Friday 13 June 2014

An Ambition That Creates History, He Looks Forward To Complete “Pahiyaa”

It was the time of summer, exams were about to start and students were busy preparing for their assignment and exam schedules were expected to be declared in a few days. Amrut School became a nest of students who were preparing hard for their exams, utilizing the best infrastructure provided by the school.

The school has given a number of stars to the society during its journey, be it excellent mind or sport personality, and be it amazing dancers or singers. One of such story, which we really proud to put amongst the people is here. A story of ambitious Cyclist, Himanshu Singh.

An ambition that doesn’t pause by lack of resources, a decision that doesn’t influence by tyre without tube, and a way that is straight and clear even have rocks and rivers. This is the story of a young boy born in Bihar and living in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Himanshu Singh, who loves cycling, has travelled through Gujarat, Maharastra, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar. He started his journeys on cycle in 2010 and his longest mission so far has covered more than 5850 kms in just 45 days with an expense of just Rs 900.

The journey was not all about travelling, but capturing the incredible moments of the society and nature too. It reflects Himanshu sing’s deep passion to portray the real culture of the Indian people. During the journey, he visited numbers of villages, towns and cities across many states; he met a number of people with different culture, customs, belief and languages. He came across good and bad during his journeys, he felt sweet, fun and bitter against different situations. He slept under the open sky and sometimes in hotels, ate different types of food that he has never seen or heard before.

He believes in himself and has a commitment towards his goal, he says “Give respect to everyone whom you meet, naturally people will also give lots of respect and love; when one cyclist is on the road, 120 crore Indians are there to take care.

He is as strong as his father, who is a disciplined and courageous retired army officer. He started his cycling life from Std 12th, where he was habituated for coming late to school. As a student of 11th and 12th in batch for the year 2009-11, Himanshu did not find himself convinced towards the serious study. Bunking the class was a part of his school life. He was punished by teachers, many times in his undisciplined school life. One day he thought to do something unusual called “Aaj Kuchh Tufani Karte Hai”. He directly turned to “Baroda Express HighWay” with Rs. 20 in his pocket and on black Hercules popular cycle to go to Nadiad. He turned to National Highway No. 8 because cycling is not allowed on Baroda Express highway.

The journey of around 120 km to Nadiad was his first experience, but what further motivated him was unexpected words of motivation from his school. Himanshu, who studied at Amrut School says, “Once, I bunked school and cycled to Nadiad and back. My teachers found out about it. However, instead of scolding me, my teachers and principal appreciated the fact that I had pedaled almost 120 km. This was a huge motivation for me. I felt accepted as I am” Starting his journey from bunking the school, he travelled through many cities and states of India, he once met with an accident in some rural area in Kolkata, his cycle got totally damaged because of which he was not able to drive anymore, but his journey did not stop there. He told his story of journey and about the accident to a group of truck drivers and a Highway restaurant Owner.

They all felt sad after hearing his story and decided to contribute wherein all drivers gave Rs.100 each and Restaurant owner gave Rs.500. He put around Rs. 600 from his own pocket and bought new cycle. Here he specifically mentioned, that Truck Drivers are considered as drinkers and people with bad habits, but there always reside good and bad in people, and it is the circumstance that makes them good or bad.

He tried to understand the attitude of the people when they reveal their background, their caste and their religion. He inspired him to go more and more close to nature and explore more and more he can, some of the points that proves his commitment to his ambition.

  • He stayed with Adivasi Tribe of Orrisa, which is about 250 km away from Khadakpur.
  • He used wet newspaper to make tubeless tire, when the tube got a boost on Goa - Bangalore Highway at that time he faced army and was tortured by army very badly, as they misunderstood him as a Naxalite.
  • During the night ride in the Kudarma Forest of Bihar, he was doubted as a ghost and a truck driver threw lemons and chilly on him.
Himanshu is looking forward to make a historic journey from Ahmedabad to Leh on cycle. A tour of 1333 km which he aims to cover in just 45 days. He calls this journey as “unplanned journey.”

This article is written out of his great journey and his ambitious goal of sending a message of “GO GREEN” to the world. He is hungry to know our culture, he is doing a great work of spreading awareness and these lead me to mention some of his requirements of unplanned journey.

He is looking forward to buy a new cycle that actually supports him on the path towards Leh, a camera to capture the beauty of nature and culture of different people during the journey.