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HIGHLIGHTS

Bengaluru :

She may be hearing impaired but that hasn’t stopped her from being adventurous. Archana Timmaraju, 33, is back in the city after completing a 8,300km bike ride to Ladakh .

Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Archana studied in St John’s School, Bengaluru, and later did her masters in metal sculpting from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. Other than sculpting, Archana also teaches art at Mallya Aditi International School.

“I started riding at 21 and haven’t looked back since. The aim of this tour — Journey to Inspire — was to motivate the hearing impaired and encourage more women to ride bikes,” she said.

Archana was accompanied by her friend and colleague Daniel Sundaram, a geography teacher, on the journey that began on April 29 and culminated at Freedom Park on May 29. She rode a Royal Enfield, while Daniel was on a KTM bike.

When asked about Archana’s feat, her mother Sita Mahalakshmi said: “We were not scared at all.Archana made video calls to us every day and shared her location live so we knew where she was. I am extremely proud of her.”

Born with 40% hearing ability, Archana has been facing difficulties and disabilities in her speech. She can hear to a certain extent with help of an aid. Archana, with Daniel, has also founded a community, Silent Expedition, for bikers,withspecialemphasison those with disabilities.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City> Bangalore / TNN / June 02nd, 2018