clarifies.
Looking back
Raju began going on long bike trips since the 1990s, when the world was a very different place in terms of connectivity. “Travelling was very different back then. Without proper highways, GPS navigators or even mobile phones, it was a risky ride through rough terrain — largely single-lane state highways — and if your vehicle ever broke down, you had to wait several days for a spare part to arrive. So, one always went fully prepared for any emergency,” he says.
Talking of emergencies, one particularly comes to his mind, “It was in 2017 and I was one among a team of five riding along Rohtang Pass towards Manali when we were caught in the midst of a landslide. We didn’t know what to do, and the locals advised us to keep going because the boulders will keep coming anyways. So we just ran for our lives. On one occasion, a local milkman helped us carry our bikes across a huge boulder blocking the road. But our troubles weren’t over. The bridge that was supposed to lead us into Manali was damaged by a boulder. It was a two-hour wait in the freezing cold before the bridge was fixed and we were finally able to cross over into safety.”
Today, as the proud owner of two Royal Enfield vehicles — a Thunderbird 350 and an Interceptor 650 — prepares for his latest exploit in the Himalayas, he’s frequently reminded by his family that he’s not the young man he used to be, but Raju replies nonchalantly, “If not now, then when?”