Differently abled Tirupur man completes ride to Khardung La Pass

The man affected by Trans verse Myelitis became the first man with such severe  disabilities to ride a bike to Khardung La. The ride was aimed at creating awareness among persons suffering from spinal injuries to get out of their house and explore their dreams. He also wanted to send the message across to the government and society to turn people like him as active players in life. 

Lalith Kumar was accompanied by retired Major Venugopal, his son Vishal Venugopal, Ravichandran, a paraplegic from Coimbatore (who rode till Kargil). Lalith’s friend G Kenny who had first taken Lalith on a bike ride, his attendant M Narayanan and another friend accompanied them in a car. They started from Tirupur to Kanniyakumari on June 14 and then headed to the highest motorable road. 

“We were forced to stay off road for four days due to technical reasons,” he said and added that the ride was an enjoyable one on most days. He was warmly received by bikers when they reached the stop point for that day. “En route many stopped their cars and rode on his side car for a short distance. Some even clicked a selfie with me,” he said. He was taken aback when an army vehicle stopped him ahead of the tunnel that connects Jammu and Kashmir. 

“My joy knew no bounds when their commandant walked to me and sought a lift in my side car. He sang the popular song ‘Yeh Dosti’ from Sholay, in which Jai (Amitabh Bachan) and Veeru (Dharmendra) sang it riding a bike with side car,” he said with a laugh. An unforgettable incident during the trip was when he encountered an accident on the road between Udhampur and Srinagar around 8.30 pm on June 29. 

Trying to avoid being hit by a speeding truck and falling into a valley, he took a turn on the gut road when the axle connecting the side car got cut. Losing balance he fell into a ditch. 

“Worst of all, the bike fell on me,” he recalled. Passers-by rushed to his rescue. The next morning he managed to ride to Ladakh and then to Khardung La on July 3.  After completing the epic ride, he flew to Chennai and reached Tirupur.