Shriram's road trip through the US heartland

In early August, my friend and colleague Shriram, who lives in Cincinnati, OH took a fifteen day motorcycle trip through the heartland of USA.  His road trip, in his Suzuki motorcycle, that covered a total of 4,300 miles and consumed a total of 110 galls of gas, took him through Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas to Colorado and he travelled back to Cincinnati via the Rocky Mountains, Yellow Stone National Park, Mt. Rushmore, Minneapolis and Chicago.  Shriram put together a wonderful photo essay of his journey that captures beautifully the places he visited, the people he met and the experiences he had.  It is a very engaging photo essay and you can find it in Youtube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-EWahHzZo4)

While I was struck by the sheer adventurous nature of Shriram’s undertaking, I was more impressed with the stories that Shriram shared with me about the many people he met and befriended along the way.  These are strangers he ran into because of several reasons – because he was lost, because he ran out of gas and was stuck in the middle of a highway between distant cities , because he hooked up a conversation with someone in a gas station or in a restaurant, or just because he stopped and talked to someone.  The strangers extended their generosity, their friendship, their hospitality and the sheer warmth of heart to a fellow human being exploring the country.  These stories are incredible because they look improbable in this modern day and age.

While driving through Goodland, Kansas, Shriram saw a gentle looking middle aged woman walking on the road, and he stopped his motorcycle and said hello to her.  Lorma and Shriram became instant friends.  Soon Shriram found himself in Lorma’s house greeting her eighty year old mother and exchanging stories from his Indian background.  The evening turned into a two day stay in their house with shared cooking experiences, horse back rides and so on and a lifelong friendship that I am sure will endure.

And while crossing Kansas, Shriram ran out of gas and was stuck in the freeway.  Suddenly a stranger appeared from nowhere, pulled a gas can out his truck and filled up Shriram’s motorcycle.  The stranger turned to be a 30 year old transplant from Dayton, OH to somewhere in the middle of Kansas.  Gerald refused to accept any money for the gas, told Shriram that it is his duty and obligation to help another human being and the help was not rendered for money.  Last week, Gerald was visiting his family in Dayton and he made sure that he visited Shriram in Cincinnati before returning back to Kansas. 

On his return leg, somewhere between Rocky Mountains and Yellow Stone, Shriram was filling gas, when a stranger walked over to chat.  It turned out that the stranger was going to a camp that was gathering for a fund raiser to raise money for some veteran’s cause.  Soon, Shriram found himself following this stranger in his Jeep through some unpaved gravel roads off the main highway.  Shriram had no idea where he was and was scared whether he was doing the right thing and doubts formed in his head as to his safety.  Suddenly the stranger stopped his Jeep, and got out of the car and approached the trailing Shriram to inquire whether the dust that his car was kicking up was bothering him.  And if so, he wanted Shriram to lead the trail to the camp site.  They soon were in a camp ground with hundreds of people talking about their road trip, sharing drinks and dancing through the night.

We live in a world today where when we hear about such acts of generosity, and such friendships extended, they look improbable.  I don’t think we can blame us for that.  After all we are inundated by stories like that of the killing of Trayvon Martin by a George Zimmerman, because Trayvon was black and was in the “wrong neighborhood”; or the story of the killing of a student from Australia in the campus of Oklahoma University by three teenagers because they were looking for a cheap thrill; or the abduction of three teenage girls in the streets of Cleveland by a sex addicted school bus driver and holding them in captivity for more than a decade.  When all that we hear are these stories, it is only natural for us to believe that there is more evil than good among us. We ingrain our children from a very young age to be weary and vigilant of any strangers.  We reinforce such beliefs at every turn, for example we have successfully turned a festival like Halloween into an occasion to be suspicious of the generosity of our neighbors. And we get even more preoccupied with arming us even more with concealed weapons or automatic weapons that can fire thirty bullets in a minute so that we can protect ourselves from each other.

Shriram’s journey through the heartland of America was an exercise in sheer adventure and exploration and a desire to get to know better the country he has adopted.  I am so happy he did it and he shared his stories with me.  But for me, his stories are a reinforcement of my belief that we still live in a society where there is more good than we know or recognize.  I hope I have one day a chance to go on an expedition like what Shriram did and experience such goodness.  And I hope all of you have the same opportunity.

Thank you Shriram for doing the road trip and sharing your stories.