Vincent & his mean Machine...but it goes beyond just a biking passion

The sound of adventure excites him. It’s almost as if Vincent Belho cannot begin to measure the amount of thrills that biking allows him to feel. When he is riding, he gets the feeling of being one with nature, as the ride along the road brings him to contact with splendid things like the rain, wind, sunshine, open sky and beautiful landscapes; or even birds passing by, which makes him feel like he could just reach out and touch them.

His bike seat is his panoramic window to a world that he doesn’t know yet. And he goes on a voyage to explore and discover, learn and experience life beyond the place he calls home. By now, he has traveled the length and breadth of Nagaland on his bike, also covering all the International Trade Centres in the state- Longwa, Pangsha, Avangkhu, Mimi and Molhe Post. The plan to first cover Nagaland seems accomplished, because for him, it is incomplete to venture out and try to know a different world before that. After all, he insists, “I call myself a Naga, I am born and brought up in Nagaland.”

Biking, for him, is more than just one special thing! Apart from “Explore, Discover and Adventure” that he associates with the bike, he loves the fact that he gets to gel with people in some remote corner of the state, besides getting to learn and listen to their stories. Of course, it’s the passion for riding motorcycles that has taken him places, but his several expeditions have definitely drawn him closer to the cause of the people in the rural areas.

First off, health care, for the simple fact that basic medical care is something that he ardently wishes for these people. Each time he enters a village, it is his natural prerogative to visit a Sub-Centre or a Primary Health Centre. To his dismay, he has found that there is no sign of human habitation in many of the sub-centres and PHCs. Instead, there are deep green jungles, grass reaching up above his knees…the health centres sometimes nicely fenced, but no sign of a person walking up to that place.

 “I understand that there are many poor people who are not accessible to basic facilities in remote areas, and even if they wish and pray a thousand times, it won’t be possible. I feel the pain for these people who have to suffer, but another sad thing is that they do not know how to voice out”, he compassionately expresses. “If we are not able to use what is given to us, what is the point?” he goes on to say, but understands at the same time, that it takes a lot of effort both from the government and the community concerned to make things work, which is not always the case when it comes to the rural shores.

But one beautiful thing, he notes is the PHC at Wazeho even as he confesses, “I have not seen anything like it in the rural areas.”

One may wonder, how much can a biker do for health care in these areas? Well, his adventurous spirit has even led him to a Nagaland Tour on bike for HIV Awareness, giving impromptu talks and sensitizing the rural people on the issue. He had also gone biking on a North East Tour mostly covering Shillong, Guwahati and Sikkim, which he recalls more as a cultural exchange, since he interacted with people in the college and students from different schools, where they were very curious on learning more about the Naga culture and the Naga food habits.

Off to Darjeeling and further Nepal, it’s easy to see how he immensely enjoyed not only the ride but also sharing his knowledge about Family Planning and Contraceptives with the labourers in the Tea Gardens in Darjeeling.  One will see the professional side of him as the Branch Manager of Nagaland Family Planning Association of India, whose love for bikes always beckons him to ride any given holiday.

His latest travel diary consists of a ride in June that starts from Kohima, takes him through the road and a camping at Chizami, through Jessami, Akash Bridge, Matikhrü Village and Kanjang Village which is over 60000 feet above sea level and gives a bird’s eye view of a number of fascinating places.

To go on a ride, the rule number one for him is the helmet while he persists on protection gears depending on the season but normally includes a rain gear, riding gloves, knee guards, riding jacket (or in its place, elbow guard and shoulder guard),  and heavy & big shoes, because, he says, when you set out, there are sticks and bushes coming to hit you. And of course, protection gears always serve as a visual delight.

If you might wonder what a biker carries on a tour, it’s nothing for luxury, just basic stuff, saddle bags, fast food, two little basins to cook rice, kerosene, stove and the basic things.

There is no law and order problem in the state, but we are all aware of the insurgency and road conditions, he puts across. The sloppy, slushy and the muddy roads are only left to one’s imagination but he has been utterly surprised with discoveries of roads that serve as communication only by name. He does love the rush and the thrill of riding around these routes but mindfully says, “my pleasure should not be at the cost of the poor villagers.”

The best thing he loves about travelling is that “it opens up your mind”, and urges that young people should travel in any way or any form because in his words, “unless you travel, you will be just like a frog in a well.”

Biking seems innate in him. He first learnt to push a cycle as a small boy, ride a cycle and then he thought, he could ride a motorcycle, which, he definitely succeeded.  But what could you say of a child who was never exposed to television in his childhood but was still thoroughly fascinated by two wheelers and yet, understood even at that age, that his parents did not have enough money to buy him a cycle?

That, he waited till he was in a position to buy one himself, for decades together until he started working and earning, so he could view the world and taste the freedom, which only bikers can fully comprehend…

To hear of his finest experience, one must transport the mind from Phor to Sütsü, which he rode amidst the pines and a grand view of Mount Saramati clad with snow during January. As he shares his expedition, I feel like I also understand the excitement, the beauty and the thrill, the sense of rhythm and freedom, and the feeling of oneness with nature, which he describes with such clarity and passion.

He believes in riding for a long long time and that is also the reason why he strongly emphasizes on the importance of safety by wearing all necessary protection gears. “I wish all young people who have so much of energy get to ride for a long long time. I believe in being able to ride for a long time…and I ride with a purpose- to learn, explore and at the same time, understand the needs of people in the places I travel to…maybe I can be a facilitator for them.”

In the near future, he plans to cover a lot more places, although he says, “in motorcycle, there is no luxury, just the innate urge, desire and calling to ride these adventures.” “It’s always about the bike” for the motorcycle enthusiast, who is also a father of 3 kids, a manager, a documentary filmmaker (a current project being a documentary travelogue) and a health care provider, all rolled into one.