In 2021, Angelica Daniel, then 14, was preparing for the prelims of her Class 10 Board exams, when her father Ajay Daniel (46) suggested “something crazy”. “Join me on a road trip to Khardung La.” The ask was a last-minute one, Ajay shares.
“I had been planning a with a few friends from Chandigarh to the Khardung La pass (one of the highest motorable roads in the world) in Leh. My bike had been shipped to Chandigarh and my flight tickets were booked. A week before setting off, everyone backed out.
” Watching her father disappointed at the plan — that was now threatened to flop — Angelica said a ‘yes’ when asked if she would oblige to be his travel buddy. “It’s not every day that someone gets to share in something like this,” she says in retrospect. The trip was phenomenal and the duo made it back just in time for her exams.
“Definitely, an adventure,” affirms Angelica, now 17. The trip set a precedent for years of such adventures to follow, with Ajay riding the bike and Angelica as the pillion. But looking back, they say these were more than mere travel expeditions.
The bike rides forged a strong bond between father and daughter, letting each see the other in a new light. Angelica’s is rooted in her subconscious. “When she was all of four months old and her neck was stabilised, I would tuck her into the baby carrier, which I would then place on the bike tank.
As soon as I began riding, she’d fall asleep within seconds,” Ajay shares. Then f.