OneHelluvaRide

Sponsor a Mile, Sponsor a Smile

You may be wondering where I disappeared for the past few days. Well, I was very much here, but since there was nothing to report, I refrained from logging in. No progress has been made over the past few days. Lots of people wishing us well and many envious messages are coming in. To be fair, we have not yet started approaching sponsors. The delay is in duct-taping the media associations. Most are complete bar the paperwork. And we all know how slow the wheels of justice turn. And the paperwork is with the legal respective departments.

One possible good news is that Mr Lalit Modi of IPL fame has been sent a message regarding our saga by a school mate of mine. In case he expresses an interest and supports the cause, a lot of our roadblocks will melt away. We flag off on April 17 which is in the middle of the IPL season in 2010. Maybe the expedition can be plugged into the tournament to raise money for charity.

Talking of charity, we have finalised the association with the War Wounded Foundation. But I already mentioned that. The second one is still awaited. And we have also set ourselves a target of raising US$ 1 million for charity, to be distributed between the charities we associate with. India is not a very charity friendly country (bar religious charities), but then ours is a global expedition and hopefully donations will come in from all over the world. We have had visitors to the website from 23 countries already, and once the promotions start in earnest I suspect the numbers will increase. And all we are asking for is US$ 10 per mile. Let’s see how things turn out.

Will get back to you, hopefully tomorrow with some development. Cheers

One day has passed and the page of the calendar has turned. Psychologically another month has passed us by and we are one month closer to flag off. Hmmm.

Today was a very tiring day, albeit a fairly fruitful one. The morning meeting, at one end of town, was with the War Wounded Foundation. I met up with Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, the President, Maj Gen Ian Cardozo, the Vice President and Brig Veer Pratap, the Executive Director of the War Wounded Foundation. We had a long chat on various issues and in the course of discussions, it was agreed that they would be the official charity partners on OneHelluvaRide. I was really looking forward to this association as I am very partial to men in uniform and take my hat off to those brave souls who put their lives at risk while fighting for their motherland. May lay down their lives in the process, while others suffer disabilities, many of who have to depend on others for even routine daily chores. Their bodies may be broken but their spirits are alive. They are not looking for hand-outs, they are looking for a step up to help them look after themselves. And that is what we are trying to do with this association. The motto of the War Wounded Foundation is to turn the war wounded into Soldier-Entrepreneurs, by equipping them with the skills to become financially independent. A lot has been done since its incorporation in 2002, but a lot still needs to be done. There are over 30,000 war wounded in India, and if each of us helps one, not only will they become financially independent, regain their dignity, but will give each of us an opportunity to repay the debt that we owe these brave men to did not succumb when the bullets were flying think and fast. We need to remember that they gave their today for our tomorrow. We sleep in peace, because these men are prepared to go to war. Visit the War Wounded Foundation at http://www.warwounded.org/.

Incidentally both Lt Gen Oberoi and Maj Gen Cardozo have lost their leg in war. Sir, we as a nation salute your bravery.

The second meeting was at the other end of town, 50km away. It was with a radio channel and the meeting was very fruitful. I suspect this is going to finalise sometime mid next week. There were interesting ideas that came up at this meeting which will help build the expedition across media. Sorry, can’t tell you which it is just yet, a few more days.

Well a little over 24 hours ago we hit the 200 day countdown. And when I checked the analytics of the site, we just crossed 400 visitors. Yippee. And this despite the fact that no promotions have happened to draw people to the site. It has just been exposed to some friends and some members of the media with whom we have been talking. And not only that, we have had visitors from 21 countries!!! And that is not all. When you do a Google search for OneHelluvaRide, WE ARE #2. Even if you break it up into three words – one helluva ride – we come on the first page. Even this blog shows up on the first page. Not bad huh?

Today was otherwise a fairly busy day … for me in Delhi as well as for Peter in Colombo. He had a good meeting with the #2 at a large media house there. And I had a good meeting with a friend of mine who is coming on board as the marketing arm for OneHelluvaRide and project managers.

Overall a good day. Still expecting two calls from two media organisations in Delhi. Having all limbs crossed, I am now looking like more and more like a contortionist.

Sep 29, 2009. As of today the countdown has really begun. Exactly 200 days to go before OneHelluvaRide is flagged off. Seems like almost a year to go, but if you consider the length of the ever-increasing job list, it is too short a time to put everything together. Logisics, permits, team composition, equipment and not to mention the most important requirement – sponsors. Well, things have been pretty smooth so far and the results have been as good as expected. This week should be very hectic and busy and hopefully fruitful. There are two important meetings that have to be concluded this week – both media associations, one television and the other internet. I am hoping that both will bear fruit. And both are big names in the industry, which means that an association with them will make a lot of sense to the sponsors. In fact, the entire media package so far is building up to be quite a nice package. On this website is a mention of a few of them – TopGear, exchange4media and oktatabyebye. I am hoping that by the end of the week, two more names will get added on to that list. As will be the charity partners. The international one might take a little longer given the larger bureaucracy it has to go through, the Indian charity should get finalised on Oct 1, I am meeting the trustees on that day.

My aim is to offer at least double the benefits in terms of media associations to the sponsors. That has almost been reached and I hoping that with the television and internet partner,this figure will go up substantially. And then the big chore starts – meeting sponsors and getting them on board. So far every one who has heard about the expedition is all praise, and full of envy. But then, they do not have to shell out the monies. The sponsors, despite loving the concept still have to make a business decision – “What do I get for the money spent.” Fair enough, and that is what I am building up to. So far so good.

Well, 200 days and counting. Soon it will be next month, and then next week and suddenly …. tomorrow morning. I am so looking forward to this expedition. It will be a dream fulfilled and a vindication of what we have been trying to do at OutThere Adventurers for so long. This is big, being built up as such and very very global. I hope we and the sponsors can derive maximum potential out of this truly unique event. All the best to us.

Considering that the weekend has almost started and the festival season is on, I did not expect too much to happen today. More so when a proposed meeting I had did not get confirmed. But as the day wore on, I got three pieces of news that kind of made up for the lack of any information at all over the past few days. One charity that we would really like to associate with has sent the proposal to their global headquarters in Geneva. And when I checked the analytics of the website, Switzerland did send one visitor. I am hoping some information will come from Geneva by mid next week, I am also hoping that the information will be positive and will move to the next level. The second news was that Peter had a good meeting in Colombo. This too has moved to the next level and there is a second meeting Monday. All the best Peter for that, hope it goes off as well as expected. The third was a long awaited meeting in Chiang Mai finally happened. Or was happening last I heard. Again, some information shsould come in over the weekend.

One page has been added on the web site – some details about the countries that fall en route OneHelluvaRide. And the national anthems of all of them. Really liked doing that. Learnt that the capital of Sri Lanka is not Colombo but Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. Well, we live and learn.

Busy days with the festivities for the next two days. Hopefully the Mother Goddess leaves behind some goodies for us before She leaves for her in-laws Monday.

All the best and happy holidays.

It has been four days since I last wrote something here. There was pretty much nothing to write. We are just waiting for information to come in. From Chiang Mai. From Bombay. From Gurgaon. From Delhi. From Colombo. Waiting for people to get back with information, dates of meetings, approvals, rejections, whatever. And now the festive season has started – Dussehra starts today. Monday is a holiday. Soon we will have Diwali. And then Christmas and New Year. Time is flying by and the one thing we need is time to give sponsors as much time as possible to make up their minds. I am hoping that there will be news coming in next week. Hopefully, it will be a packed one. Happy Dussehra everyone.

September 20. The day my Dad was born. This date always brings back memories of him and his wish that I live up to the potential he always knew I had. He and me always had a tumultuous relationship, his shoes were incredibly large to fill, I was fell short. But he never ever failed to believe in me and my future. But he always cautioned, “To be a General you need to be a soldier first.” I was always in a hurry to reach where I wanted to, not always advisable and seldom possible. Sep 20 is also a day when I try and schedule many of my record efforts. The Longest Mile, The Cliff Riders, the T20 effort, somehow it never quite happened. And now we are trying to go on one helluva ride and the itinerary does not have Sep 20 in it. Maybe we will host the post event press meet, inaugurate the photo exhibition, hold the preview screening of the documentary and launch the coffee table book on September 20, 2010, Dad’s 80th birth anniversary. Here’s to you Dad. I hope you are looking down at me from the Heavens, wishing the team luck and praying for a successful and safe ride. Thank you for everything. I love you.

Well, well, well. Thanks to Peter and his many friends across the globe, the visitors are back. As of today we have visitors from 18 countries. And in the last 15 days, we have managed to cross 1000 page views. Not bad for something that is still within the confines of friends, relations, acquaintances and known well-wishers. There are many who visit the site, browse around, view the Guestbook and then leave without posting a best wishes. Believe me guys, this is literally OneHelluvaRide and the words of encouragement really help to bolster our efforts. Do post a message.

Saturday was quiet as expected. The next week hopefully should be full of action. Hopefully some sponsors will be met and things will move forward. Got a message from Peter. One of his friends is a clairvoyant and is consulted by two of the largest industrialists of India. And one of them is visiting the clairvoyant next week. Promises have been made that our expedition will be voiced at that meeting. If it interests him, we have ourselves a sponsor.

It is said that if you want something bad enough, the universe conspires to make it happen. Maybe the universe has started to conspire. Early days yet, but hope is what keeps the world going round.

Here’s to a great next week. And hopefully some good news before the Dussehra/Dasain celebrations begin on the 24th.

Cheers.

Not that I have been promoting the site for visitors to come in. Just mails to friends who are sending it to their friends. We had a fairly healthy visitor rate and then suddenly two days ago it dropped off. For no reason at all. And it was two days in a row. Friday it picked up again, thanks to mails sent out by Peter to his friends around the world. The hit rate came back to ‘normal’. We have visitors from 17 countries now. Not bad considering that this is a global expedition and is attrcating interest from across the world. The Guestbook too is filling up. Envy is one common theme across comments. I agree. This is one helluva ride and a dream for most people.

Incidentally, the website has been revised a few hours ago with the new route. We are now travelling 10 countries – Sri Lanka and Sweden have been added. One each at the extreme ends of the journey.

I expect a quiet weekend, nothing much happening. Next week will probably be a little hectic. Towards the end the week we should be in a position to start approaching sponsors.

Peter should have some information on the association with the channels (tv and radio) in Sri Lanka. He has also found a connect into TopGear in UK. If that works out it will be great. UNICEF and War Wounded Foundation should get back this week. I also expect a mail from a large internet company … that reminds me, I need to send a gentle reminder for the meeting. Television is yet to be tied up. Must focus on that this week. High on the agenda. And radio. That will pretty much complete the media associations and hopefully will be good enough to promise sponsors at least double of what is expected of them as association monies. That is the tough one, I suspect tougher than the ride itself.

Well, here’s wishing us all God speed and hoping for a fruitful week to come. Catch ya guys later.

Today is Friday and another week has gone by, Well, almost. As I write this, it is a little after midnight and the early hours of Friday, though I do not expect much happening on this last day of this week. Just came back from a meeting set up by my old pal Chanchal. A meeting with a person from another organisation that I want to associate with. Sorry, I cannot divulge the name right yet till the association gets finalised. Suffice it to say that this is an association I am hoping will translate positively, even though ti will not take care of OneHelluvaRide financially. Moe when things devlope further, which I suspect it will given the conversations that happened this evening.

The other thing that has happened over this week is on the route. No, it is not eight countries any more but ten. Sri Lanka gets added on, as does Sweden. Peter is based in Colombo now and ir makes eminent sense to netowrk his experience in the Emerald Isle to sed a few days days there. And considering that it is less than 1500km to circumnavigate the entire entire, I think we can afford to spend 4/5 days and re-route the India section.

With Sri Lanka added on the number of countries comes to nine. So close to the double figure mark. That is when I revisited the map of the world and decided to add Seden tot he route to make the number of countries travelled on OneHelluvaRide to TEN. After all Oslo to Stockholm is just about a day’s ride. And he distance travelled with the new route (with the rejigged India section) still remains 30,000km, it makes eminent sense. Now the trips 100 days and 10 countries.

Was waiting for a couple of meetings to get finalised this week, but no word came from the people we are supposed to meet. So I guess we have an agenda for the next week already. Some email reminders tomorrow makes sense, doesn’t it?

The website is yet to be updated with the revised route, so don’t go haring away looking for it just yet, amybe a couple of days. Also have to revise the brochure for presentation to prospects. That takes care of my weekend. Not that I am so busy that I needed that weekend to catch up on rest and sleep and such like.

Kinda running out of time a little bit. Still am yet to touch base with sponsors, which is where the story ultimately lies. All the time and effort can fall flat if we finally do not end up getting the funding required to do this trip. But it is not yet time to panic, 211 days, 9 hours and four minutes still to go to flag off.

Here’s to a fruitful week. Cheers