Three days passed without a word, a video, or a text. His family, growing more desperate started tracking his GPS. It showed him in Trujillo, a coastal city in northwestern Peru.
Raghbir Singh Bharowal was a man who lived for the open road. He was 42, a BTech graduate from Guru Nanak Engineering College in Ludhiana who had built a life in Surrey, Canada. But to those who followed his journey online, he was the ‘Flying Khalsa,’ a solo traveler currently on an ambitious mission to ride his Harley-Davidson through 31 countries.
That dream ended tragically this week in the city of Trujillo, Peru. For nearly three month’s, the deceased family had been following his progress. And, just last week, he called his family to tell that he is planning to come to his family in Canada for few days before he heads to Argentina.
But after that call, the updates stopped. Three days passed without a word, a video, or a text. His family, growing more desperate started tracking his GPS. It showed him in Trujillo, a coastal city in northwestern Peru.
They reached out to the local police there, and in the early hours of Wednesday morning, they received the confirmation that Raghbir had been killed in a road accident.
Raghbir’s father, Pritam Singh, is currently back in Ludhiana for a wedding. Instead of celebrating, he is now coordinating with embassies to bring his son’s body home. He remembers Raghbir as someone who did not just ride for the sake of it, but to inspire others to see the world.
His friends in Vancouver are equally devastated. One friend, Gurwinder Singh, recalled a recent meeting at a new pizza store opening in Abbotsford. Raghbir was there with his bike, showing everyone videos of his previous rides and talking excitedly about the world tour. “We never thought that would be our last time seeing him,” he said.
Raghbir was a well-known figure in the Surrey community, though his professional life as an immigration consultant had seen its share of ups and downs. Regardless of the headlines back home, to his friends and family, he was the man who dared to set out on a solo journey across continents, fueled by a passion for discovery and the hum of his Harley.
As the Indian and Canadian embassies work with the Peruvian authorities, the “Flying Khalsa” leaves behind a story that serves as a reminder of how quickly life can change and how some spirits are simply too large to stay in one place for long.
