Pune woman to travel the world on a bike wearing Maharashtrian nauvari saree

By Pankaj KhelkarRamabai Latpate is like any other woman but there is something about her that sets her apart. She is undertaking an extraordinary task which is to go on a solo bike ride around the globe wearing a Maharashtrian nauvari saree.

Talking to India Today Television, Ramabai shared that she was inspired by PM Narendra Modi’s words. In his G20 speech, PM Modi said that women in India are achieving extraordinary milestones. Ramabai added that the word ‘impossible’ does not exist in her dictionary.

When asked about her mission impossible, Ramabai said, “I love being referred to as Bharat ki Beti who is on her mission, a solo bike ride through 12 countries of G20, plus 30 other countries, a total of around 40 countries through 6 continents.”

An entrepreneur and also a pilot, Ramabai Latpate said her flying and map reading skills have helped her in deciding the route, keeping in mind the adverse weather conditions.

Rambai will embark on her solo world tour on a bike from Gateway Of India, Mumbai, on International Women’s Day i.e 8th March 2023. After riding from Mumbai to Delhi, Ramabai’s superbike will be airlifted to Australia. The challenging part is the distance between Perth to Sydney which is about 1,600 km. In this stretch of 1,600 km there are no proper human dwellings and no mobile connectivity. During this journey, Ramabai will be on her own, at times she will have to take halt in the wild, live in a tent all by herself.

From Australia to Auckland in New Zealand, Wellington, Napier, to Chile Santiago to Colombia – Bogota, to San Diego CA in the USA to Vancouver in Canada, to New York in the USA and from there by sea route to London in England, to Warsaw in Poland, to Rome in Italy to Paris in France to Madrid in Spain, to Lisbon in Portugal to Marrakech in Morocco, to Tunisia and from Tunisia to Petra in Jordan by sea, to Riyadh In Saudi Arabia by bike and then to Muscat Oman by Bike and then reach Dubai in UAE again by bike and then again by sea route to Jamnagar in Gujarat. Here again, Ramabai will be riding her superbike to Gateway of India Mumbai on 8th March 2024.

Ramabai Latpate will be riding her superbike for almost one year whereby this Bharat ki Beti will be covering around 80,000 km. Ramabai is neither afraid of riding all alone nor is she thinking that she might face harsh weather conditions riding through tough terrains, high mountains, snow-covered gravel roads.

Talking about the expenditure for this 365 days long solo bike ride, this brave woman shared that the expenditure is likely to exceed over a crore. She said that she has already spent all her savings and also sold her SUV, and her gold jewellery for the initial expenditure. As the total expenditure is likely to cross, Ramabai has appealed for crowdfunding of Rs 1 per person. For this, she has approached elected representatives as well as business communities. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as well State Minister Girish Mahajan have encouraged Ramabai for the extraordinary solo bike ride and have also handed over one rupee each for this Herculean endeavour.