The Book

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EDITORS NOTE:

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WWF

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What does WWF stand for? WWF originally stood for "World Wildlife Fund". However, in 1986, WWF had come to realize that its name no longer reflected the scope of its activities. WWF changed its name from World Wildlife Fund to the "World Wide Fund For Nature". The United States and Canada, however, retained the old name. In just over four decades, WWF (formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund) has become one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations. With almost five million supporters distributed throughout five continents, WWF has a global network active in over 90 countries and can safely claim to have played a major role in the evolution of the international conservation movement. Since 1985, WWF has invested over US$1,165 million in more than 11,000 projects in 130 countries. All these play a part in the campaign to stop the accelerating degradation of Earth's natural environment, and to help its human inhabitants live in greater harmony with nature. This section explains how the organization grew from being a small group of committed wildlife enthusiasts into a global network, supported by people from all walks of life, who, like WWF, care about the welfare of our planet.

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DEDICATION:

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MAPPING THE TRIAL

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Chapter one

Mission Statement: Save the Earth, Save the Animals and support WWF

I did not begin my journey for adventures sake. I wanted to do something worthwhile. It was not an adventure for nothing. Since my childhood, I have felt the drive to do something different with my life, to be somebody different. I felt confident that one day during the Olympics, I would walk to Australia. However I kept my ambition secret, avoiding the tolerant amusement it would have provoked in my elders. I did not want their soothing reassurances that my dreams were nothing but a passing whim. My dreams gathered strength, eventually growing into the inspiration to begin this expedition. My goal was to spread a message of solidarity: conservation of our environment, protection of its endangered species and prevention of cruelty towards humans and animals.

The decision to embark on the expedition came early in 1998, a time when I found myself completely alone. The death of my beloved mother had filled me with a sense of loneliness and depression. During this time I distanced myself from my father and elder brothers, this was to ensure that under all circumstances my goals would be realised. I began training harder and harder in long distance running, ensuring that my body had enough strength for the journey. I also bought maps and guide books on South East Asia and began studying. I spent hours bent over maps, working out the distances between towns with intoxicatingly improbable names. My calculations estimated that the total distance was around twenty thousand Kilometres. However, the actual distance because of the sea portion, was closer to seventeen thousand Kilometres. My planning was so meticulous that I could have told you exactly where I planned to be on any given day, without hesitation.

I planned a route to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, through India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. I felt that as an athlete, this was my opportunity to do something outstanding- delivering my message internationally upon arrival at the Olympics. Although Sydney may have been the end point, I saw my journey as an opportunity to actively educate people on the importance of eco-protection. Ever since my school days, I had been involved in environmental and animal activism and had been a member of WWF. I constantly worked on projects and in camps focused on eco-protection. This involvement prompted my decision to walk under the banner of the WWF and apply for their support in the form of a letter. This letter would allow me easy entry to schools and social gatherings along my journey. The message I planned to carry became my mission statement: Save the Earth, Save the Animals and support WWF.

I spent days on the internet, searching for a contact person from WWF. Finally my time paid off and I received mail and a phone number for WWF- International. The same day, I called the Switzerland Office from a public phone and spoke to the receptionist. I introduced myself and quickly requested the fax number. She asked me why, but I did not have enough change to explain my reasons. I could only repeat into the receiver that I would soon run out of money and would call back the next day. Two days later I managed to call again. I again asked for the fax number. On this day the receptionist gave me the number without much fuss, she must have finally realised that my call was genuine. Right away I faxed the details of the expedition and my dreams to the office. I could not believe it, when Deborah Denhardt from WWF- International Switzerland got in touch with me on the very next day, 2nd of July, which also happens to be my birthday. Deborah asked me to contact WWF- India to seek for the necessary help for the expedition.

Over the next fifteen days, I tried in vain to contact WWF- India in their Delhi office. I contacted them by phone, fax and even mailed the details of the expedition program to them. I became very frustrated and re-contacted Deborah, explaining to her that it was proving too difficult to get a response from the WWF- India office and again asked for her help. The very next day she wrote me a confirmation note. She also wrote that she would be sending three T-Shirts for me to wear on the journey and membership cards and stickers to distribute along the way. This happened in August and by the first week of September the parcel arrived. My father and the rest of the family were very excited that I had received a parcel from Switzerland, although nobody knew why. One week later I received the long awaited letter of support. By this time, half the preparation was done.

During these early days of my planning, I came across a documentary on the Discovery Channel. This program was about two Russian men who had hitch-hiked on buses and trucks all the way to New Delhi, India with a minimum funding. Initially, I had seen funding as my greatest obstacle, but after viewing this documentary I had decided that I would travel with no money, surviving only on the charity of the people that I met along the way. After careful consideration, I realised that the most important factor ensuring the continuation of my journey was to obtain a visa for each country. Without money and a sponsorship letter, this would be nearly impossible. I became desperate to establish funding and approached many companies for sponsorship. Unfortunately, none responded positively. Many companies replied that they did not sponsor individual events.

Eventually, I formulated the idea to prepare seventeen thousand greeting cards for Diwali, a large festival which is celebrated each year in October, in India. The card was to be brightly coloured and illustrated with two images. The first image was to be an oxygen mask covering the entire earth and the second of a person cutting a Rhinoceros horn. I would sell the rest of the space to advertisers. The cards were to be distributed free of charge to various companies, government offices and institutions throughout the city. After collecting a quote from the Printing Press, I began visiting big companies in the city, explaining the purpose of the expedition and offering them advertising space. One main sponsor would be advertised on the front at a price of five thousand rupees and twelve smaller advertisements would cover the back at a total price of eighteen thousand rupees. I worked hard collecting money from the sponsors. The funding should have come up to twenty-three thousand rupees, but two of the dealers would not pay up, so in the end the total amounted to twenty thousand rupees. I hoped that of the ten thousand people I delivered the free cards to, each would see my message and donate ten rupees each, which would eventually generate a fund of around one hundred thousand rupees.

Until this point, I had kept my plans secret. It was only when I began distributing the seventeen thousands cards that one by one, my family and friends came to know about the expedition. It caused shock waves! During the time of the card distribution, I began approaching newspaper offices, raising the awareness of my expedition and trying to gather support. My results were not what I had imagined. Although I worked extremely hard to distribute the cards, I could not collect more than two to three thousand rupees, which disappeared on petrol expenses during the delivery. Despite my results, I was happy that I had successfully spread my message. I distributed fifteen thousand free cards. I saved the last two thousand with the idea of cutting out my message and the images and giving them to schools along the way. The cards ended up being a bit bigger than the size of a visiting card.

I reached a turning point during the distribution work when I had a chance meeting with Rotarian Nilesh Kapadia. He was a great man and he admired my courage. Up until this point, I had only been an inactive member of the Rotaract Club. Mr Nilesh explained the ways in which I could seek help from Rotary. He aided me in seeking the help of Rotarians all over Asia and Australia. I became a believer that if there is a will to do, there is always a way to achieve - only when we continue trying until we achieve our goals. I was training heavily at the Ajintha Sports Club, preparing myself both physically and mentally for the expedition. During this time my teachers, Mr Vijay Lokhande, Mr Todewale, Mr Khandre, Mr Supekar, the very dear Mr Sandeep Wardhave "Mannu Sir", Ms Sanjeevani Wardhave "Sanju Tai" and my friends all worked hard to keep my morale high. I was then granted twenty-five thousand rupees by the City Municipal Corporator and the District Member of Parliament. This was the amount of money I carried on my trip to Delhi in November, where I began the final stages of preparation for the expedition.

I spent close to a month in Delhi. I had planned to obtain all the necessary visas from the various embassies in the capital and spent a full week contacting fourteen different embassies, but each one gave me the same answer. It would be impossible to issue a visa from India, as the visa would expire before my arrival to the country in question. I was even turned away by the Sri Lankan embassy, which was to be the first country I would visit after India, for this same reason. After studying my expedition program, they realised that I would be passing through Delhi again in January, so I was advised to return to the embassy at that time. I also had to complete a lot of paper work at the Ministry of External Affairs, to obtain what is called a "No Objection Certificate" or NOC, allowing me easier entry into each country. At this time I also met with Mr Sukhbir Singh, who spent nearly a month to organise the grant of a simple letter called a Certificate. I late found out that it was completely useless, as it was not marked with the National letterhead or official seal of the government of India. This final event strengthened my resolve to move ahead with the expedition without governmental help.

During my stay in Delhi, I met a lot of important people. The first was the Minister for Environment, Mr Suresh Prabhu, but he was unable to offer me any assistance. The second was the Deputy Director for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Mrs Meenkashi Sharma, who directed me to the government schemes that provided financial assistance to promote adventurous activities. She aided me in the production of the necessary documentation to apply for the grants, but I was rejected on the grounds that walking did not constitute adventure. Still recognising my dedication, Mrs Sharma introduced me to Mr Satya Paul, a freedom fighter and life member of Servants of the People Society. She asked him to help me. Mr Paul who was still highly active at his near to eighty years of age, was a kind and principled man. He believed in "Simple living but High thinking". He was also well connected to the President of India, Shri K R Narayanan. I explained to Mr Paul the details of the expedition and he offered me a lot of encouragement. Later as he was going to meet President Narayanan, he asked one of his members of staff to give me names and addresses for people in all the Indian cities that I would visit. In addition to this, he also prepared a letter to be sent to all the people whose addresses I had been granted. I thanked God that I was meeting so many wonderful people with the generosity offered by those like Mr Paul.

I was running out of time, as it was now the beginning of December. I decided to visit the WWF-India office to ask for expedition equipment. I took along my letter from Deborah Denhardt and was impressed to see the impact it had on the people there, it was unbelievable! I received quiet a lot of respect from a number of officers there and it was funny that they asked me why I had not contacted their office before. I re-told them my story of how I had sent them faxes, e-mails and also phoned them all to no avail. One of them remembered that they had received my mail but had not taken it seriously. I was taken to meet the Secretary of WWF. Mr Samar Singh. He invited me to visit the Nature shop and asked me to select the necessary equipment for the expedition. I was given a rucksack, sleeping mat, sleeping bag and a wind breaker. The total value of all this was in the region of three thousand rupees but I got it all for free! WWF- India also wrote me a letter of recommendation. I thanked Mr Samar Singh and found myself fully prepared.

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The Golden Day!

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Why did I choose to start the expedition from the city of Agra?

Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful and costly tombs in the world. The Indian Ruler, Shah Jahan built the monument in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1629 A.D. The tomb stands near the city of Agra, in northern India, on the south bank of the Yamuna River. About twenty thousand workers were employed in its construction and it was completed after twenty years by approximately 1650.

According to local folklore, a Turkish architect designed the Taj Mahal. It is made of white marble and rests on a platform of red sandstone. At each corner of the bottom platform stands a slender minaret (prayer tower). Each Tower is 40.5 metres high. The building itself is almost 57 square feet. A dome covers the centre of the building and it is over 21 metres in diameter and 36.5 metres high. Passages from the Muslim Holy Book, the "Quran", decorates the outside along with in laid floral patterns. A central room contains two cenotaphs (monuments). Visitors can see the monuments through a carved alabaster screen and the bodies of Shah Jahan and his wife lie in a vault below. The tomb stands in a garden.

At present, the pollution in Agra is making the Taj Mahal lose its lustre. It is therefore a fitting example of pollution and how it relates to my mission. My earlier plan was to start the expedition on New Years day of 1999. However coincidentally there was a meeting being hosted by the Rotaract Club, which as I explained earlier is a youth wing of the Rotary Club. Seeing as I was a member of Rotaract I was able to attend. The meeting was called "ROTASIA", this is where members from South East Asia are supposed to join. It was of utmost importance for me to attend the meeting seeing as I was trying to build contacts with the members from various part of the country for my expedition.

It was such a pleasant morning and I managed to address the meeting and asked all the members to support me during the expedition whenever I reached their respective countries. The members in attendance had come from us far a field as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and of course India.

I was garlanded and all the Rotaract members wished me luck and gave me their business cards in order for me to visit them as I stopped in their various towns and cities. Many of them also wanted to become members of WWR- International. I had the letter from WWF- International stating that " I would raise funds for the protection of nature during my South East Asia Expedition by contacting people and asking them to become members". There was of course a small problem when it came to collecting the money seeing as I did not have any official receipts to offer in exchange for the money. I decided that it would be easier for me to give out the Membership forms to any interested people then they could apply directly to WWF.

Finally Rotarian Garry C.K. Hawng of Tiwan, flagged me off and the journey began! I felt great when people would stop to stare at me out of curiosity as I walked. I enjoyed walking through the cities as well as walking on the highway. On my first day, I had my lunch at a Dhaba , which is a Highway hotel. As soon as I explained my mission to the owner of the hotel, he refused to charge me for my food. After walking and hitch-hiking, I reached Mathura, my first destination by 9:30 evening, the holy place of the Hindus and the birth place of God Shri Krishna. I went to the police station and asked them for help to find lodgings at an Asylum, this is a free guest house which is normally frequented by pilgrims. The Police Inspector was a very kind and understanding fellow, he instructed two of his sub-ordinates to escort me to the Asylum. The Manager there was not such a trusting fellow and he immediately asked to see all my documents and also made sure to search my rucksack before agreeing to let me spend the night there. I had my own bedding so I slept on the floor.

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The Journey

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On the morning of December 20th, I got up early in order to continue my journey. The mornings were a bit problematic because of the heavy fog. I shall never forget those dark icy mornings, which I had to endure at the beginning of my walk. At night the temperature would be at around four degrees, but on the whole I didn't really mind the weather because it was encouraging for walking. On my way I once again had food at another Dhaba, free of charge again. It seemed like I wasn't actually paying for my food most of the time. Normally the people at the Dhabas would be curious about my walking and ofcourse the big rucksack on my back. They were all eager and interested to know what I was doing. As soon as the silence was broken and their curiosity satisfied, they would ask me not to pay for the food that I ordered. People were very kind, supportive and encouraging. I enjoyed walking in the cold fresh atmosphere, I found that this didn't seem to tire me out so much. I reached the village of Pattikalyana after walking and hitch-hiking at about 7:00 pm that evening. I went to the Gandhi Ashram, which was on the highway and asked at one of the houses for Mr Mahavir Tyagi , who I had been referred to by Mr Paul. Coincidentally this house belonged to a neighbour of Mr Tyagi. This family were very kind and allowed me to wait at their house for Mr Tyagi who was only expected home later that night. I showed them my letter from Mr Satya Paul and this caused a lot of excitement. As it was rather late and Mr Tyagi had still not returned, the family kindly put me up and even served me with a very good dinner. There were three children all under the age of twelve and they immediately took to me and were calling me Bhiyya, big brother in next to no time. I played with the children for a while before I was shown to the guest house where I would spend the night. The three children dropped me there. I asked them to come back for me in the morning. It was rather lonely there and there was no electricity due to an electrical failure. Some-one knocked at the door and identified himself as Mr Tyagi, when I opened the door, a young man in his thirties stood there, he was the son of Mr Mahavir Tyagi. He introduced himself and said his name was Adesh, since it was already quite late, he told me I could call him in case I needed anything then five minutes later he was gone.

On Monday morning, as the three children had promised, they were there early to pick me up. As I was not quite ready I asked them to wait for about five minutes, then we went for a morning run, after that we went inside to an exercise room. They tried to copy what I was doing and I showed them some simple exercises. There were totally adorable and I was in love with them. I think they felt the same way about me seeing as they didn't want to leave my side. I went back and had an ice cold bath. After a while some-one came to call me for breakfast. He served me with four hot Parothas, (flat bread) which were great! Meanwhile Mr Tyagi was also waiting for me to have breakfast with him at his house. I explained to him that I already had breakfast in the canteen but he insisted that I should go to his house. His wife served me noodles with milk. So I had a heavy breakfast. We spent some time talking about the expedition and I enquired about the Ashram, where social workers stay.

Pt. Omprakash Trikaha, who was the founder, died on the 10th November, 1985. He built the Ashram in memory of Mahatma Gandhi. The area covers around twenty acres. It is a famous Prakrutik Chikitsa Kendra (Naturopathy Centre) where all diseases mainly obesity and stomach problems are cured. In Ashram you won't find any servants apart from the workers working on the farm, gardening and cooking, otherwise everyone does their own work. There is a primary school, a post office, a bank and an Orphanage. There is also a small unit of handmade paper production and Khadi , Indian Handloom cloth. It is a fully prohibited area, no alcohol or smoking is allowed here. Therefore if any one wants to get cured at Ashram, they are not allowed to smoke or drink.

The fifth day of my expedition. My next destination was 30 Kilometres away. I decided to start the walk after lunch. Ever since I left Agra, I seemed to be experiencing a lot of different things, whatever I was doing was the first time in my life. For lunch I had Makke ki Roti and Sarso ka Saag ,which is a famous and very tasty Punjabi dish.

After lunch I thanked all the family members and blessed my little friends. It was time to move on to Panipat. Those affectionate kids asked me when I would next come back, but I couldn't answer their question. I really had developed a strong relationship with all of them. They tried to persuade me to stay for another day, but I had my program to adhere to and that would not allow me to linger along the way with out good reason. It was 2:00 pm by the time I left for Panipat, which I must say was quite late. Having started off so late, it was going to be impossible for me to make to cover 30 Kilometres by early evening. I thought I should probably hike in the evening, but I hadn't realised how difficult it is to hike in the dark. People seemed to be scared of my rucksack, probably thinking that I might be a terrorist or something. I had no choice but to take the risk and continue walking even though it was very foggy. It was the first time I had walked till 11:30 at night. It was scary and dangerous but I had no alternative. Moreover, I made myself strong that I crossed the level of scariness and fear of dying. I could walk because of the vehicles, yes, it was a busy highway and so I could a little with the help of lights from passing vehicles. At last at 11.30 pm, I saw a few hotels and small shops. I took this as a sign that I was now approaching the town of Panipat. I made a call from a Telephone booth to Mr Ram Mohan Rai, whom I had been referred to by Mr Adesh Tyagi. Mr Tyagi had already spoken to him about me. I asked him for the directions to his house where I was to spend the night. It was such a dark and foggy night and I am sure that had I attempted to find the house on my own, I would surely have lost my way. I was therefore fortunate to have some-one from the Dhaba (a small hotel) escort and show me the way. Mr. Rai was in the house so I was given his office room to use as my sleeping quarters.

It was also at Mr Rai's house that I met Mr Hyder, a journalist from Pakistan. During my brealkfast of "Parotha's", which I loved, I spent some time talking to Mr Hyder on various topics concerning India and Pakistan.

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Spreading the message

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Later they sat down and I then explained that if all the students from one school could clean up two acres of land within five minutes, then it was possible for all the schools to clean the whole city in a matter of hours. The teachers, students and Principal were all impressed with my speech. I distributed posters and stickers to the school as a memento. I asked the students to remember me and my talk, by looking at the posters and stickers and trying to help for the betterment of our surrounding enviroment. After the speech, the Principal, Mr Deepchand Niromhi who was a writer of Hindi and wrote many books asked me to come to his office. He praised me to the speech that I had made and offered me snacks before leaving for the school.

I came back to the house and spent some time with Mr Rai's children. The elder one Sulabha was fourteen years old, the middle one Sanghmitra was eleven and the youngest and naughtiest Utkarsh was eight. Here also every one loved me and called me "Bhiya". I spent a whole evening playing with the children. I called up Rtr. Gupta from the Rotaract International Directory and explained my purpose to him and also gave him Mr Rai's telephone number. He told me he would call me back. In the evening Rotaract Clubs President Rtr. Mukul Sharma called when he came to know that I was staying with Mr Rai. He was angry and said he would be coming to Mr Rai's house. He came over with another Rotaract member, Rtr Ashutosh at eight o'clock and told Mrs Rai that he would like to take me with them, but all the children and Mrs Rai persuaded me to stay. Anyhow I convinced her that I had to go and she only agreed to that on the condition that I would only leave after dinner. I had a small portion of food for dinner because I knew that I would also be having dinner later with Rtr Mukul. After thanking the Rai family, I left and went with Mr Mukul and Mr Ashutosh. They took me to a five star hotel and I was shocked. When we got inside the hotel, in the dimly lit room, there were four more Rotaractors already waiting for us. I was introduced to everyone. I noticed that the gentlemen who were sitting were from very rich families. All of them had factories. They were all having drinks, so I had a beer with them. Actually it was Rtr Mukul Sharma's birthday party. We packed the dinner and had it at Rtr Punit Gupta's house. At midnight, we all wished Rtr Mukul Sharma a happy birthday. I enjoyed my time with all those Rotaract members. We spent the night in Rtr Punit's Bungalow.

The next day I wanted to go to Nilokhedi (45Km), 10 Km from Karnal. At around 4 O'clock , I crossed Karnal; the weather was clear, no fog but just after half an hour the weather became foggy and after another half an hour, it was getting dark. I was enjoying every minute of my life. I reached Nilokhedi in the evening at around 5.30 pm. I contacted Mr Tajveer Singh who I had been referred to by Mr Tyagi from the Gandhi Ashram. I explained to him that Mr Tyagi has requested for me to accommodate. He immediately welcomed me and took me to his house. He was a driver, living in the workers quarters. It was a very small house, but he was very kind. This small house was occupied by himself, his wife and their two children. I never wanted to disturb anyone, so I told him that I always slept on the floor and carried my own bedding. I had a healthy dinner and slept. I realised that there was no point getting up early in the morning because I could not walk in such foggy weather. Where visibility was down to zero. It could also prove to be quite dangerous because a car could easily hit you. So I waited and after a heavy breakfast walked towards Ambala which was approximately 50Km away. I started my walk at 08.30 am. On the walk, I saw many vehicles which had fallen by the road side and yet still more vehicles were on the road dividers. Few were in such a funny condition that one could not help but laugh. Especially when one thought of how the accident might have occurred. It was on the one hand rather funny but on the other quite bad. In the evening I reached the DDR (District Rotaract Representative – the person in charge of the Rotaract club in a particular district). Mr Vivek Dureja, (met me in Agra and gave me his visiting card ). He was not at home but his mother welcomed me and offered me snacks with a glass of milk. Meanwhile she also tried to contact some Rotaract members. She succeeded in contacting one of them, who was Rtr. Niraj. She asked him to come. When he came, I explained to him about the expedition, he found me very interesting and took me to his house. He called 3-4 more Rotaractors at his house. One of them wanted to stay at his house, Rtr. Kamal hosted me for the night. His family welcomed me and took care of me.

On Christmas day, there was a function organised by all the Rotaract Clubs in Ambala. The Rotaractors made me the guest of honour and I was happy to get a chair on the dias. I enjoyed the program and activities they had planned. I met Rtr Vivek Dureja at the function. At the end of the program I delivered my message to the entire club members and even at the Rotary meeting. The next day, Ambala Rotaractors presented me with a nice woollen sweater. I had a windbreaker, but the woollen sweater kept me warm from the inside. I was shown a lot of love by all the members. I thanked all of them and moved on to my next destination, Chandigarh which was another 50 Km away. I walked and reached Chandigarh in the evening at around 7 o'clock. I had managed to use short cuts along the way so I was quite happy with myself. The city was still a good 5 Km away. I went to the newspaper office of "The Tribune" where I contacted a reporter who interviewed me. Then I called up a few Rotaractors but no one responded. In the end a girl Rtr. Gurminder sent two members to the news office. I explained to them and requested them to drop me at Lajpat Bhavan. I gave Mr Chand a call ( Ref- Satya Paul - Servants of the people society- New Delhi) and explained in short and gave reference of Mr Satya Paul. He asked me to go to his place. The boys who had come for me were driving so they were able to give me a lift. They dropped me off and told me that they would come back to pick me up for the project the next day. (Hepatitis-B vaccination).

Mr and Mrs Chand welcomed me. Mr Chand was about 70 to 75 years old. He asked his servant to show me to the guestroom. The room was very big, infact it could have easily accommodated four or five people. I freshened up and went downstairs for dinner. Mr Chand ate boiled vegetables, where as I ate Roti and cooked vegetables. Mrs Chand enquired a lot about the expedition and said she would prepare Maharashtrian food the next day. (As India is divided into 28 states so each state has it's own speciality, Maharashtra is one of the 28 States.) It was very cold in Chandigarh. Mr and Mrs Chand were extremely caring people. Rtr Gurminderm, the female Roaractor with whom I had spoken with the day before came to pick me up at the venue. There were around 25 Rotaract members in all. They welcomed me and presented me with a bouquet of flowers and also asked me to cut the cake. It was again an unbelievable welcome by Rotaract Club members. The project continued for more than two hours. I spent a good time with the members. Ms Gurminder dropped me off back at Lajpat Bhavan.

It was lunch time and uncle and aunty were having lunch with one more person. I joined them for lunch and we had a long discussion on environment and policies of government. In those days there was news about Himachal Pradesh ( a state in India) Government banning plastic bags in the state. The discussion was on a lot of other topics too. It was nice to listen to experienced people.

Chandigarh is one of the most beautiful cities in India. The Swiss born architect Le Corbusier designed Chandigarh. It is laid out in rectangular sectors integrated by a grid of streets designed for fast traffic. Chandigarh derives its name from temple dedicated to the Hindu Goddess, Chandi. Her shrine stands on a small hill about 10 Kilometres from the city. Chandigarh was only a small village, when the planning for the new city began in 1947. Construction of the city started in the 1950's. By the early 1970's, the modern city had been largely completed. Chandigarh has about 3 000 hectares of land under cultivation. Maize, wheat, potatoes and rice are the main crops. Forests cover about one fourth of the area. I visited the famous rock garden, which was made up by used and waste material by Mr Nek Chand, the garden is world famous. I also visited the Rose garden and enjoyed it very much. At night, I had Maharashtrian dinner as per aunt's promise.

Next day after breakfast, aunty and uncle blessed me and aunty asked me to come back again after the end of the expedition. Both loved me a lot and considered me as a part of their family. I thanked them for their hospitality and moved onwards to Ludhiyana about 100Km away. I saw a lot of Animals - Bulls and Buffaloes working on farms. People use Horse's for carrying goods and few people beat them crudely. They weigh the animals down with more than double their own weight full of goods and expect the poor animals to be fast with the carrying and delivery. I used to get angry seeing such things. On the Delhi - Chandigarh route, I had found lots of trees but as any village or town starts, the trees disappear. As soon as I entered Punjab State, I got to see a lot of farming activity. The scene was beautiful and peaceful for the eyes. I reached Ludhiyana by walking and hitch hiking. There I visited Mr Shrawan Kumar's company and met his son, who told me about the Ashram and took me to the Ashram of mr Shrawan Kumar ( Ref - Satya Paul - Servants of the people society). He was around 70 years old and running the Ashram with the help of 6-7 friends of a similar age. Everyone called Babuji. This is a respectful term for an old man. He welcomed me and I gave him the letter from Shri Satya Paul. He asked one lady to accommodate me in the guest room. Babuji spoke to one of the Rotary Club members when I mentioned the Rotary Club. The Rotarian asked me to go to the Girls College (at the blood donation camp) on the 29th December at 12:30. It was almost 8 o'clock. I could hear very sweet Bhajans (hymns) in the morning. I saw few old people singing with the musical instuments in very low voices without creating any noise. I was eager to know more about those people who were in the Ashram. Mr Ashok told me that the old people were picked up from the Ashram bus station, railway station and from the market. The Ashram takes care of them for a few days and try to find out their home addresses. They then visit their homes and try to convince their children to take care of them. Of course, it's not so easy and sometimes they had to be forceful too. I had a very heavy breakfast with a glass of milk. Babuji came with almost all the executive members of " Nishkam Sewa " Ashram. Every morning all the members would meet to discuss and solve the problems as well as to make plans for the future. Babuji introduced me to each one of them. Each one was from a different profession. There was an Industrialist, a Doctor, a Bank Manager, a retired Colonel and others were Government officials. All were above 70 years old. They all had terrific life experiences. They were ambitious and their dream was to make society a better place to live in and to try to give happiness to as many people as they possibly could.

The Nishkam Sewa Ashram is involved in the following works:- a Home for the aged, eye and dental Hospitals, Dispensaries, Allopathic and Homeopathic, school for street children in slums, school and sheltered workshop for the mentally retarded children, day care centre for the aged, supply of clothes and woollens to the poor and needy. I spent a lot of time learning about the work done by the Nishkam Sewa Ashram. At 12.15, Mr Ashok, the manager cum driver, and a trustworthy person of the Ashram; who does all the work, dropped me off at the Ramgariya Girls College, the venue of the Blood Donation Camp. Rotary club members welcomed me and I found it was a very big function. Few renowned personalities were present with the NCC (National Cadet Core - an organisation which imparts military training to civilians) Commander, and many NCC girl cadets along with teachers and Rotary Club Members. The crowd was not less than five hundred. I distributed the Message cards (The one little bigger than visiting cards) to the students. Obviously I could not make a long speech, as the subject matter of the function was different. I started with "Respected elders and my dear sisters". I spoke for ten minutes. It was a brief and polite speech and everybody appreciated it. Even I was happy the way I delivered my message. I received a standing ovation. After the function, many girls called me Bhaiya , which means brother, and they enquired about the expedition. I could imagine the power of one word that brought me close to all the girls. I spent almost three hours with the girls and came to know that the NCC students were from all the colleges of Ludhiyana. The camp was for 10-12 days. Lots of girls asked me about the membership of WWF. I was carrying WWF India membership forms and distributed a few of them and told them to get photocopies if need be. I was satisfied to deliver my message to all the colleges in Ludhiyana. From Ramgaria College to the Ashram, there was on Pakhowal road. I walked and noticed very few trees in the city. Lots of Small scale industries were in the city area, which makes lots of pollution. It was a dirty city. On the highway, I saw three wheelers running and making tremendous pollution. When the government takes any strict action against polluters, three wheelers demonstrate on the streets or they call on "Strikes" or "Bandh", this is when the whole city is closed for the day. They do not want to maintain their vehicles and they do not care for mother earth. The poor people should also be educated. I reached the Ashram at 7pm and it took two hours for me to reach there. Babuji told me to be ready the next morning before 6.15, as everyone would be going to the camp in a village Manakpur Gaon.

The previous night, I had to get up three times, but each time before 5.00am and when I wanted to get up I was in deep sleep. Mr Ashok knocked the door and shouted at 6.15. I requested him to wait for five minutes. Without having a bath, I went with him outside there was a dense fog. I realised how difficult it was to drive in the dark. We were going at a speed of not even 10km/h. Mr Ashok told me that, because of fog we left early, otherwise it does not take much time. We picked up four members including Babuji one by one from their houses. By the time we collected everyone, the visibility on the road had increased. We went to Manakpur Gaon, a village in Rajpur district and reached there at 9 o'clock, even though the distance was just 80 Km from Ludhiyana. Nishkam Sewa Ashram and Red cross society organised the camp jointly. The camp was for handicapped and Polio patients, children as well as elders. All the villagers and Mr Rajeev Vasishtha, a member of the Nishkam family, welcomed us. The camp was at the National Public school. We put banners of "Nishkam" and " Red Cross". Then Mr Ashok and myself went to pick up a few more peoplein Mohali town. Mr Ashok was a very nice and hardworking man. He was staying in the Ashram itself, with his wife and child. He took me along to a lot of places, seeing as he seemed to enjoy my company. We had breakfast at Mr Rajeev Vasishta's house and came back to the camp site with a few people. The programme had already started and many children and adults were there. I really saw what kind of hard work one has to put in for arranging the camp. I learned a lot from these great people. I came to know that some of the handicapped were going to get tricycles, operations free of charge and much more. The camp provided breakfast and lunch for everyone. Mr Vasishtha and his team also did a great job. I was very happy and thanked God for sending me amongst those people to know about life in such a close way. All the members of Nishkam have devoted their lives to the betterment of the society and are doing great social work.

We came back to Ashram in the evening. The camp was successful. I knew what kind of great satisfaction people get after doing good work. It was the same satisfied feeling I had, after the speeches made in schools throughout my journey. Fog was not going to leave me. It had continuously followed me since Agra. Next day morning When Babuji came, I thanked him for the very close exposure to life. He blessed me for the further journey and asked Mr Ashok to drop me on the Jalandhar Highway. Jalandhar was approximately 60Km away. I reached there in the evening, before getting in trouble with the fog. On the way, I went to the office of All India Radio. A lady interviewed me and told me to listen to the news on the first of January at 7.20am. Then I went to the Newspaper office of "Punjab Kesari" to meet Mr Vijay Chopra, (Ref- Satya Paul- Servants of the people society) Editor in Chief. Mr Satya Paul also informed him, so I didn't face any problems, he asked one of the Reporters to interview me and to also take a photograph of me. He then asked his secretary to help me sort out my accommodation. Mr Chopra was a busy person and he could not spend much time with me. The Reporter took my interview with the photograph and the secretary provided me with a letter of recommendation for accommodation in Devi Talav Dharamshal (Asylum). After an hour's walk, I reached the Asylum and got the room after showing the letter. Devi Talav Temple is one of the biggest temples in the city. It is a famous and well known pilgrim place in India. I had dinner in the temple free of charge, as the temple provides lunch and dinner to thousands of people free of charge.

Since the beginning of my journey, I got various experiences. People used to think that I was a salesman selling something. Here is one of the funniest experiences that I had. It was 31 of December, I was passing through the market towards Devi Talav Temple I almost crossed the market, suddenly a boy came running and told me that a man wanted to see me. I asked him the purpose, but he didn't know. I was a bit irritated because I hated the thought of having to walk back. But I still went back and asked the man. Do you know what he asked me? Can you guess? The man asked "Are you searching for a job?" I did not reply, I just gave him a bitter smile and walked away. Actually it wasn't his fault. He was a kind person and might have thought to help me by providing me with a job.

People celebrate the 31st of December by enjoying themselves, going out to parties in hotels and other places. I celebrated it at the feet of God. The 1st of January 1999 was memorable for me. I spent time in the Temple and prayed for peace amongst mankind, happiness and a long life. Since my expedition was supported by so many people. It was very cold because I was headed towards the north, but the sweater was of great help to me. Once I started walking , I really enjoyed myself and also kept warm from the movement. I left the asylum and walked towards the highway to Amritsar a place about 90 Km away. I spent a night at Bias Ashram, which is approximately 50 Km from Jalandhar. The Ashram was on the highway and the saints were very kind. They helped me to spend the night. The next day, I moved on towards Amrisar and reached it in the evening at 5 pm. It was hardly 35-40 Km from Bias Ashram. The Rotaract club members, Sameer Chatkara and Tarandeep Singh (whom I met in Agra) both had their shops near the Golden Temple. I asked them to help me contact Laxmikanta Chowla (a Politician M.L.A, ref -Satya Paul- Servants of the people society) for accommodation. She called the Vice Chancellor of Gurunanak Dev University and confirmed the accommodation in one of the guest houses of the Boys hostel in the University. I thanked her and went off to the guest house. I had dinner at Tarandeep's house. Sameer and Tarandeep both dropped me at the guest house at the University. It was 10 pm, and it was extremely cold.

The next morning I contacted Mr Harbhajan Singh, Soch Vice Chancellor of the university and thanked him for the accommodation. I spent most of the time with the Rotaractors and saw my news on the 2nd of January's "Punjab Kesari" newspaper. I visited another historic place, which is the Golden Temple along with Rotaractors manish and Harnam.

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The Golden Temple

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Golden Temple is the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. More than 75% is covered with Gold plates. The site has been sacred to Sikhs since the time of the fourth Guru in 1577. Guru Ram was heard that a cripple had been cured by a miracle at a small pool on the site. He enlarged the pool, which eventually became the focus of the new temple and town. The Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh (1799-1839) had the Temple rebuilt in marble with a gilded dome. The four doors of the Temple are always open. The holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept on the ground floor. The Temple has been the main centre of Sikh devotion. It stands in the middle of a tank (pool), whose fresh water changes all the time. The city was named after the tank, which was called Amritsar, meaning the tank of nectar or immortality.

I saw the part, which was reconstructed after 1984. In 1984, the Golden Temple was fortified by a group of Sikh extremists, led by a young preacher called Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He and his followers used the sanctuary of the Temple complex as a base for terrorist attacks. In June of that year, the Indian army stormed and captured the Temple. As a result of the battle, many buildings in the Temple complex were destroyed. This punitive campaign by the government caused bitter resentment among Sikhs throughout the world.

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The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

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Then we went to Jallianwala Bagh (we used to read about it in the history books at school. It is about the Massacre in Jalliwala Bagh). Inside I saw, there were really heartbreaking scenes. There was a museum where a few wounded people had written their experiences like a widow explains the scene of the day a young person explaining about his fight for saving injured people etc. One cannot stop tears running down ones face as one reads it. I saw a well, the platform and the bullet marks on the wall. Here I have written some brief about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.......April 13, 1919, the day of baisakhi festival, a day of celebrations for beginning of harvest of golden crop of wheat, which shook Gandhi's faith in British justice and the moderate Ghandi had to change his way of thinking.

The holocaust at Jallianwalla Bagh, where thousands of innocent people were killed, still evokes painful memories. Time obviously has not healed the wounds.

THE MASSACRE A huge crowd gathered at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919, on this fateful morning. Gen Dyer marched through the bazaars and streets of Amritsar making a show of his strength. A number of proclamations were read that no person was permitted to leave the city without a pass and that any person found in the streets after 8.00 P.M. was liable to be shot. All processions were banned and any such gathering would be dispersed by force of arms. On the heels of Dyer's procession, counter proclamation was made asking people to assemble at Jallianwala Bagh in the afternoon at 4.00 P.M. and Lala Kanahiya lal would preside over the meeting. It is believed that the British govt. out of a spirit of vengeance, made use of an agent provocateur, Hans Raj to organize this meeting. As the announcement was made in the name of the nationalist movement, the masses were taken in and they gathered in Jallianwala Bagh in large numbers. People had started pouring in the Bagh after 2.00 P.M, although the meeting was at 4.00 P.M.

Gen. Dyer had deployed all the available troops at every strategic point. He received the news that a large number of people had assembled and Mr. Rehill, the Superintendent of Police confirm the information. The general set out for the most important journey of his life, which was crucial for him as well as the people of India. Behind his car followed two armoured cars, followed by the police car with Rehill and Plomer. They proceeded to the Bagh and finding the alley too narrow. Dyer entered the Bagh along with his soldiers on foot, leaving the armoured cars in the Bazar (Market). Gen Dyer had made up his mind about the action to be taken and did not need any reason or provocation to commit the murderous act.

In 1919, the Jallianwala Bagh was no 'Garden', but a desolate piece of land- a rectangle of irregular shape, about 229 meters long and 183 meters wide. This area had once belonged to one Bhai Hamit Singh Jallawala, a courtier of Raja Jaswant Singh of Nabha, who had been an advocate in the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Jallianwala Bagh follows from the name of owner. It was used as a dumping ground and not even the oldest living citizen of Amritsar has any recollection now whether it had ever really been a garden. The Bagh, sunk below the level of the city, was situated in its centre and was surrounded by narrow lanes. Long before 1919, houses had been built all around the Bagh with their back walls towards it. It has three or four openings, through which people could pass without much inconvenience. Between the houses, parts of the boundary wall were low enough to lean over. Opposite the main entrance, there were no houses for about a hundred feet and a low brick and mud wall, about five feet high marked off this portion. To the right, there was another low wall made of mud. The Bagh contained one small smadh towards the southern side, with four small trees growing near it, and an open wall of quite big dimensions towards its eastern boundary.

The strip of land near the entrance was on a higher level. Dyer at once deployed his troops- twenty-five on the right and twenty-five on the left. About twenty thousand people were present at this time. The picture of Dr. Kitchlew had been put up. The C.I.D. people were also on the spot. Hans Raj who had arranged the meeting, addressed the crowd. He assured them that they need not have any fears and that the meeting had been called to pass two resolutions. The first resolution called for the repeal of the Rowlett Act, and the second, condemning the firing of 10th April, extended sympathy to the relatives of the dead. An airplane with a flag was seen hovering over the Jallianwala Bagh at about 4.00 P.M. It was believed to be a signal for the C.I.D. people to disperse. The people got panicky and began to move, but the speaker assured them that there was no cause for panic. They had begun to sit down again, when they saw soldiers standing with guns on the raised platform, not far from the meeting. All this happened within thirty seconds. The General instantly ordered his soldiers to open fire. Fifty soldiers knelt, raised their rifles, took aim and fired a volley into the heart of the large gathering, close to the platform. People realized at once that they were caught in a death trap. Within no time, the vast crowd rose in a wave, and rushed madly on all side to escape from the hail of bullets. On all sides, the barriers of house walls dammed up the tide of rushing crowds. People who knew about the small exits rushed in hundreds towards them. Seeing this onrush towards the exits, Dyer directed his soldiers to fire at those points. Many people died at the mouths of these exits as a result of firing, while the on rushing crowds trampled many others down. Many people attempted to jump over the five-foot high boundary wall on the opposite side to escape, but only a few could do so. Many were hit by the bullets and fell back, dead or wounded. Many children and elderly people lost their lives by being crushed under the feet of the running crowds. Many people also ran in the direction in which a well was situated in the Bagh, and blinded by terror and unable to arrest their momentum, fell into it, as unfortunately, it had no protection wall around it in those days.

The firing continued for ten to fifteen minutes and ceased only after the ammunition ran out; 1,650 rounds were fired i.e. around 33 rounds per rifleman. Dyer admitted later that if more ammunition had been available, that too, would have been spent on the people. The exact number of people who were killed will never be known. More than eight hundred were estimated to have been killed according to official figures and thousands were wounded. Piteous and heart rending cries were rising from the hundreds of wounded people, but there was nobody to give them water or any kind of relief or assistance. Hundreds of people were in the throes of death, but could not be saved because curfew time was approaching. Dyer had never doubted the correctness and reasonable-ness of his action on April 19, 1919, Martial law was proclaimed and reign of terror was let loose on the citizens of Amritsar irrespective of their age, sex, cast to creed. As censorship was imposed, it took quite sometime for the news of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and the uprising in Punjab as a whole, to reach the world. "This disproportionate severity of punishment inflicted upon the unfortunate people and method of carrying it out is without parallel in the history of civilized govt., barring some conspicuous exceptions, recent or remote." Wrote Rabindranath Tagore to the Viceroy while returning his knighthood. So, roused was Thakur by "the agony of indignation" that he told the British rulers, "The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation, and I, for my part, wish to stand, shorn of all special distinctions. The least I can do for my country is to take all consequences upon myself in giving voice to the protest of the millions of my countrymen, dumb founded by the terror unleashed." Under growing public pressure at home and throughout the world, Britain ordered an impartial enquiry into the Jallianwala Bagh holocaust. Lord Hunter spearheaded the commission of enquiry. After 29 sessions in Lahore, the hunter commission denounced Gen. Dyer and pilloried him. The House of Commons rebuked and condemned Gen. Dyer. The House of Lords eulogized him. In an outrageous fashion, encomiums were offered to Gen. Dyer. The British Daily newspaper, "The morning Post" floated a public fund and raised money for "the man who committed a Great Crime in the name of law."

However, among many, who condemned the ghostly act, were many Englishmen themselves. They have poured forth their feeling in genuine expression of sympathy. Wrote Donald Cunningham in the visitors' book in 1938. "I am filled with remorse for my race after visiting this place. I feel that every Indian in the street looks at me as a member of a community of murders". Another inscription in the books read: "I am ashamed to be an Englishman when I hear of mass murders committed with more pride as I bear the name of civilized." The long cherished dream of freedom became a reality after 28 years of the sacrifice of those who laid down their lives so that people may enjoy freedom, at the Jallianwala Bagh. A memorial, a pylon stands on 18 feet deep foundations, with four large stone lanterns, which flank the pylon. This is the most hallowed of all national monuments. It epitomizes as nothing else does India's epic struggle for freedom, Independence and sovereignty. It symbolizes India's trust with her destiny. In all the four sides of the memorial, the words: "In memory of martyrs-13th April, 1919" have been written in Punjabi, Hindi, English and Urdu. "The impossible men of India shall rise and liberate their Motherland" declared Mahatma Gandhi, after the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.

After spending almost whole day at Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh, we came back. I could not visit any School because of Winter Holidays. Next day, I spent some time at the football ground where a few teams were doing practice. There were university tournaments going on, but Sunday was the rest day so no matches were being played. I thought I should deliver the message to those players. I contacted the organizer (Head of the sports Dept. of the university) and requested him for the speech, after explaining about the expedition. I showed him the News Paper cutting of mine and the photographs. He agreed and told me, as there would be inaugural function the next day (though the tournament started two days before), before the match he would allow me to talk at that time at 12 Noon.

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India-Pakistan Border

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It was the third day in Amritsar. I came to know about an army school, it was near the hostel, but due to examination the principal asked me to come on 6th Jan to deliver the speech. I came back and attended the Inaugural Function at the University Football ground and delivered the speech to the sports girls. In the hostel also during breakfast, lunch and dinner, I was getting an opportunity to meet the students. In these two to three days, I made a few friends in the university and requested them to arrange a small speech to talk with the students. They have arranged a small gathering and did my job spreading the message around the hostel youth. I delivered the message through the City Cable Television (Local TV channel) news. I was very happy to deliver my message to the people of Amritsar. So in various ways, I was trying to carry on my work to make people aware and encourage them to start doing individual efforts to save our mother earth.

In Gurunanak Dev University, I came to know about a unique structure. There is a Library building, which is V-shaped and it is the second in the world of that kind. On 6th when I returned to the hostel, it was 10 O'clock at night. At the entrance I met the security guards, one of them was very good and kind. I was in the habit of having a chat with him every day. Tonight, I also spent some time with him. His name was Mr. Singh. He told me about his experience regarding the people's kindness and trust. He told me that he wanted to go to USA and was trying a lot to get the visa. Once he applied for it with many false documents, showing a lot of acres of land, trucks, bank balance and much more, but the counsellor caught him and said you won't be getting a visa for one year and she put a stamp on it. It was true that he wanted to work and stay in USA. He was around 35-40 years of age and from a good family. He had been in army before joining the University service. One of his relatives lives in States and the relative told him to come to USA. Once he reaches the states, the relative would do he could to help him. He was cheated once while trying to get visa. He started narrating the experience. He somehow met an old man of around 60 yrs of age. The old man told him that he could do visa work and he showed him a lot of documents and said he had given visas to many people. Mr. Singh told me that he has visited his house many times and he was staying with his wife. Mr. Singh used to visit his house frequently to see whether he was a nice man or not. One day the old man told him that he would go to Delhi to get the visa and tickets. He asked him for his Passport with all the documents and money. He asked for around 90,000 rupees Both Mr. Singh and one of his relative's asked that he would send somebody with him because the amount was very large and for an old person it would be risky. He told him that his son would be coming and both of them will go to Delhi and he shouldn't worry. He said that there was nothing to doubt about him because the old man behaved with everyone for six month in such a way, that he built a strong bond of trust. No one could think he would cheat. But when Mr. Singh and the other relative gave him the money the very next day, they found a lock at the old man's house. They enquired with the neighbours, but even the neighbours didn't know where he had disappeared off to. Because the furniture, refrigerator, TV and Washing machine everything was in the house. They searched a lot but could not find the old man and the lady. But one thing was good, which was the Passports were there inside the house. The old man, who was looking kind and innocent, cheated Mr. Singh. Even then he wanted to go to USA. But this time he had a different plan. He said, first he would go to Dubai and then get the Visa from Dubai and move to USA.

I spent a long time in Amritsar, since I have started the expedition. I found Punjabi's are really kind hearted and very good people. Before leaving Amritsar, I got the Rotaract International Directory from Tarun, in which there were names and addresses with contact numbers of Rotaract Clubs all over the World.

After continuous walk for last 3 days, first at Harike (60 Km), then Faridkot (60 Km) and third day, I reached Bhatinda. In Bhatinda, I met Mr Somchand Deva (Ref- Rtr. Kamal from Ambala) and he was the owner of two hotels, Hotel Metro and Hotel Vikas. He accommodated me in Hotel Vikas. In the morning, I came to know that Mr Som had left for Delhi, as his two-year-old son was seriously ill and would undergo operation. In Bhatinda, I visited Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Power Plant, which is known to be one of the biggest power plant in India. I could contact few Rotaractors in Bhatinda. Those members told me about the function on Monday i.e. the next day and requested me to deliver the message in the village school.

On Monday, one of the Rtr. took me to Galli Patti Govt. School in Galli Patti Village. The function was at 11.30 but started just 15 minutes late. The whole school staff and Principal welcomed all of us. Chief Guest was Mr. Mehta of National Fertilizers Limited who has done lot for the School and even announced Rs.2000 for the handicapped students. Rotaract Club of Bhatinda donated Sweaters to the School Students and Poor Children's. Just before the end of the program, I got the opportunity to talk. I had a talk in Hindi and delivered my message. Wherever I used to give the speech to the students, the teachers and other people, they all used to get motivated and encouraged. Mr. Mehta wished me well, and the Principal presented me a trophy as a memento. Later, I visited to NIIT and had free talk with the students. I sent the trophy by post to my club (Ajintha Sports Club)

I visited St. Joseph's Convent School where the Principal was Sister Innocentia. She was very kind like a Mother Merry. She respected me a lot and then permitted me to talk to the students. Later, she spent sometime knowing about my family and expedition also. She asked me if I want anything, I refused but requested her to help me spread the message – save the Earth, save the animals and support WWF- so if you could distribute the WWF membership cards to the school students and get more from WWF – Delhi office to support WWF. She promised me, I thanked her before leaving. I remembered my mother because of so much of love and affection in her eyes. I miss her many times.

I moved to Sirsa (90 Km), but had to struggle a lot, for hitchhiking and reached Sirsa at 7 P.M. I searched for Rotaract Club in Sirsa but I could not find it. There was no Club in Sirsa. But I managed to find a Rotary Club member who was Rotarian Bhupesh Mehata. With his help, I stayed in the Asylum. The next day he took me to National Girls School and I talked to 8th, 9th and 10th standard students. Rotarian Mehata arranged City Cable Television (Local TV channel) interview. After interview I moved immediately towards Fatehabad (40 Km). I stayed in the Asylum, but the room was unclean and dirty. It was very cold and few people were staying in the asylum. The asylum was good, but the manager was not good. I joined the people who were sitting near the fire. I saw many places, especially where people were sitting around fires. I enquired and came to know that the day was called LODI day. The people celebrate LODI and it is sign of change in weather. This means that after the day of LODI, summer season starts or the day gets warm and hot. The people who were staying in other rooms of the Asylum were from Rajasthan and has arranged camp on Acupressure, Reki, Acupuncture etc. They were very nice people. They tried to teach me few very important relief exercises by using Acupressure techniques.

On the way to Hisar (45 Km) from Sirsa, I visited a School. It was a primary School and was run by Rotarian the Principal was a young lady. I explained to her and requested for the talk. When she came to know about Rotary, she called Rotarian Kaushik. He welcomed me and immediately arranged for the talk. All were praising and respecting a lot. Whenever I see people ready to do anything for me, I used to thank God for providing so much love and making me great and big person in the eyes of the people. After the speech with the small students Rotarian Kaushik asked me if I need anything. Here also I repeated the same line to support WWF. Many times many people were ready to help me. They asked me if I need anything and answer for this question was WWF – support. I thanked him and after breakfast, I moved ahead. After an hour's walk one man came running and told that his boss is calling me. At first I thought, is there another man wanted to give me a job? Like it happened in Jalandhar. I was again angry for going back, but when I turned around, I found Rotarian Kaushik was calling me. He introduced me to one of the press reporters of "The Tribune" who called up a photographer and took many photographs while walking. There was another person from a Lions Club, who told me that he has taken a project and is planting 200 trees every day since December 28 and would continue till February 28. Later, he briefed me about the project and found he was in the business. Suddenly in front of us, we saw heartless people beating the horse badly. I could not imagine that man could be so heartless. The man was sweating & tired, so one could imagine the way he was beating the horse. Moreover, the horse was not moving ahead even an inch after beating so badly and he was just shouting and jumping. This was the first time I have seen cruelty to animal. I felt like beating the man in same way, as he did it with the poor animal. The horse was really small but in carry-van the weight of the goods was much-much more. Other two people were pushing the carry-van. Tears came out of my eyes looking at the scene and we stopped that man and asked the problem. He told that the calf of the horse was at home and so the horse was not ready for the work. After spending some time and convincing him that even animal understands language of love, I moved ahead. I reached Hisar at 7.30 P.M. I called up Rtr. Vikas Jain but he was not at home so I spoke to his father. He asked me to come home. His house was not a house it was a Bungalow a very big Bungalow, Uncle and Aunty welcomed me and even Rtr. Vikas came by that time. I explained him and requested to help for accommodation. He was a different kind of Rtr. and lot of kindness was in his heart. He accommodated me in his room. I spent a day at his house. I got up a little late and got to know what people think when they keep an unknown person without knowing the background. During breakfast, Aunty spoke to me. She was not aware about the expedition and the work I was doing. She saw the photographs and told me that she couldn't sleep throughout the whole night because of unawareness. I felt very sorry that I troubled Aunty. She thought I am not a genuine person & whole night she was worried. But later she took lot of care. The Jain family was well known in Hissar. They were millionaires, They have lot of property, which they had given on rent. "Kamla House" is the name of the Bungalow where they live. In the evening I have been interviewed by the City Cable Television. Then we went for the Rotary Club meeting to ask the club to provide some financial support. I would like to tell you a special experience of the Expedition. One day while walking towards Rohtak (80 Km) from Hissar - What happened? At a market place, I requested a garage fellow to give me a plate and hammer. He asked me the purpose and I told him that I would like to gather people and talk to them. They all laughed a lot on me and gave plate and a hammer I made a noise and shouted in Hindi language, "Suno Bhaiyon Suno, Paanch minute ke liye mere paas aao, suno... suno..... suno...." (listen-listen, come to me for five minutes) It was called street show. I really enjoyed the talk with those people and delivered the message. Many young and old men gathered & listened to me carefully.

I stayed again in an Asylum, in Rohatak and later in Bahdurgarh. (60 Km from Rohatak) In Bahadurgarh, the asylum I saw had many historic paintings. They all were Patriotic, which encourages people to leave in peace and unity not to fight for cast. When Mughal Soldiers used to kill Hindu's, Sikhs came forward to fight for Hindu Brahmin. Even I believe that there is only one religion and that is love.

On 18th January, I entered Delhi, which was just 30 Km from Bahadurgarh. I reached in the evening at 6.00 P.M. On the way, I met the reporter of Hindustan Times of Delhi. He asked about me, I explained to him and later he told me that he was the reporter. He took my Photograph also. I went to Lajpat Bhavan at Mr. Satya Paul's place, but he was not there. I met his P.A. and he was aware about the expedition. He accommodated me in the guest room.

The next day morning I saw many students because D.A.V. Public School was inside the campus of Lajpat Bhavan. I got the permission to deliver the message. It was again a very good experience. I got time to talk during the assembly, as I approached to the Principal before the assembly. I could talk to more than 500 students with the help of mike. I found myself very confident to talk in front of so many students. The whole speech was of more than ten minutes and everybody liked it very much and praised a lot. I presented Poster and Stickers as memento and told not to forget my talk and me. At the end of each speech I used to present Poster and Stickers (of WWF). In Newspaper "The Hindustan Times", I saw my news. I went to Shastri Bhavan and contacted Meenakshi Sharma (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports) and showed her that without any support from the Govt. I crossed more than a month and will complete the remaining journey. She wished me for the expedition. In the same building, I contacted Mr. Nitin Wakankar who was working in the Environment Ministry in Press Information and communication Dept. I requested him to help me for the Newspaper coverage. He asked me to come in the evening. So I went to the INS building where all Newspaper Offices are. The week Magazine reporter took my interview with the photographs, as I was having rucksack with me because I knew I would require it. Few more Newspaper reporters took my interview. In the evening I went back to Shastri Bhavan and contacted Mr. Nitin Wakankar. He introduced me to the reporters of Delhi News Papers Indian express, Times of India and Nav bharat Times as well as other reporters from Calcutta (Anand Bazar Patrika), Pune (Sakal), Bangalore (Kannada Prabha). Everyone asked me various questions and few of them took my Photographs too. As I was having rucksack with me because I decided to spend the day for News Paper work. After coming back at Lajpat Bhavan, I tried to meet Mr. Satya Paul but could not. He was always busy. On the second day in Delhi, Cable TV interviewed me and the shooting was on the highway. The interview was for more than half an hour. It was great experience for me and it was like a film. All previous interviews were inside the studios, but only Delhi interview was outside of the studio. Many people watch me during shooting and I was very happy. Later, I went to Sri Lanka Embassy but it was closed. They were having holiday. I visited INS building and contacted Mr. Rajeev Khandekar of Loksatta News Paper from Mumbai. He showed me my news in Loksatta. In the evening while coming back by bus to Lajpat Bhavan, I met a nice person. He asked me to come to Doordarshan office the next day. He was working in Doordarshan as a host actor for "One hour live show". His name was Mr. Mathur.

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Sri Lankan Visa

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Visited NMNH (National Museum of Natural History) and got many Posters and Stickers, more than 200 on OZONE protection & clean & healthy environment. I liked the stickers very much, it was conveying message clearly. The sticker was having a picture like our palm protects the earth from Ultra violet-B rays. It was mainly designed to make aware about Ozone and it's protection. For the first month of the Expedition, I struggled hard to keep my closest friends informed of my progress through letters and e-mail. But the effort was too much, so from Delhi onwards I adopted the diary-keeping method. Most travelers and expeditionary and sent installments used this, whenever a reliable looking post office appeared en route. Here are some facts that I noticed about Delhi. It contains what are probably the finest monuments in any city in India.

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The Qutab Minar

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One day luckily I met Mr. Satya Paul and Secretary of the Servants of the People Society, Mr. Shrof. As Mr. Satya Paul was always busy, but Secretary Mr. Shrof was from Ahamadabad and was more than 80 years old. He was the man of principle. Every day, he does everything on time. He spends one-hour of his day making thread of cotton on Charkha (the hand made machine like the one on which Gandhiji used to work) for his own clothes. He always uses Khadi and suggested me to use Khadi. Frankly speaking during expedition I could not wore Khadi Clothes, but now after coming back from the expedition, partially I started using Khadi. I met Mr. Rajeev Khandekar, he told me that one lady Mrs. Rashmi Ghatwai would like to talk to me as she read my news in "Loksatta" News Paper. He gave her number I called up and spoke to her for five minutes. She was very happy and excited to meet me. She invited me to come to her house on Sunday. She told she was waiting for my call and was excited to meet. On Sunday I spent whole day at Mrs. Rashmi Ghatwai's house. She was an environmentalist. Mr. Kishore her husband works in Bharat Petrolium. We had a talk about the expedition and even I came to know lot about her. Her articles got published in LOKPRABHA (Marathi Language famous Magazine). She has performed street shows and many other activities to make people aware about the problems of environment. She was a mother of two daughters and still spending time to do something for the environment. Her house was in Noida and I walked from Noida to Lajpat Bhavan after the lunch, which was around 20 Km.

Many times during the expedition I saw that people beat the Bulls or Horses' or buffalo's etc. even after those animal carrying lot of weight and running on the road. But still the stupid people unnecessary beat those animals. I really saw there was no need but people have hunter in their hands and so they beat otherwise they do not feel like driving a Bullock Cart or a carry van. I get angry whenever I see the hunter in the hands of people those who drive Bullock Cart or a carry van.

I thought why Govt. couldn't make more strict laws against cruelty to animals. If I would be the law minister I would have made a law that no Bullock Cart or carry van person will have hunter or stick or any thing in their hand. They can control the animals with their hands and off course with LAGAM. Inside the city many places Traffic Police are on duty. If they see such beating incident they would fine the person or send him away from the Bullock Cart or carry van for whole day. So at least the animals will be sitting peacefully for a day.

It was the evening of 25th January I saw beautiful scene on Rajpath {(The main road goes to Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's House)}. It was looking so beautiful that everyone would have liked to spend whole night on the Rajpath. The preparation was going on for celebrating the Republic Day on 26th January. Whole Rajpath, Rshtrapati Bhavan and India Gate were lighted. Thousands of flags were on the Rajpath. Many security guards were doing their job for the safety of the next day's program. The whole area was cleaned and decorated with the flowers.

In 1912, the capital of India was moved from Calcutta to Delhi. Plans were also made to build a new capital just outside Delhi, away from that crowded city, 5 kilometres to the south of Old Delhi in the early 1900's. It lies on the Jumna (or Yamuna) River, a tributary of the Ganges (or Ganga), in north central India. The English architects Sir Herbert Baker and Sir Edwin L. Lutyens planned the layout and designed buildings for the new city. Construction began in 1912 but was delayed during World War I (1914-1918). In 1931, New Delhi was completed and became the capital of India. The resulting complex is a spacious, attractive, and carefully planned city, with broad, tree-lined avenues and many open areas, parks, gardens, and fountains. The city remained the capital after India gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. India's constitution went into effect on Jan. 26, 1950. Since then, January 26 has been a national holiday called Republic Day. New Delhi has an annual Republic Day celebration, which features a huge parade. But I was going to miss the event. Actually my plan was to walk, carrying my message at the time when all the states of India perform their cultural show on Rajpath. In short, I wanted to walk on Rajpath, so that my message could reach billions and billions of Indians. I tried to get the permission before I started the expedition and I even went to Prime Minister and President's office, but it was just impossible.

On 26th , I moved towards Jaipur and reached the pink city after crossing two villages, which were Gurgaon and Kotputti where I spent the nights in the asylums. Jaipur city's remarkable buildings includes a palace, an open-air astronomical observatory, and an elegant five-storey building known as Hawa Mahal or Palace of Winds. The palace is where women of the Maharaja's harem were able to peer out at the world unobserved through its 593 windows and peepholes. In Jaipur, I contacted Rtr. Sandeep who helped me a lot. First he took me to the City Cable Television office and later at a Hindi Newspaper. I have been interviewed at both places. He dropped at the D.A.V. Public School at Vaishali Nagar where I got help from Principal Mr. Goel (Ref- Satya Paul -Servants of the people Society) for accommodation and he put me in the School's guesthouse. The next day morning in Jaipur, I delivered the message to the same school students. I noticed that the impact of my speech was more on the students below 10th standard or students of less than 17 yrs of age. One girl after the speech gave me address of her Uncle, as she was encouraged by my talk and her Uncle was involved in doing the similar kind of work.

I moved towards Ajmer, which was around 120 Km. On the way I found another School, which was Tagore Public School. After getting permission, I delivered the message to nearly 1000 students and it was great experience too. I thought of visiting Mr. Manoj Kulshreshtha, Uncle of the small girl studying in the same school, his house was near by. I spent some time knowing his activity. He was associated with WWF and BNHS (Mumbai) and did lot of projects. He was a specialist in Bird watching. It was great pleasure to meet such type of environmentalist. I had snacks at his place and moved ahead.

There was another funny experience on this highway. At a check post, two Traffic Police stopped me and asked, "what you are selling?" I was angry at the stupid Police, I was on the highway and they saw me coming from long distance still they asked me such question (Sales man will sale the things in the city, not on the highway?) I didn't reply just laughed but one of them opened the rucksack and took out my toothbrush and said, "So, you are selling tooth brush, give me one (off course free)." I opened my mouth and explained to them my expedition and both of them felt ashamed on their behavior. I met a very nice truck driver. When I asked for hitchhiking, he told me that he would not go to Ajmer, but would drop me 30 Km, as Ajmer was still 90 Km. He enquired me about the work I do. When I explained him about the expedition. He was so happy that he changed his route for me. He was supposed to go to Udaypur from different and short route, but I couldn't believe that just for me he changed his route. Even I told him I would get any other truck and told him to not trouble himself. He didn't listen, changed the route and dropped me at Ajmer in the evening at around 6 O'clock. Many times I met same kind of truck drivers. Sometimes I used to have lunch with them. I got a lot of help from the truck drivers in all over India. Because of those kind people I could travel without money. Mostly I had to hitchhike a lot in India and Vietnam.

After Ajmer, the next five day's I spent mostly in the villages and stayed in the Asylums. First night I spent at a village called BHIM it was around 80 Km. I had a very nice walk, I used to take rest for 15-20 minutes every two hours. I used to have fruits and snacks on the way. People used to ask me and used to look at me with the curiosity. In the evening time wherever the distance was more than 45 Km, I used to hitchhike. Second day at Rajsamand village, which was again around 80 Km. Third day to Udaipur, which was 60 Km. Fourth day to Himatnagar and fifth day I had lot of problems in walking. My legs and ankles were paining a lot and I got pimples on my toes. I didn't walk much hitchhiked till Ahamadabad. There in Ahamadabad, I contacted Mr. Joshi (Ref- Satya Paul -Servants of the people Society). He was not at home, but I spoke to his daughter on the phone. I explained her and given reference of Satya Paul Uncle. She asked me to call again, after some time. I called up and got the reply that I should go to Bhagat Mahila Chatralaya, she already informed in charge of Bhagat Mahila Chatralaya. When I reached, I came to know it was a girls hostel. An 80-year-old lady welcomed me and everyone called her maji. I kept my rucksack and told them that I would be coming at night. I called Rtr. Bhavesh, whose number was with me .I explained to him and requested him to accompany me for the Rotary Club meeting. He came down to the hostel and picked me and took me to Rotarian Patwardhan's office. I explained him about my expedition and the way I walk i.e. with the help of Rotary He asked us to come to the meeting which was going to be there on the same day. At around 7 O'clock, it was the meeting time and we went to Ellicebridge Gymkhana. Rotarian Patwardhan introduced me to the Rotarians and asked me to talk. It was the second Rotary Club, provided financial assistance. I thanked them and Rtr. Bhavesh dropped me back to the Hostel. When Maji (A woman like a mother- we call Maji) got to know more about me, she was very much impressed for the work that I was doing and took lot of care. Mr. Joshi told me to stay in University and have food in the Hostel. But Maji does not wanted me to stay away and she asked and forced me to stay in the Hostel itself. I had dinner and went to sleep. I got a big hall where 3-4 workers were there with me to sleep. It was my second day in Ahamadabad and I was not feeling well. My stomach was having some problem. Maji told me that stomach problem was because of change in water. I went to a clinic and there was a lady homeopathic doctor. I requested her for free treatment after showing the letter of Indian Medical Association. She gave me homeopathic medicine and suggested me to visit the nearest hospital i.e. "Sushrusha" for allopathic treatment to get recover fast. I went to "Sushrusha" and contacted Dr. Mohale. I explained and showed the same letter and requested for free treatment. He prescribed medicines for five days and told me not to eat solid for at least 2-3 days and take enough rest. He asked me to take precaution of drinking water. That was first time in the expedition I fall sick and went to the hospital. I thought of spending time watching cricket (India-Pakistan) match. So, I went to Rtr. Pathik's office and requested him to drop me at his house. He dropped me at his house and his brother Ashok was at home. I spent the whole day at his house. In the evening Ashok, took me to the meeting of Rotary Club have Metro and that was the third Club provided financial assistance. On the way, I bought medicines of Rs. 139/- and Rtr. Ashok dropped me to the hostel. I bought many Glucose Packets, as Doctor suggested me to drink Glucose. I explained Maji about the sickness. She immediately asked a servant to bring curd from the market. She gave me rice and curd to eat I drank water after dinner and slept at 10 O'clock.

To have the fulfillment of a Twenty-four-year-old ambition apparently within one's grasp can be quite disconcerting. This was a moment I had thought about so often that when I actually found myself living through it, I felt as though some favourite scene from a novel had come, incredibly to life. However with in a few weeks my journey had degenerated from a happy-go-lucky walk to a grim struggle for progress by any means. At first my disappointment was acute, but I had set out to enjoy myself by seeing the world, delivering the speech through the schools, Colleges and Rotary Clubs. So I soon became adjusted to these conditions, which led to quite a few interesting adventures that you will come across while reading.

Ahamadabad lies on the Sabarmati River, in India's cotton-growing region. The city is the nation's textile manufacturing and trade centre. The city is divided into two sections, one each side of the Sabarmati. On the eastern bank lies the original city dating back to the 1400's. This is an overcrowded area with densely packed houses and busy shops. Weaving mills and other factories stand on the outskirts. This eastern part of Ahmadabad has many historical monuments. It is a beautiful city, with splendid mosques and many examples of Hindu, Muslim, and Jain architecture. On the west bank of the river, linked to eastern Ahmadabad by the Ellis Bridge, lies the sprawling modern area of the city. Western Ahmadabad includes many upper-class suburbs and the principal shopping and leisure areas. I was not having enough time with me.

I thought of reaching Bombay (Mumbai) and take rest there, as there was lot of work to do. The next day I decided to walk and hitchhike and I was feeling better compare to yesterday. Maji blessed me, I said goodbye to all and moved ahead. On the way I got a bad experience, a drunker snatched my camera from my pouch, but I held his hand and part of the camera. He was shouting and asking, what I have in the bag? He was not ready to leave my camera. First I was scared, but later I took aggressive stand. The whole drama was continued for 5 minutes. On a tea stall few people were watching the drama. One of them came and helped me. He shouted on him and gave my camera back to me. I thanked him and moved ahead. I had fruits and water after regular interval. In the afternoon at a check post, I requested the officer to help me for lift (hitchhike) I waited for an hour, but I found he did not pay attention to my request. I tried to remind him, he shouted on me, "Since one hour I am watching you, why are you standing here?" as he shouted on me, tears came out. When the other officer saw tears in my eyes, they shouted on him. I moved ahead, other officer tried to call me back for the assistance but I didn't stopped. Ahead after some time I got a lift and the truck driver dropped me at a Dhaba (Highway Hotel) near Surat as he was going in different direction. I was facing many problems. At night in the Dhaba, I had rice and took medicines. I explained and requested Dhaba owner for spending night. He was very kind he asked me to sleep inside, outside was cold. I spent the whole night, but could not sleep properly.

In the morning the Dhaba owner helped me for hitchhike and he asked a truck driver to drop me at Thane. But the driver dropped 50 Km before Thane, as he was also going in different direction. It was afternoon, I had fruits and took medicine in that village and walked ahead. I tired to walk, but felt weak but because of fruits and water I got the power to walk. I walked less and took more rest. At the same time, I was trying for hitchhike but all in vain. In the evening I got at the traffic Police booth. First time I felt like I got god because it was high time of tolerance and was just impossible to walk. I explained the Policeman and requested him to help for hitchhike. He asked me to wait, meantime I eat few biscuits, spent almost an hour with him. He was very happy and was enquiring a lot about the expedition. At around 8 O'clock, he asked one truck driver to drop me in Thane, which was I believe around 40 Km from that place. At last I reached Thane at 9 p.m. I knew Mr. Kishor Lokhande (brother of Mr. Vijay Lokhande, coach of Ajeentha Sports Club) lives in Thane, but I didn't have his number or address. So first I called up Aurangabad and spoke to Mr. Supekar (my coach) and got the phone number. I called up and spoke to Mr. Lokhande He gave me his residence address and asked me to come. It was 10 O'clock when I reach his house. He welcomed me and asked to have food. First I took bath and told Sir and Bhabi (his wife) that I would eat only rice because of stomach problem. I experienced body pain that day, so I had a pain killer tablet and slept immediately after chatting for little time.

Next morning I made a call to Leena's (a Friend) house and got the phone number of her brother, Harshad and Amod Kulkarni, who lives in Bombay. Then I called up Harshad and told him that I would be coming to his house by evening. I felt much better today and was ready to walk to Mumbai without any problem. I thanked Sir and Bhabi and moved out with their blessings. It was just 20 km walking and I reached at Amod's house at 2.30 p.m. Everyone welcomed me, they all were surprised and shocked that I spent two months walking from north to south. I took bath, had lunch and spent time watching TV. I decided to take enough rest and recover fast.

On the second day in Mumbai I visited BNHS and WWF but got disappointment. I visited their office for help to deliver my message all over Bombay through Media, like TV and News Paper. I wanted to convert Indian Rupees into US$. Amod and me first went to SBI (State Bank of India) but here he came to know that getting US$ was very difficult task, no doubt if you have Visa. You must have tickets too. Without tickets it's difficult. Even we contacted the Branch Manager, but he asked many questions and denied for any possibility. Then we went to IOB (Indian Overseas Bank) and got the same answer. The branch manager told us that we would have issued $ if you had account with us. The officer suggested us to visit Thomas Cook. Harshad's friend was working in Thomas Cook and he spoke to Mr. Aldrine. He explained him and requested him to help me. Mr. Aldrine asked to visit his office. Amod and I went to Thomas Cook, showed him all the documents he faxed few of them to his boss and asked his opinion on phone. I got the green signal that I was getting travelers’ cheque of SBI. Mr. Aldrine asked us to encash it from the nearest branch of SBI. We moved out and encashed all cheques of Rs. 40,000 (the money I got from my sports Club, City Corporation, by a Politician and on the way through Rotary Clubs) and came back. I saw my file was lying on the table. When we were out, in mean time the office staff had gone through my file and got to know about my expedition. Many staff members enquired in detail about my expedition. Mr. Aldrine was helping me a lot. I got US$ 950 against Rs. 40,000. I kept 500 rupees with me. Mr. Aldrine gifted me a west pouch, which I gifted to Amod later cause I had one already of WWF. I completed a very big work just because of Harshad. We came back home at 4 O'clock had lunch and spent time watching TV. I called up Mr. Sanjay Singh of Zee TV (Friend of Rashmi-Delhi) and explained him. He told me it is not possible for him and such news. They get readymade news agencies and he asked me to contact Mr. Salman who was working for Bombay City Cable (A television channel). He gave me his Phone and Pager number. When I contacted Mr. Salman, he asked me, my contact number and said that he would call next day morning for the confirmation of place for the interview.

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Meeting Sachin Tendulkar

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In the evening, I went to play Table Tennis (the housing society was having a Table in a big hall) As soon as I entered in to the hall I was surprised and shocked and I couldn't believe on my eyes, Sachin was sitting on a chair. Yes Sachin Tendulkar, the great Cricketer in the World and pride of India. I was stunt for two minutes; I did not understand what to do. I was watching him with the big eyes. I went home and brought my Camera. I requested Sachin for few Photographs. First I explained Sachin about my Expedition and took Photographs. It was great moment of my life. Sachin wished me for the success of the expedition. Amod and Harshad used to play with him as he was staying in the same society. Now he has big Bungalows, but still he stays sometime with his parents. I saw his daughter who was just One year old and looks like Sachin. I packed my rucksack and told everyone that I would be leaving next day. Aunty took lot of care in those 3-4 days and she used to force me to eat food. Harshad and Amod were very good to me and they helped me a lot in Mumbai. It was time to say goodbye to Mumbai. Uncle and Aunty blessed me before leaving. Aunty packed little food and fruits for me. She repeatedly asked me if I want anything more. I thanked them all and moved ahead. Now I was much better and healthy.

I wore a (Burmuda) half jeans pant, which was given by Amod. Earlier, I used to wear full pant, but because it was summer season, so I started using Half Pant. During walk I noticed change in behaviour of the people. It was the effect of Western Culture One person said "Hello!!!!!!!" It never used to happen before, but because I was wearing a nice half Bermuda type of Short, people changed their look and there was respect in their behaviour. PUNE was 190 km from Mumbai. Whole day I was searching for a tree on the highway to take rest in shadow, as it was hot, but didn't find even a single tree for Kilometres. I walked till evening and hitchhiked. I reached Pune at 8 O'clock and contacted Rtr. Vikram Kothari (who met me in "Rotasia" A big meeting of Rotaractors-Agra). He asked me to wait for him at a hotel. Mean time, I called up Mr. Milind Deshmukh (Ref- Servants of India Soc- Delhi -Mr. Satya Paul who has already sent a letter to many people of different cities in India and the same list was with me.) and got disappoint. I was not happy with his behaviour, he asked me to spend a night anywhere in the hotel and visit him during office hours, the next day. Further he said, “I would see what best I can do for you." People in other State that I crossed, helped and welcomed me even at night at 12 but Home State people shut their houses for me (off course not all). It was painful to have such people working for the organization which is devoted for the benefit of the people. Rtr. Vikram picked me and took me to another member's House. Those Rotaractors called up another two members Matthias and Sujay. It was 10.30 and I told them that I would be staying at Servants of India Soc. the next day, so Matthias agreed to keep me for the night at his house. We reached at Matthias' house at 12 and slept at 12.45 am.

Next day after breakfast, I called up Mr. Milind Deshmuckh (Servants of India Soc.) He asked me to come to the office. He was a cold and interest less person, he didn't enquire about expedition. He asked one of the servants to open a guesthouse for me. I got a place to stay and I washed few clothes and visited S.P. High School with 3-4 Rotaractors but Principal did not allow me to talk. In the evening, I attained Rotary and Rotaract Club meetings. At night I called up at our neighbor's place and kept message for my brother to come to Pune with the remaining cards. I had around 2000 small cards at my home (total I had 5000 out of which 3000 I distributed in the schools since I started the expedition. The cards were little bigger than Visiting Cards, made by cutting the remaining greeting cards, with the message on it.) I used to distribute those cards in the Schools amongst the students. I came back to the guesthouse at 11 and slept at 11.45 In Pune City, which is known as the house of education, I tried to visit few Schools, but because of exams in the next month no one wanted to waste their time. No one allowed me to talk. In the evening I attained Rotary and Rotaract Clubs meetings where I got financial support from two Rotary Clubs. Today I enjoyed a play organized by Rotary Club of Hill Side. It was really best play. I spent a nice time in Pune City, second day morning Salil picked me and took me at Rotarian Kshirsagar's house. I got a surprise my brother was there with Mr. Nilesh Kapadia (One of the great supporter in the success of this expedition). After spending some time with them, I visited Newspaper offices to deliver my message. In the evening I attained 3-4 Rotaract Club meetings and delivered the speech amongst all young college girls and guys Rotaract members. I requested them to spread this message the same way as I do by visiting schools and talking to the students. came back at 8 O'clock my brother was waiting for me, we went out for dinner. I gave him unwanted material to take back. Next day I moved out with brother, had breakfast, said goodbye to him and started towards Satara, the next destination. In the evening I reached Satara by walk and hitchhike at 7 O'clock. This town is situated on the hills and there lots of trees on the highway, as well as inside the city too. I went to Rtr. Vinod Lahoti's place at a Clothe shop "Lahoti Collections". He was also aware about my expedition (Agra Meeting). With in no time he asked me to stay at his house. His house was on the top of the shop itself. He took me upstairs and me introduced to his mother. He called up 4-5 members and decided the next day's program. I had very good dinner at his house. I was really enjoying the expedition because I was getting to meet good people. In the morning, first we visited a Newspaper Office, then around 6-7 enthusiastic girls and persons Rotaract members visited S.E.M.S. School. Rtr. Vinod was having very good rapport with the Principal and he asked a teacher to gather students outside. After the speech, the Principal asked us to wait. He was very happy and impressed. He asked to bring cold drinks and snacks for us and he forced us to have it even after denying a lot. These Rotaractors were also impressed and later respected highly. We visited one more School and got the same response. I did not wanted to spend much time after the speech. I carried my rucksack, thanked everyone and moved out towards Karad another small town. This was just 30 Km. Vinod asked his man to drop me on the highway. I reached Karad at 8 O'clock. Vinod already informed a Rotaract member, Sagar and he gave me his phone number to contact him as soon as I reached Karad I called up Rtr. Sagar and he came with his three more friends. First we had dinner in the nearest hotel and then he asked me to stay with Rtr. Krishna, who was staying alone and was originally from Kolhapur. I was crossing the villages one by one and delivering the message everywhere, wherever I got chance. In that small town I visited two schools and first time in my expedition small students came up with the query. Sagar took me to his Health Fitness Factory and then I moved ahead towards Kolhapur.

The ankle and toe problem started again I thought of showing it to a Doctor in Kolhapur. At 6 O'clock around 15 km before Kolhapur a Car stopped, person sitting in the car asked me "Are you Praveen Ohal?" I replied, yes. He asked me to come inside and told me that he got the information from Rtr. Vinod. His name was Milind Dhond and was one of the richest in Kolhapur. Owner of many companies in India, as well as in Dubai too. He put me in the best hotel, Hotel Ayodhya. The rent I believe was not less than Rs. 300. I never stayed in such a big Hotel. After getting ready he took me to a Café restaurant, where another Rotaract member Asif Shaikh was waiting. Mr. Milind called up Rotaractors of Hubli and Belgum and told them to help me whenever I would be in their town. I requested to make two banners to put on my rucksack stating "Save Earth-Plant trees" so that people should know why I walk otherwise people thinks that I am a salesman. Mr. Milind supported me financially too. I never met any Rtr. like him who would spend so much on me. He spoke to the Principal of Seventh Day Adventist and fixed up the timing for the talk. I thanked him a lot, as I would be moving ahead the next day. After school speech, I would not see him again. In the morning, I visited Seventh Day Adventist School and delivered speech. Principal was very enthusiastic. I visited two more schools with Rtr. Abhay and got the banners. The message was clear with the picture of tree in between words i.e. Save Earth and Plant Trees. I put one banner on my rucksack and other I kept for future use. I saw my news in Sakal Newspaper. After thanking all Rotaractors, I moved ahead towards Belgaum.

I reached by walk and hitchhiking at 9.30, but the truck dropped me out of the town. I called up Rotarian Manohar Watwe from Rotary Club of Belgaum Midtown, gave ref of Rtr. Milind Dhond, he asked me to wait for his call on the same phone number. After ten minutes, he called me and asked me to go to the nearest hotel i.e. Hotel Hanuman On the highway. He booked a room for me in a three star hotel. He told me that he would be contact me the next day morning. As per the promise next day morning Rotary Club President, Secretary and Rotarian Watwe came to the Hotel. After introduction and knowing more about me, first they took me to the Office of the famous Local Newspaper "Tarun Bharat" and Later City Cable Television. Both the places, beautiful lady took my interview. Later we visited a School, where I got 4th, 5th and 6th standard students to deliver the speech. In the afternoon we had lunch, I thanked them and moved ahead. I was in a hurry to move towards Hubli, after few hours walk in the evening I hitchhiked. The truck driver and cleaner were very nice, on the way and they stopped and prepared dinner, as it was their time of dinner. They served me too. Sometimes I felt of leaving the first truck and take another, but the driver and cleaner becomes so close friend that even they do not want me to leave half way and even I did not liked leaving them and catching another one.

At night at 11.45, I reached Hubli and called up Rtr. Pawan Haribal (who was informed by Milind Dhond) he asked me to go to Hotel Vipra, which belongs to his uncle and would talk to hotel manager. It was very near and I got a room as Rtr. Pawan already told manager about me. I was in Karnataka and decided to spend a day there because every day I was walking and wanted to take a day rest. I wanted to visit a Doctor and get medicine for my toes, as the pimples on my toes were troubling a lot. First I visited a nearest small clinic after explaining requested for free treatment. He was very nice Doctor, he suggested me a cream to use. I came back to the hotel and Rtr. Pawan took me to the Rotary English medium School. That day I had given the longest speech ever in my expedition and got the same response. I washed few clothes and in the evening I explained Rotaractors in a meeting, how they can carry on awareness program and what they can do to save our mother earth. I was approaching towards Bangalore. Before I reach Bangalore, I stayed a night in Davangere in a lodge and next day when I left Davangere, I met few Rotaract members in the city. One of them was very active and he went to City Cable Television (Local TV channel) office and came along with the reporter. We were in the main area of the city and people were watching me and were curious. The City Cable Television reporter took interview and shooting. After spending lot of time, they dropped me on the highway. I reached Bangalore by walk and hitchhike at 5.30 p.m. I called up many Rotaract members but I could not get any one. At last I took out Mr.Satya Paul's (Delhi) list and visited Vallabhniketan (asylum for orphans).

His place was still 15 km far I reached by walk at 9.30 contacted Mr. E. P. Menon who welcomed me when I showed him the letter of Mr. Satya Paul. First he took me out in the hotel for dinner. He told me about himself that he has also traveled world on foot. I got a guest room to sleep.

In Bangalore, I visited schools but got the worst experience. Principal and teachers were very narrow-minded. I wasted my whole day visiting schools and trying for the permission. In Bangalore, I got financial support from Peeniya Rotary Club. Kempe Gowda, a local chieftain, founded Bangalore in 1537. He called the city Bengaluru, which means village of boiled beans. He built three chattris (pavilions) to mark the city limits. One of these pavilions, rebuilt by Hyder Ali in 1761, can still be seen in the Lal Bagh Botanic Garden. The city's parks include Cubbon Park, was laid out in 1864 and Lal Bagh Botanic Garden, was laid out by Hyder Ali in the 1700's. The city's main problem has been a severe shortage of water. Bangalore has no local rivers and an annual rainfall of only about 90 centimetres. The problem has become worse with the growth of population and industrial activity. But water from the Cauvery River is now being supplied direct through almost 80 kilometres of pipeline. I moved out of Bangalore with not good experience. I thanked Prof. E. P. Menon and moved out of Vallabhniketan. I walked towards Mysore and reached in the evening mostly by hitchhike. After contacting few Rotaractors phone numbers one suggested me to go for Rotary Club meeting. It was Human Rights Day and Rotary was celebrating it. I was lucky to deliver the speech on that day and one of the Rotarian praised a lot stating, "I should get all success in achieving peace and love amongst people of the World."I have got little financial support from the club and for accommodation same Rotarian came forward, Rotarian Panchajanyam who was very much interested in me. He asked me to sit in his car and took me to a hotel. He sponsored the stay, I thanked him a lot and had dinner after checking in. Then I got a call from Rotarian Shyamsunder who was very enthusiastic, Rotarian Panchajanyam told him about me and help me for spreading the message in the school. He asked me to give call next day for visiting school. I called Rotarian Shyamsunder the next day morning. He said sorry for not arranging any school. I told him that I would visit the nearest schools. I visited two schools but didn't find any possibility of talk.

I was really frustrated thinking what kind of people are there in the south. After explaining that I am spending my two years to save our mother earth, can't you allow me to talk to your students for just 15 minutes? But no effect, I came back with the frustration. I called up Rotarian Shyamsunder and told him that I would be leaving immediately. He wanted to meet me once before I go, so he came down to the hotel and said he would drop me on the highway. On the way, he showed me Mysore Palace but because of time constraint we took Photographs at the gate. I thanked him and moved ahead. On the way, I got Bandipur National Park and that was not possible to cross by walk and even very less chances of hitchhiking. The road goes through forest (Park) and was more than 60 Km. so I got into the Bus. Luckily I met a person who was working in the National Park, so rest of the time I spent chatting with him and got the following information. India currently has 85 national Parks covering 3.6 million sq. km. and 448 wildlife sanctuaries covering about 120,000 sq. kms. in the major biogeographic zones. The total extent of protected areas includes 5 World Heritage sites, 9 Biosphere Reserves and 6 Ramsar sites. The forest is indeed impressive, it is overrun with tribal hunters from several local groups. Snares and booby traps of all kinds await their animal victims on the forest trails, Hunters armed with guns or even poison arrows stalk and kill anything large that moves. I heard that local people use more than 20 different hunting techniques. Giant squirrels, flying squirrels, monitor lizards and even monkeys are hunted with bows that shoot projectiles of hardened clay. Deer and wild pigs, and occasionally leopards are choked to death in wire snares cunningly concealed across their paths. Monkeys, mouse deer and hares are chased with dogs and clubbed to death, sometimes after being driven into nets. Species that rest or nest in tree-cavities, such as flying squirrels, palm civets, hornbills and other birds are pulled out and killed by experts who can climb giant forest trees using nothing more than simple notches cut on their boles. Pangolins, porcupines and monitor lizards are smoked out of their underground burrows. Such deadly skills of forest people, developed through centuries of tradition, are now at the service of international wildlife trade for a price of a few hundred rupees or even a bottle of country-made liquor. When, there was constant propaganda that the tribal people are involved in wildlife trading as well as destroying forest, some of the villagers, they countered the complaint by asking how they could destroy the forest. They owned no trucks; they hardly had even a bullock-cart; the utmost that they could carry away was a head load of produce for sale to maintain their families and that too against a license. The utmost that they wanted was wood to keep them warm in the winter months, to reconstruct or repair their huts and carry on their little cottage industries. Their fuel-needs for cooking, they said, were not much, for they had not much to cook. Having explained their own position they invariably turned to the amount of (forest) destruction that was taking place all around them. They asked how the ex-zamindars (landlords), in violation of their agreements and the forest rules and laws, devastated vast tracts of forest land right in front of officials. They also related how the contractors stray outside the contracted coupes, carry loads in trucks in excess of their authorized capacity and otherwise exploit both the forest and the tribal people. There is feeling among the tribal that all the arguments in favour of preservation and development of forests are intended to refuse them their demands. They argue that when it is a question of industry, township, development work or projects of rehabilitation, all these possible arguments are forgotten and vast tracts are placed at the disposal of outsiders who mercilessly destroy the forest wealth with or without necessity. I saw Monkeys on both sides of the road staring at the visitors for food. I really felt bad because many villagers cut the trees and it affects on these animals. They do not get fruits of the trees and so they stare for food. I saw Deer's, Peacocks and Elephants. In that area, I saw many people use Elephant for their own work, where as Bandipur National Park is known for Elephants.

It was midnight at 12 O'clock, when I reached Coimbatore. I tried to call few Rotaractors but I could not contact any one. I visited the nearest Police Station and requested the duty Officer to help me for spending night. The officer asked me to go to police Club that was around 2 Km. It was first time that I was walking after 12 O'clock in the night. I met a person on the way looked like a bad man he asked me where I am going so just to avoid him I lied and said I am a police and going for the training to Police Club. I found myself that I have become courageous person. I reached Police Club and contacted duty officer, explained him and requested to help for spending the night. He was very nice he agreed but before that he asked me to take out everything out of the rucksack. He told me that last year there was Bomb explosion in Coimbatore so they had to perform their duty. Officer made arrangement in a lodge. It was 2 O'clock to sleep. Next day I got up little late and called up the same number of a Rtr. that I tried last night. But this time I got Rtr. Mohammad. It was his office, so I couldn't get him last night. I explained him little about the expedition and requested him to come. He came down and took me to the factory (his own factory). Here I explained him in detail. He was shocked and started calling other Rotaractors. He took me to Rtr. Santosh's house, where two more members were there from Bangalore Rotaract Club, Niraj and Chandan. I had lunch at his house. His family members were praising me a lot, but his mother and grandmother both could not understand Hindi, so they were facing many problems while talking to me but they were wanted to talk to me much and they took help of Santosh. Actually in South India people do not speak Hindi Language. Widely spoken languages in south are the local languages. After lunch Rtr. Santosh took us at a sports club in his car. We enjoyed swimming in the Club. In the evening there was inauguration of Annual District Rotaract Trekking Program. We went to the venue, where Santosh asked one of the members to go with me to get my rucksack from the lodge. I carried my rucksack, thanked the lodge member and tried to meet the Police officer who helped me at night, but he was not there. I kept the message for him and requested the other officer to convey my regards. I came back at the venue and it was a play theatre and there were not less than 500 people. There was dinner followed by inaugural function and Cultural program. I got the opportunity to say few words and delivered my message to the audience. I noticed one thing during dinner the organizers means Rotaractors used Plastic glasses and Silver-plated Paper Dishes that is not environment friendly they should have used washable glasses and plates fully environment friendly. I found the same thing many places. Even educated people do not understand the importance and use of non-environment friendly material. I have noticed not only educated people but also the people who work for environment and related field they are not dedicated. You will find very few people who put their heart and soul for saving our mother earth, whichever way they can. Rtr. Santosh accommodated me in his house where the other two Rotaractors were also there. On Sunday all members were having Trekking program towards Ooty near Pillur Dam, around 60 Km from Coimbatore. We all got ready and reached on the spot, where every one supposed to gather. But as usual we were supposed to leave at 6.30, but moved at 7.30. We reached a village in an hour. There was a very big temple where in front of us lots of people were sacrificing Goats. I couldn't dare to see the scene. In India one cannot convince the priest or people for not sacrificing goats. It is very difficult. If one tries to do it people would sacrifice that person also. We waited for the food and water because of improper planning and arrangement. At last few members came carrying food packets. Each person and girl got their own food packet and a water bottle for the day. We started at 11.30 to climb. But half an hour later everyone started eating, as everyone was hungry. There was another problem that no one was aware about the route to go to Pillur Dam. We used to ask villagers, those whom we met on the way. But even then we missed the way and reached at a different place. It was a beautiful spot there was a waterfall around 150 feet high. We spent time at the bottom of the waterfall. We enjoyed a lot. We were supposed to reach Pillur Dam by 6 O'clock, so without wasting much time we started towards Dam searching and finding ways through forest. Finally we were successful to reach Pillur Dam and most important was in time. Because the bus was about to leave, it was 10 minutes past 6. First time in my expedition I enjoyed trekking with Rotaractors. At night we had dinner in the hotel and came back.

When I was leaving Santosh's house to go for the next destination, I saw tears in Aunty and grandmother's eyes. They loved me so much and treated as if I am part of their family and going away from them. Grandma prepared Dosa for me. I wanted to move towards Thrissur, (120 Km from Coimbatore), so I took blessings of all by touching their feet and moved ahead. Mostly in south sometimes I faced problem of hitchhiking because of language, at a place I saw a truck I met the driver and the helper they were preparing food. I explained them and requested to drop me at Thrissur. It was late evening, but still I waited for them as they promised me to drop at Thrissur. After dinner they dropped me at Thrissur at 10 O'clock. I called up Rtr. Solly Thomas. He came down to help me in his car with three other members. They made accommodation in a lodge, which was belongs to Rotaract member Jumman Koola. They did not wanted to take much time of mine, they asked me to take rest. After dinner, I slept at 11.30

It was 2nd March and I was in Kerala. All Rotaract members kept informal meeting at lodge itself. When I explained them in detail as usual the same thing happened, they were shocked, praised and spent lot of time enquiring more about the expedition. So after spending little time and heavy breakfast one of the members dropped me on the highway. I moved towards Cochin (90 Km from Thrissur) and reached in the evening at 7.30 p.m. I saw a Newspaper Office "Malyalam Manorama". After little explanation, the reporter took my interview and even took a photograph the one with Sachin Tendulkar. Then from the office itself, I called up Rtr. Binu Ninan Philip. He asked me to wait out of the gate of the News Paper Office. He picked me and straightway put me in a very good hotel. He took me in good restaurant for dinner and said he will come the next day with more members.

Next day, few members came to see me, I spent time with them. Rtr. Binu was very much impressed and wanted to show me few tourist places. He arranged a car for it. But I got to see only a Church where Vascodegama's dead body was kept for 14 year and later Portugal's carried it to Lisbon. Due to time constraint, I had to come back. I thanked all of them and started walk towards Quillon (Collam) (140 Km from Cochin) by walk and hitchhiking I reached 35 Km before Quillon at 10 O'clock. I never wanted to spend money on transportation but at night I could not get lift and because of language problem it was difficult to get place to sleep in villages in all over south. This time to reach Quillon I took bus. It was almost midnight 12. I called up Rtr. Vinod and requested him to help me. He came at the Bus station with in ten minutes. I had dinner in the nearest hotel where I was waiting for him. Spend night at his house and could sleep at 1.00 a.m.

I was not getting enough sleep. I was not feeling well again because of every day traveling and less sleep. I had breakfast and carried my rucksack. Rtr. Vinod and other members were wanted me to visit local News Paper Office, which was on the way. So after interviewing in two Newspaper Offices I thanked them and moved ahead towards Trivendrum. (Thiruvananthapuram) (70 Km). I was not feeling well. I bought l pack and had fruits on the way. After reaching Trivendrum, I called up Rtr. Arun. It was around 6 O'clock. He welcomed me. First I requested him to take me to Rotary Club meeting if any. Luckily there was a meeting and I got financial support. Rtr. Arun accommodated me at his house. There were 10-12 members at his house waiting for us. All welcomed me and spent lot of time with me. It was after long time, I washed my clothes and slept at night at 12.

I was happy to celebrate the first country that I would visit from Trivendram. This was the first time my planning failed. I planned to go to Colombo (Sri Lanka) by ship by requesting the Captain to allow me to travel free against which I would work. However, I came to know that Govt. stopped Ship journey because of robbery and terrorism by LTTE (Liberation Tiger of Tamil Elam). I was in trouble and there was no alternative, other than Airplane. I knew it would cost me a lot. Even then I tried to search various ways, I thought I would go by air and come back by Ship to Chennai (Madras). Today, the most important work was to be done and that was getting an air ticket. I was with one of the Rotaract members, Surya. First, we visited Air Lanka's office at AKG centre enquired about the airfare and after explaining about my expedition I requested for concession and one-way ticket. The officer told us that they cannot give any concession, but Ticket Agents would help. We went to a ticket agent explained the situation to the lady officer. We asked if I could get one-way ticket, so while returning back I can travel by ship. The lady told it is not possible. I must have return ticket with me and only airport officers would allow me to enter. After not finding any solution, I had to buy a Ticket, (Trivendrum- Colombo -Chennai) which cost me Rs. 5820/ with concession. I had to use Thomas Cook traveler's cheque (US$ 50) for the ticket, as I could not save and raise enough funds since I left Mumbai. The flight was on 6th March at 8.30 in the morning i.e. the next day. After getting the ticket, Surya and I visited office of Indian Express (Newspaper) and I gave an interview. We went to Malyalam Manorama Newspaper Office. I saw my news in Quillon edition with a big photograph of mine with Sachin. In the evening attained Rotaract Club meeting and then Rotary Club where I got financial assistance. After coming back I had dinner, met everyone of Arun's family and thanked them all, I packed my rucksack, as reporting was at 6.30 a.m. I slept late, at 12 again.

The day came to Fly, I got ready by 6 O'clock and moved with Arun. He dropped me at the Airport I thanked him and entered inside. I was so excited, because this was the first time I would be flying in the sky, as well as the first country of the Expedition I was going to. It was the first time in my life that I would go out of India. I took a trolley, but before that I enquired whether it was free or have to pay anything. But it was free I put my rucksack and moved for Custom Clearance, Immigration, Security Check etc. It took two hours to complete the procedure. Then I realized why reporting time was two hours before the Flight time. As I crossed the entrance gates one by one, I experienced each moment different and exciting. When I came at the ground where 3-4 Plane's were standing, I was stunt. It was my first time to see an Airplane from such a close distance. Within five minutes, a bus came and picked up all passengers towards Sri Lankan Airplane. I walked on the ladder steps and again at the entrance there was a security guard who checked all passengers. Five steps ahead, a beautiful Sri Lankan Air hostess welcomed us with a Rose. I was feeling great. I got a window seat. No one could understand the limit of my joy. After safety announcements the moment came, I locked the seat and waited for the take off. I was little scared thinking how it would be at the time of take off and how it would feel when the plane would fly in the sky. The neighbouring person was very cool because he had traveled many times by air and told me there is nothing to scare, do not worry. At last at 8.45, the Plane took off. I was holding my both hands on the seat tightly. The Plane took, off but nothing happen. It was very smooth take off. I enjoyed the speed and I got the window seat so could see down on the land from the glass windows. The Neighbouring person told me the facilities that are provided inside of the Airplane. With in five minutes, we got the refreshment. Actually you can have anything you want which is available. So I had Sandwiches and fruit juice. In between I used to see on land but there was no land because as soon as you leave Trivendrum, you have to cross, the Indian Ocean to reach Colombo. By the time we finish the refreshment there was announcement that we would be reaching Colombo at Bandarnayake Airport within ten minutes. Again there was announcement to tighten our seatbelt.

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Sri Lanka

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First Day The Airplane landed safely at the Colombo Airport. It was just 45 minutes flight. But I enjoyed it fully. It was my first experience in my life on a plane. Now I was suppose to get my rucksack. the person who was seating besides me guided me and I got the rucksack. I moved to call Rtr. Rufdi (met in Agra in "ROTASIA" meet). I was having his card with me, but the problem was of Sri Lankan Rupee. I went to a money exchange counter and requested a young person for exchange of Indian Rupees, but he said they do not do exchange of Indian Rupee. I had my Traveler's cheques of Thomas Cook but for that also I need to go in the city. I was converting about 500 rupees. I knew I could manage in Sri Lanka with that amount with the help of Rotary. So I requested the person to allow me to make a call. He agreed and I called up at Rufdi's house. His residence number was out of order. On his card he gave me his residence address too. So I enquired about that address. it was 30 Km from Airport. The person was very nice and understood my difficulty. he gave me 20 Sri lankan Rupee and asked me to go by bus, which, would drop me in that area. I came outside of the airport. Many taxi drivers were asking me if I need a ride. I moved towards the Bus stand. I got into a bus and reached in the area. After searching a lot, I got his house. Rtr. Rufdi was not at home but his mother and brother welcomed me and contacted Rufdi. By the time Rufdi came, his brother served me lunch. It was 12.30 Noon Indian time and Sri Lanka is half an hour fast so it was 1 p.m. First time I ate Sri Lankan food at his house. I even did not finish my lunch, when Rufdi came. He recognized and greeted me happily.

He enquired about the expedition and did not believe at all because he saw me almost three months before and surprisingly he said, "you are walking since then!!!!!" I explained to him my program and requested him that I would need your help. My plan was to attain Rotary Club meetings and get the name and addresses of the Rotarians enroute. But Rufdi told me that no Club meets on Saturdays and Sundays. Still Rufdi got the success. one Rotarian asked us to meet at his house in the evening. I thought on Saturday and Sunday I would do no work in Colombo, so it's better to start the journey from the next day (Sunday) itself. With the help of his father, we chocked out the Sri Lanka tour program. I made some changes in my previous tour program.

According to his father, it was not possible to go to Mannar. North part of Sri Lanka, from that point you could see India, there is a bridge that goes to India. My previous plan was to come by walk from the bridge. But that part is most dangerous and it is known as the house of the terrorist (LTTE). In July 1987, the Sri Lankan government and India worked out a plan for establishing peace in Sri Lanka. The plan called for a cease-fire and created a local government council in the Tamil region. Some Tamil guerrillas agreed to the plan, but others did not. Fighting broke out again later in the year. A new cease-fire was implemented in June 1989. Sinhalese nationalists who opposed any compromises between the government and the Tamils killed many government officials and supporters of the government. In June 1990, fighting resumed between Tamil rebels and government troops. Hundreds were killed in the violence. So I planned to cover 450 Km in Sri Lanka. I decided to make a Triangle and travel through Colombo-Anuradhapura-Kandy and back to Colombo because my flight was from Colombo. I requested Rufdi to keep Traveler's Cheques and confirm the return ticket for 27th March. Then at 4 O'clock, we visited the Newspaper Office, but the receptionist told us that Reporter does not come in the afternoon on Saturdays. Sea beach was close to the Press building, so we spent our evening on the beach. Population of Colombo is approximately 616,000. It is a seaport, and largest city of Sri Lanka. It lies on the west coast of the country. Most of the island's shipping passes through its harbour. Colombo is the centre of Sri Lanka's tea, coconut, and cotton trade. Colombo is an old city, founded before the mid-1300's. Scholars believe the city was originally known as Kolamba, a native term meaning both port and leafy mango tree. The name Colombo is the European version of this term. The Portuguese, who came in 1505, were the first Europeans to control Colombo. The Dutch occupied the city from 1656 to 1796 and erected a number of buildings that still stand. Perhaps the most impressive is the Wolfendhal Church, built in 1749. Colombo is also the home of the University of Sri Lanka. According to tradition, Buddha visited the temple of Kalaniya just outside Colombo. Commonwealth of Nations leaders set up the Colombo Plan there in 1950. After spending whole evening at the sea beech knowing about Colombo, we went to meet Rotarian Bobby Senaweera he was the DRCC (District Rotaract Comity Chairman) when he came to know about my expedition and about the problem of Sri Lankan money. He gave me 500 Sri Lankan rupees and told me, "Not to worry you would not require lot of money to travel in our country. Our people are very much hospitable and our Rotary Club's and members would help you a lot in your journey." He wished me and I thanked him for the support. I came back with Rufdi he spent all time with me even though he took leave for doing his own work. We had dinner in a hotel and reached home at night at 12. I packed my rucksack as I decided to move the next day and slept at 1.00

Second Day

I Got up at 6 O'clock and took bath. I saw that Uncle brought bread for me early in the morning and I said I would eat it on the way. I could not do exercise ,so I thought of eating after exercise on the highway. I was carrying a bottle of Jam with me, as I was not aware how Sri Lankan food would be. Uncle was very enthusiastic and he walked with me for around 5 Km, just to show the Highway by a short cut way. At last when I forced him to go back he went. Once he went back I did exercise and after sometime I had bread and Jam. Here one thing was really good. All habitant area and every few Kilometres, there ware fruit stalls cum home. After every hour or two, I used to have something or other I didn't had anything other than fruits. I faced language problem on the way, but I never spoke to many people, as I wanted to see and judge what kind of people are in Sri Lanka. Mostly I used body language. Many people used to stare at me when I used to buy fruits without any discussion. It was 6 O'clock evening, when I was 2 Km away of my first destination after Colombo. It was a small village called NITAMBUVA and it was around 40 Km from Colombo.

I was seating aside of the road, when one person stopped. He was looking at me and asked in English, "where I would like to go?" He was driving Hero Honda (Indian Bike) and stopped. He was looking at my Rucksack and maybe because I am an Indian. First I didn't cared, but then he got down and asked again, "Are you Indian?" I replied yes. I read his face and found him a nice person. I explained him about the expedition. He asked me "today you are coming from Colombo on foot?" I replied yes. he was shocked and got very excited. He requested me to come with him to his Shop. Even I wanted to have someone, who would help me for Rotary Club member.He took me to his Shop (Electronic shop of TV, Refrigerator and all home appliances).He introduced me to his brother (they were Twins) and all staff. He was so excited. he asked to have snacks. He gave me so much respect that I thanked God a lot for creating such people in this world. The world is not enough of good people. His name was Mr. Chandana Upul Kumara and he helped me a lot. I enquired about Rotary Club but he was not aware about it. He took me to the Police station. Sometime Police themselves used to help me for food and accommodation. I enquired here too, but the Police officer was stupid. He was not good in English and was behaving rudely. I was carrying all the documents with me and I never scared of Police. After checking the documents he said, "ok, now you can stay." I was so angry on his behaviour, as if I visited Police station to take permission to stay in that village. He did not help, but troubled. Mr. Chandana was feeling sorry for the Police Officers behaviour. I asked him if there is any temple near by where I can stay. With excitement he replied, "yes!" and took me to a Buddha's Temple. It was far inside and around 5-6 Km away from the highway. We passed through forest, as the temple was in the forest. He was a Buddhist and knew all monks of the temple. He explained to all monks about me and requested to provide accommodation for the night. I got a very good room, as the temple was build by Japanese man means funding. So it was very good temple. Chandana told me that he would come at night to pick me for dinner at his house. All Monks were young. Few of them knew broken English. I took a bath and changed my clothes. Mr. Chandana came at around 9.30 p.m. and took me to his house. He was young with a two years kid. his wife was smart and her smile was beautiful. She prepared very good food with special dish in little time. I was really not having words to thank God. I had very good Sri Lankan food and I cannot forget him and his wife. They were not from Rotary or any organization, but still they trusted and did so much for me. He asked me to be ready by 6 O'clock in the morning, as he would be going early and needed to drop me on the highway. He dropped me back to the temple and it was 11.45 to sleep.

Third Day

I was in deep sleep when Mr. Chandana knocked the door. When he knocked and shouted the second time, I got up. I requested him to give me just five minutes. I changed my clothes, wore my shoe, carried the Rucksack and within five minutes moved with him. I did not wanted to go alone because the temple was much inside and I didn't know the route to come out from that forest. It was still dark when I reached the highway. After exercise I started walking again. I had a heavy breakfast on the way. I noticed lots of trees. Thousands of trees and greenery on this highway and inside and there was no place where you won't find a tree. I had fruits and since I started from Colombo there might be hardly any place where people have not seen me. Every one used to stop their work and used to come out to see. Many people tried to ask me but in Singhalese Language, because people in Sri Lanka are not good in English. I reached Kurnegala at 7.00 p.m. but I was still on the highway. There was a medical shop and I went inside. I explained him and requested to help me to call Rotaract member. After trying a few numbers, I got Rtr. Lasthama. He was not so good in English and it was not possible to brief him, I requested shop owner to explain him in Singhalese. He was really kind and I explained him in detail and asked him to come. He came with another two members, Damith and Buddhika. They all welcomed and greeted me. I wanted to pay to the owner of the medical shop, but he didn't charge me. They took me to Rtr. Niroshan's house in their van. There I explained them in detail and told my plan in the city. We had dinner out in the hotel and stayed at Rtr. Buddhika's house. Slept at night at 12.

Fourth Day

Last night, I had a nice sleep. I had Sri Lankan breakfast (Hoppers with Dal. Hoppers are like noodles). it was delicious. We visited a school (First school in Sri Lanka) and contacted Principal, as she knew the Rotaract Members very well. When she came to know the purpose of expedition, she immediately asked peon to make arrangement for the speech. Within 15 minutes we went to a big hall where 100 girls students were sitting. They were selected students, as it not an English medium school. Vice principal introduced me to the girls and asked me to speak.Everywhere I used Swami Vivekananda's start i.e. "my dear sisters and brothers." Off course there were no boys students so I started with "my dear sister's......" The speech was interactive and the students were encouraged by the talk. The same response I got in another school, "Holy Family Vidyalaya" In the evening, all Rotaractors took me to the Rotary meet. There we met District Governer of Rotary District (he was from Colombo). I delivered the message and the club provided financial help. Those Rotaractors were having ego problem. I do not know on what point they were angry to Rotarian and they moved out without dinner. I missed very good dinner. We had enough snacks, but I even thought that I might get dinner at someone's place, but there was no chance. I could not leave them and go alone for dinner in a hotel. Those members were having internal clashes with them. There was no planning, and understanding. Just to sleep, I had to run to another Rotaractors house and slept at night at 12.

Fifth Day

I was supposed to go to Galgamua so I got ready, but my rucksack was at Buddhika's house. He came at 6.30 and I took the blessings of Niroshan's parents by touching their feet they felt very happy for not leaving the tradition. I went to Buddhika's house, packed my rucksack andmoved. Buddhika dropped me far ahead on the highway, as I wanted to reach at Galgamua village, which was around 65 Km From Kurnegala. I thanked him and moved. I had fruits after regular interval. I was spending enough money on health by having fruits in whole day and food at any Rotary or Rtr.'s house or in the hotel. In the evening I noticed one person followed me for a Km on his bike driving slowly behind me. Then he enquired looking at the banner, which was on my rucksack (stating Save Earth and Plant Trees with a picture of Tree.) I explained him in detail, as I found him an interesting person. His name was Disnayake and he was working with the Dept. of Forest. He requested me to visit him at his office. The office was in Galgamua itself which was still 6-7 Km. So I agreed and went with him. In the office, he introduced me to Range Forest Officer Mr. Siripal. I showed them the paper cuttings and photographs. It was 6 O'clock, but few staff members were still there. Everyone spent lot of time watching photographs. I requested Mr. Siripal to give few Posters to distribute in the schools. I got good posters in Singhalese Language. Then he asked me about the accommodation. I told him that I would be visiting any Rotary Club member in Galgamua and would see where I get place to sleep. He asked me, why do not you stay in our guesthouse? I was always ready to spend the night anywhere if I am getting it for free. The guesthouse was good, but the bathroom was very dirty. I took bath in the dirtiest bathroom ever in my expedition. 4-5 another officers were also staying in the same guesthouse. At night during dinner they wanted me to drink, but I denied. They were singing songs in Singhalese Language, they even asked me to sing Hindi song. I sung a song for them and explained the meaning. I was tired and wanted to go to sleep. Later, I felt bored and it was not possible at all to sit there. Still I spent almost half night with them and took leave to sleep. It was first time in the whole expedition that Govt. people helped me a lot other than Police.

Sixth Day

Nice stay it was with the govt. officers. I thanked all of them and moved ahead towards Anuradhapura. Here if you want to have breakfast it costs at least 50 rupees. I used to have breakfast in the hotel and fruits during my walk. I was taking a lot of precautions on the part of water. Either I used to buy or used to ask for boil water. Today a very funny thing happened. At a small stall I requested a person to give me boil water. I gave him my water bottle, and he poured the water in it and kept in front of the fire. It was just two minutes that I was talking to other person, when I saw my bottle. It shrunk and I was angry, but at the same time laughing on that poor fellow. I do not know whether he didn't understand or ............ god knows. That last ten Km, my legs were paining a lot because it was third consecutive day of walk. Actually in Sri Lanka I never felt bored because the whole area was habitant. I used to get houses and people hardly for a Km or two empty places or inhabitant place. People used to encourage me a lot. I got one Rotarians phone number from Buddhika so I called up but he could not help me much other than providing meeting address. My luck was good that it was meeting day. I reached at the venue at 7.30 p.m. It was a hotel and I enquired about Rotary meeting. 8-10 Rotary members were there. They welcomed me and asked to explained them and requested for accommodation. Everyone greeted and ate Dinner and was dropped at Rotarian D. W. R. Gunasekera's house. He was in the meeting and told that he would accommodate me in his house. First night there was not much talk, I got a good room and I slept early at 10.00 p.m.

Seventh Day

I got to see the lavishness and living standard of Sri Lankan people. In the morning when I entered bathroom saw a bathtub. It was very expensive and imported one. I was really surprised and found that living standard of Sri Lankan was very high, even in the villages. After bath I had a very nice Sri Lankan breakfast, hoppers with pee and fruits. Mr & Mrs. Gunasekera both were very kind and treated me as their son. I washed a few clothes today and moved to visit schools. Mr. Gunasekera gave me few names and addresses of Schools and News Paper Office. I got a bicycle from his daughter, as she was married and Mr. Gunasekera used to go on drive sometimes. First I visited St. Joseph High School. When I contacted Principal, he started arguing with me on LTTE part, "You Indians have created lot of problems in Sri Lanka and now what you want." I kept cool and tried to convince him, but he was not ready to listen.

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LTTE

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The LTTE lost control of Jaffna in October 1987 to an Indian peacekeeping force (IPKF) that had been sent to Sri Lanka to assist in the implementation of a complete cease-fire. Following the withdrawal of the IPKF in March 1990, however, the Tigers grew in strength and conducted several successful guerrilla operations. These included an August 1992 land-mine explosion in Jaffna, which killed 10 senior military commanders; the May 1993 assassination of Sri Lankan Pres. Ranasinghe Premadasa; and a January 1996 suicide bomb attack on the central bank of Colombo, which killed 100 people.

Although the LTTE and the government resumed peace talks in January 1995, at which the LTTE indicated that it would be willing to accept some form of self-government instead of full independence, by April of that year the talks had broken down, and the Tigers unilaterally ended the truce. Fighting has not ceased since that time, and the Tigers have rejected government proposals. In 1998 the Tigers remained a credible force, as demonstrated by their ability to resist government attempts in 1997-98 to take control of the strategic road linking the Jaffna Peninsula with the rest of the island. Although the LTTE had recently indicated an interest in resuming negotiations with the government, Tiger activity seemed likely to continue.

Later I visited almost five schools but really disappointment because not even a single school allowed me to talk. All school Principal asked me to get a letter from Education Dept. Even after showing Photographs, News Paper cuttings and Passport. (Mr. Gunasekera suggested me to keep Passport, as there were lot of check posts and School principal might ask.) Actually because of LTTE problem, no one wanted to take risk, as Anuradhapura onwards foreigners are not allowed to go. It was all restricted area. I tried to get help from the Education Officer but because of election everyone was busy. (I was very angry on politicians, for the promotional activity these politicians used lot of polythene or plastic like in whole city there were banners and flags in plastic indicating sign of the particular party. Even govt. use lot of polythene while road construction or renovation to indicate that work is in progress and I saw that plastic strip for kilometres.) The Forest office was next to Education Dept. I contacted forest officer and requested to give a letter, but he replied not possible. However, he gave me a few posters. I came back after lot of traveling. I explained the whole story to Mr. & Mrs. Gunasekera they felt sorry for their countrymen for disappointing me. I had lunch and visited few historic places like Shri Mahabodhi, Surumuni, Twin Pond and Samadhi Statue.

Here I heard a story of Royal decree of King Kirthi Nissanka Malla of Polonnaruwa (2nd Century AD) Stone inscription at Ruwanveli Dagaba, Anuradhapura. "...... ordering by beat of drum that no animals should be killed within a radius of seven gau from the city (Anuradhapura) the King gave security to animals. He gave security also to the fish in the twelve great tanks and bestowing on Kambodin-gold and cloth and whatever other kind of wealth they wished, he commanded them not to catch birds and so gave security to birds."

On the way back at a check post, Police checked my Bag, File, I-card and Passport. They were very strict to me but later when they saw my file they asked me more about my expedition. After coming back, Mr. Gunasekera asked me to get ready for dinner at Rotarian Gunatilaka's house, actually when Rotarian Gunatilaka told at his house about me, his wife was wanted to see and meet me. Mr. Gunasekera told me that there is special invitation for me from Aunty. We all reached to Rotarian Gunatilaka's house. Aunty welcomed me, she got so happy to see me. She shook my hands and showed her excitement. It was unbelievable welcome and response from whole family. She prepared lot of special dishes for me. I had really delicious dishes and at the end, I had fruit juice and Ice cream. Before leaving Rotarian Gunatilaka, he asked me the next destination. I told him that I would go to Kekirawa the next day. He told there is no Rotary Club but then he contacted Mrs. Koswatta one of his friend, she lives in Kekirawa, explained her and told to make necessary arrangements for me. He gave me her Phone number and address. I thanked all and came back with Mr. & Mrs. Gunasekera. I was suppose to move the next day, so I packed my rucksack and slept at 11.30 p.m.

Eighth Day

I was enjoying Sri Lankan breakfast everywhere. Uncle and Aunty took lot of care at their house. I moved ahead towards Kekirawa after thanking all. Uncle suggested me to go by short cut, which would come around 45 Km. I walked whole day and had fruits on the way and got the same response from local people. I reached Kekirawa at 7.15 p.m. and went to Mrs. Koswatta's house after calling her. She, her daughter and three cousins welcomed me. My room was ready. Aunty was so nice and she trusted on me even though there were four young girls at home. (I am sure in India no one would keep me if any one has so many girls in anyone's house) Their names were Apsara, Poornima, Ramya and Umali. Within no time, I became their friend and spent time with the girls because there was no male in their house. Had nice dinner and slept at 10.45 p.m.

Ninth Day

It was almost a week since I left Colombo and today I will reach Matale. Aunty asked her cook to prepare food, which she packed for me and after breakfast she dropped me at Dambulla. Before leaving, I said goodbye to all girl friends. Dambulla was 18 Km from Kekirawa, as she was going to buy vegetables and even Matale was around 70 Km. It is not possible to cover the distance only by walk. Aunty dropped me at Dambulla. I thanked her and started my walk. As usual I spent the whole day meeting nice people, having fruits and watching beautiful scenes. Enroute in a forest (little away from the road) I saw domesticated elephants at work, moving huge trees. I was really happy and my curiosity increased to see them. I know little about the work done by the elephants. "One elephant can drag five tons at a time," I was told. "He's a grand workman, never tires. Never strikes for more pay. So as long as he gets his two meals a day, he's quite happy."

Suddenly, it began to rain in the evening. I called up Rtr. Mahendran (Ref-Rtr. Buddhika from Kurnegala). He came to the place and took me to Matale, which was still 4-5 Km and it was around 6 O'clock. There was no need to explain him, as he was already aware about my expedition. He took me to his house where everyone welcomed me. He kept my rucksack in his room. I spent some time with him chatting, had dinner and slept at 10.00

Tenth Day

In the morning during breakfast, I saw Mahatma Gandhi's Photo at his house. I was shocked and asked how come? He told me that they were originally from India and his brother stood for election, from all India community party. He also told me that all Tamils are of Indian origin. Mahendran took me to Cambridge International School. It is the first English school in Sri Lanka that I visited. Actually in 1956 S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike became Prime Minister and his government passed a law that made Sinhala the country's only official language. The Tamils resented this action, and clashes broke out between Tamils and Sinhalese. Compromises were made to provide for the use of Tamil in many areas. A Sinhalese extremist assassinated Bandaranaike in 1959. His widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became Prime Minister in 1960. She was the world's first woman prime minister. Her party lost control of Parliament in 1965, and Dudley Senanayake then became Prime Minister. But Sirimavo Bandaranaike regained the office in 1970. In 1972, the country changed its name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, which means Resplendent Land. The chief issue in Sri Lanka today is the relationship between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The Sinhalese have controlled the country's government since independence. Tamils believe that Sinhalese-dominated governments have limited their opportunities for education and jobs. In 1983, violence broke out between Tamil guerrillas and Sinhalese government troops in the north. Thousands of people were killed and more than 100,000 Tamils fled to India. So you do not get many English medium schools in Sri Lanka, but now people understood the value of English language. I had a very nice talk with around 150 students. It was one of the Rotary Club Member's school so we got the permission, otherwise all schools were having sports meet and there was no possibility. Mahendran could not spent much time with me and went to his shop after dropping me at home. I spent time watching Cricket match on TV. His sister gave me lunch and took a lot of care of me. The family used to have non-vegetarian food, but especially for me they prepared vegetarian food. After lunch I slept for some time. In the evening, Mahendran came and asked me to get ready, as one of the Interactor (It's again part of Rotary but the members are below 15 years and known as Interactor) has invited us for Dinner. He was very much encouraged by talk and said he would like to do the same. His mother was at home, she welcomed and praised a lot. We had dinner and came back.

Eleventh Day

I am having a nice time with people in Sri Lanka. Today we visited another School, which is known as Royal English School and delivered the speech. Mahendran took me in a very big hotel, where there was a special Rotary meeting. The meeting was for Indian Rotary Club members. There were around 8-10 Rotarians from Calcutta. I met them and when they came to know about me, they were very happy to see an Indian doing such a great work. They were proud of me. We had lunch and after the meeting we sung the National anthem of India as well as Sri Lanka's. Before leaving, many Rotary member gave their Visiting Cards to visit them in Calcutta. In the evening he took me to a historic place at a huge Buddha statue and after that for swimming in the river with one of his friend. It was evening time and rain started again. We went to his friends house watched a movie and came back. I had dinner at his house and slept at night at 11.00

Twelfth Day

Mahendras sister was really taking a lot of care. When Mahendran told her that I would be moving today, she prepared Parotha's for me. I had a very good and heavy breakfast. Kandy was the next destination, which was just 22 Km but all hills. I thanked everyone and Mahendran dropped me on the highway. He spoke to Rtr. Mark and told him about me. He gave me Mark's phone number and address. I thanked him and moved at 8.30. I reached at 2.00 p.m. Because of two days rest, I felt fresh to walk and covered the distance very fast. I contacted Mark after reaching but he was not there, his father was on line. After explaining him, he asked me to come to the office. It was a construction site and his company name was Stephan Construction site. He welcomed me and provided snacks and fruits. By 4 O'clock, Mark came and greeted me. He was a very nice person. Within five minutes, he started behaving as if he knows me since long time. We washed his car at the site and then we went to his house where he was staying with his wife. He was of 21 yrs and his wife was of 20 yrs old. It was a love marriage and she was expecting baby. (She was pregnant) He told me that I would be staying here. I really got a shock. His wife just 20 yrs and he asked me to stay at his house. It was just unbelievable. Even it's not that someone else also stays in the house such as his mother or brother or anybody. More over, he told me that he was going out and would be coming in half an hour. I was getting shocked. You won't see a person like him trusted and believed on me. In India or anywhere you won't get the same trust. His house was not even in the building. His house was at the lonely place on a mountain. I thanked god and prayed for a very good and peaceful life with full of love. I took bath and spent chatting with his wife. Her name was Tarangini. She was beautiful and very nice girl. After half an hour, Mark came and took me to Rotary and Inner wheel (It's a part of Rotary, but run by only female group) meetings. These Clubs were highly enthusiastic, both the club supported me financially. Kandy is known to be Bombay of Sri Lanka. It is a tourist beautiful city. At night after Dinner Mark, his wife and me went on the top of the hill of the same mountain. There was a huge white coloured Buddha's statue that can be seen from anywhere in the city. At night, you get very good view of whole Kandy town. Kandy is surrounded with the hills.

Important independent monarchy in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) at the end of the 15th century and the last Sinhalese kingdom to be subjugated by a colonial power. Kandy survived the attacks of Ceylon's first two colonial rulers--the Portuguese and the Dutch--and finally succumbed to the third and last colonial ruler, the British, in 1818. While all the other Sinhalese kingdoms had been extinguished by the Portuguese in the early 1600s, Kandy survived with stubborn persistence for another two centuries.

Under Portuguese rule, Kandy allied itself with the Dutch; under Dutch rule, it sought assistance from the British. From the time of the British takeover of Ceylon in 1796, Kandy was thrown on its own resources. The British considered the continued independence of Kandy a hindrance to the expansion of both their trade and their communications network in Ceylon. The first British attack against Kandy in 1803 was a failure. By 1815, however, the Kandyan chiefs became dissatisfied with their tyrannical king (of South Indian descent) and welcomed British intervention. In the ensuing agreement of 1815, the Kandyan Convention, the Kandyan king was deposed and sovereignty was vested in the British crown, but the rights of the Kandyan chiefs were largely maintained. Soon, the chiefs became dissatisfied with this arrangement and openly rebelled in 1817 but were decisively subjugated by the British in 1818. Ceylon was thus brought, for the first time in many centuries, under unified rule.

Thirteenth Day

The next day, I delivered my speech in three Schools, which were Girls High School, Mahamaya High School and Dharmaraja High School. I got very good response and the speech was successful. Mark was with me and we came back at Noon, had lunch and I took rest for some time. I went alone to see the Temple of Tooth Relic.

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Buddhist Pilgrimage

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In addition to these four primary sites, major pilgrimage centres have emerged in every region or country where Buddhism has been established. Many local temples have their own festivals associated with a relic enshrined there or an event in the life of a sacred figure. Some of these, such as the display of the tooth relic at Kandy, Sri Lanka, are occasions for great celebrations attracting many pilgrims. In many Buddhist countries famous mountains have become sacred sites that draw pilgrims from both near and far. In China, for example, four such mountain sites are especially important: O-mei, Wu t'ai, P'u-t'o, and Chiu-hua. Each is devoted to a different bodhisattva whose temples and monasteries are located on the mountainside. In many Buddhist regions there are pilgrimages that include stops at a whole series of sacred places. One of the most interesting of these is the Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan, which involves visits to 88 temples located along a route that extends for more than 700 miles.Buddhist pilgrimages, like pilgrimages in other religions, are undertaken for a wide range of reasons. For some Buddhists, pilgrimage is a discipline that fosters spiritual development; for others it is the fulfillment of a vow--as, for example, after recovery from an illness; and for others it is simply an occasion for travel and enjoyment. Whatever the motivations that support it may be, pilgrimage is one of the most important Buddhist practices.

It is one of the historic places in Kandy. Construction was going on because of last year's bomb blast by terrorist in the temple. In the evening we all three moved in the city. Mark introduced me to another Rtr. and we all went to a shopping complex where, Mark and Tarangini did shopping. After dinner we enjoyed a movie and again at night Mark went to drop his friend at 11.30 leaving his wife alone. I slept in the same room, where we were watching the movie.

Fifteenth Day

After spending almost two days in Kandy, I was preparing to go to Kegalle early morning. But I saw Tarangini has prepared breakfast for me even after denying a lot. I had breakfast, thanked both of them and moved towards Kegalle, which was just 38 Km. I never met such a good loving couple. On the way while walking, a car stopped and the driver asked me if I would like to hitchhike. I thanked and denied, but the person again stopped and he himself introduced me that he was a Rotary Member and met me in Kandy Rotary meet. I said sorry for not recognizing. He was very happy to see that I was walking. He wished me and left. It was very hot, but still I covered the distance by 5 O'clock. I always had a very nice walk after one or two day rest. I reached at Central Photo Studio, where a Kandy Rotarian informed one of the Rotary members. He welcomed me and provided snacks and fruits to eat. Rotary Club President Rotarian Adikari M. Tennakoon came and took me to his house, where Aunty welcomed me and offered fruit juice. There was Rotary meet and Rotarian Adikari took me for the meeting along with him. I talked a lot about expedition and told that I would like to visit a few schools here. One of the Rotarian asked me to wait till Monday, as there was program for the students and 5-6 School students (Selective) would be attaining the program. I did not wanted to miss the great opportunity to deliver message to 5-6 schools, as I can request them to spread message in their own schools. I agreed to spend time till Monday. After coming back I spent time with the sports personalities of his family, his son and daughter Samadhi. I played with them on their computer too. After dinner I slept at 11.30

Sixteenth Day

On 19th of March, I visited the Elephant Orphanage (the only orphanage in the world for Elephants) with Uncle and his nephew. It was 8 Km from Kegalle. Uncle told me that there is an entry fee (through which the organization maintains this Orphanage) for foreigners, but free for Sri Lankan. They asked me to keep quiet at the entrance, as there is no difference in Indian and Sri Lankan. But I might get caught because of language, so I kept quite till we enter. There were lots of foreigners and many with their kids. They say an elephant never forgets, but what happens when an elephant is forgotten? In Sri Lanka, they can find refuge at the Pinowlew Elephant Farm, a home for orphaned and abandoned elephants who cannot survive in the wild. People feed, groom and care for 46 elephants on the farm. The babies drink milk at body temperature from super-size bottles and seven per feeding. "Maybe at first they can't find their own food. So we bring it to them here," said Idris Salley, a caretaker at the elephant farm. Outcasts like Raja, an old blind elephant who was wounded by hunters, live on the farm, as does an elephant rumoured to have killed more than a dozen people. The farm supports itself in part through tourists, who come for a rare close-up view of the animals. "I have always been fascinated by them. So to come and get so close to them and to be able to touch them is a wonderful experience," I said to uncle Hard as they are to resist, adoption should be considered carefully. The cute little orphans could someday grow to several tons. And they would be demanding dinner for the next 100 years.

Instead, some of the elephants go out and find jobs in circuses and zoos around the world and pay back the upbringing with attendance fees. The theme of wildlife conservation has been an ancient concept in Sri Lanka. It was considered noble in keeping with the teachings of Gouthama Buddha and later essential to the Island. I took many photographs and enjoyed a lot. There was a rest house on the small hill. The view was different from the rest house. We had lunch at the rest house and spent almost three hours and came back. It was great experience to see so many Elephants. I came back and thanked everyone, as I was going to stay with Rotarian Bannayake. I carried my rucksack and moved with Kapil. This family also welcomed me with lot of respect. Mr. Ayodhya does Computer business. His brother was so nice, but was having some health problem for which he went to India twice in Apollo Hospital. I hope and pray for his good health and early cure. I watched a Hindi and an English movie on the Computer. I had dinner at 9.00 and Uncle told me that he would be going to Kandy Open University the next day. He asked if I would like to talk with the university students? I said it's good to spend Sunday with the University students, as I was free on Sunday. Then I slept at 10.30 p.m.

Seventeenth Day

I moved with Uncle after breakfast towards Kandy. I vomited in the bus because of stomach upset. Uncle left for university and asked me to come after an hour. I spent good time knowing the history of the tooth relic

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Relic

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The basis of Christian cult veneration of relics is the conception that reverence for the relics redounds to the honour of the saint. While expectation of favours may accompany the devotion, it is not integral to it. The first Christian reference to relics speaks of handkerchiefs carried from the body of St. Paul to heal the sick. During the 2nd century AD, in the Martyrdom of Polycarp, the bones of the martyred bishop of Smyrna are described as "more valuable than precious stones." The veneration of relics continued and grew in Christianity. Generally, the expectation of miracles increased during the Middle Ages, while the flood of Oriental relics into Europe during the Crusades raised serious questions as to their authenticity and ethical procurement. St. Thomas Aquinas, the great Roman Catholic theologian, however, considered it natural to cherish the remains of the saintly dead and found sanction for the veneration of relics in God's working of miracles in the presence of relics.

Roman Catholic thought, defined in 1563 at the Council of Trent and subsequently affirmed, maintained that relic veneration was permitted and laid down rules to assure the authenticity of relics and exclude venal practices. Among the most venerated of Christian relics were the fragments of the True Cross.

In the Eastern Orthodox churches, devotion is focused on icons rather than upon relics, though the antimension (the cloth upon which the divine liturgy is celebrated) always contains a relic. The attitude of the 16th-century Protestant Reformers toward relics was uniformly negative, and the veneration of relics has not been accepted in Protestantism.

Like Christianity, Islam has had a cult of relics associated with its founder and with saints. In Islam, however, the use of relics has had no official sanction; indeed, Muslim theologians have frequently denounced the veneration of relics and the related practice of visiting the tombs of saints as conflicting with the prophet Muhammad's insistence on his own purely human, nondivine nature and his stern condemnation of idolatry and the worship of anyone other than God himself.

Relic worship was canonically established in Buddhism from its earliest days. Tradition (Mahaparinibbana Sutta) states that the cremated remains of the Buddha (d. c. 483 BC) were distributed equally among eight Indian tribes in response to a demand for his relics. Commemorative mounds (stupas) were built over these relics, over the vessel from which the bones were distributed, and over the collective ashes of the funeral pyre. The emperor Asoka (3rd century BC) is said to have redistributed some of the relics among the innumerable stupas he had erected. Such shrines became important and popular centres of pilgrimage.

According to legend, seven bones (the four canine teeth, the two collarbones, and the frontal bone) were exempted from the primary distribution, and these have been the object of widespread devotion, with a number of shrines dedicated to them throughout Asia. Most famous of these sarira ("corporeal relics") is the left canine tooth, honoured at the Temple of the Tooth at Kandy, Sri Lanka. Other shrines reportedly have housed certain personal possessions of the Buddha, such as his staff or alms bowl. The alms bowl (patra), particularly, is associated with a romantic tradition of wanderings and, in different historical periods, has been variously reported as located in Peshawar or in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). In addition, the bodily remains and personal effects of the great Buddhist saints and heroes are also venerated. In Tibetan Buddhism, worship is accorded the carefully preserved bodies of the deceased priest kings (the Dalai Lamas), who in their lifetimes are regarded as reincarnations of a heavenly being, the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

Although the primary objective of Buddhist relic worship is the engendering of faith and the acquisition of spiritual merit, popular legends of miraculous powers have sprung up around the relics and the places in which they are deposited. In Hinduism, although images of divine beings have a major place in popular devotion, the veneration of relics as found in Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism is largely absent. This is probably a result of two facts: Hinduism has no historical founder, as do the other three religions, and it tends to regard the world of physical, historical existence as ultimately an illusion. Thus the mortal remains and earthly possessions of religious heroes or holy men are not generally regarded as having particular spiritual value.

After spending good time in temple and then went to the Kandy Open University by bus. First Uncle called some student leaders of the university. I explained them little about the talk, which they found interesting and gathered 40-50 students in a class. It was first time in the expedition I delivered speech to the University students. It was nice and interactive, but most of the questions were about the expedition. I spent lot of time with the students.

Here I would like to tell you a story of a girl, who said that she wants to join me as she fell in love with me. I replied to her that walking along with a girl that too without preparation and planning, is just impossible. Anybody cannot stand and join the walk. Regarding love I replied, yes we can be best friends. I met lots of girls on the way, who were in love with me but I concentrated towards my goal.

In the evening we came back to Kegalle. It was raining heavily. After coming back, we came to know that one of the Rotary Member has invited us for dinner. He himself came to pick us up in his car. We had delicious dishes at his house. He had two daughters Madhu and Nimisha of 9 and 11 years old respectively. Uncle bought Roti's for me from an Indian hotel I had first time in Sri Lanka. After dinner we came back. At home, Uncle introduced me to his daughter Tyohari, I saw her many times but she was shying a lot so I never spoke to her.

Eighteenth Day

Ayodhya and Tyohari gifted me a T-shirt. I had a WWF Telephone diary that I gifted them. Later Tyohari became so close friend that even she used to seat with me and Chat on expedition experience. Neighbouring people used to ask about me. All family members used to introduce me proudly that someone from India is staying with them and have come on foot. These people made me a very big person and respected me a lot. I thanked and said goodbye to all. They all gave me so much love and affection, even they were unhappy to say goodbye. I carried my rucksack and moved with Uncle to the St. Joseph Girls High School, where the seminar was arranged. There were around 500 School Students from five schools in the Auditorium. We went inside the auditorium. We got a seat on the dais. Students were looking at me, as I wore WWF T-shirt and having Posters and Stickers with me. There was another program also but first there was my speech. Uncle praised me a lot and asked to talk to the students. As I got up students started clapping. So you can imagine how much Uncle praised and talked about me. The students were charged just by introduction. I started the speech and I could see the excitement and motivation in the students' eyes. I requested them to make a group of students, visit each class of their own school and spread the message all over Kegalle Schools. I presented few Banners, which were in Singhalese Language and WWF stickers for five schools. The speech was so good and impressive, even I liked it very much. Uncle presented me a Rotary Club Flag there. When I said goodbye to all the students, their smile and eyes were wishing me best luck. They were very excited and happy to meet me for the autograph. But then Uncle announced that I am getting late, as I wanted to move ahead. I came out of the school. My rucksack was in one of the Rotarians car, so I took my rucksack and moved towards Nittambuwa (If you remember first night that I spent after Colombo, it was the same place, now the last destination before Colombo).

I walked on the highway with the sweet memories of Uncle Bannayke's house. It seemed to be raining but didn't rain. So weather was good for walking and 2-3 days rest made me fresh to walk fast. In the evening at 7 O'clock I reached at Mr. Chandana's shop, he welcomed and took me at the same temple. The monks also welcomed and got the same room. Today I spent very much time with the monks. Mr. Chandan brought hoppers from his house for me at the temple. It was still 11.30 to sleep.

Nineteenth Day

I got ready to move because it was already late, but the monks forced me to have breakfast. I thanked them and Mr. Chandana took me to his house. His wife also forced me to eat fruits. At last I thanked her and prayed for their good and healthy life. I came on the highway with Mr. Chandana & started to walk. On the way I saw a school where the students were cleaning the campus. They were also burning the leaves, which is harmful for the nature. I thought of educating them at least on that part. I entered into the school gate, where all the students stopped their work and started to stare at me. I saw one teacher and went to her to explain her about the expedition and purpose. I requested her to gather some students, so that I can explain them what they can do with the leaves instead of burning it. The teacher did not allow permission because the Principal was not in the school. I tried a lot to make him understand how important it is to talk to them for two minutes. At last when I realized that I wouldn't get permission I requested him to explain the students and not to burn leaves, but make compost pit instead. I moved ahead having fruits and enjoying my walk. At one place I met an interesting and friendly person, where I asked for water. It was his shop and he asked me to sit and offered me biscuits. He asked me many questions on expedition, he took lots of photographs and gifted a pen. I denied and said I do not need any kind of gift but he forced me to keep it. He showed me his wife and daughter's photographs and wanted me to spend night at his house cum shop. I was getting late to reach Rufdi's house, as I was few Km away from Colombo. I was not believing that I had come back after covering around 500 Km in fifteen days.

I called up Rtr. Rufdi and asked about accommodation and whether I stay at his house or at any other place. He asked me to go to his house. I went to his house but Uncle was not at home. After ten minutes Uncle came and greeted me. We spent lot of time and I shared my experience of last 15 days in Sri Lanka. Today I had a very different food. I had Roti and Chapati in the dinner. Rufdi was very busy so I could see him only at 10.30 and slept at 11 without spending much time with him.

Twentieth Day

Rufdi left early morning for work. Uncle helped me a lot. He gave me a few school names and addresses. After visiting two schools I came to know that all schools in Colombo were having exams. So I could not visit and deliver my message to any school in Colombo. I came back and waited for Uncle. After spending some time with Uncle, we me went to Air Lanka office. But the flights were booked till 27th. Uncle met his friend who suggested us to go to Indian Airlines office. We visited Indian Airlines office and realized that the ticket was non-transferrable. We went back to Air Lanka Office. I explained the PRO to help me. First Uncle spoke to the PRO in Singhalese and explained to her about the expedition. When she saw my file, she spoke to her boss and asked him to do something. I was wanted to move on 26th, but it was full. However, on 25th there was a vacancy. I booked that ticket and reconfirmed. The flight was at 7.40 p.m. on 25th March. If uncle would not have come with me, it was really very difficult to get seat on 25th Flight. While returning back Uncle took me to the Press where the Reporter asked me to give a readymade article to him, which I did not have. It was 3 p.m. when we came back and had lunch with different fruits, which I never had. In the evening Rufdi and I visited one of the Rotary Clubs meet and got financial support. Rotarian Shabin was very much impressed with me and he invited us for dinner. After the meeting we went to his house where he introduced me to his family members. I enjoyed dinner and came back at 10.30.

I called up Rtr. Hetal Shah and informed him after explaining and referring to Agra meet. He remembered and replied do not worry. He would pick me up from the Airport. I told him the Flight timings I was happy that Hetal remembered me.

Twenty-first Day It was 25th of March 1999 and my last day in Sri Lanka. I wrote Thank you letters to all the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs who helped me here in Sri Lanka. Rufdi returned me the Travelers cheques, which last time I kept with him, as a part of safety. After lunch I packed my rucksack, thanked all and took blessings of Uncle and Aunty. Rufdi dropped me at the Bus stand at 4 O'clock, as Airport was far from his house. I reached Bandarnayake Airport. I was again excited to enjoy a different experience. I was flying at night and flying in the sky for more than an hour, as flight would take approximately one hour and ten minutes to reach Chennai (Madras). This time I was behaving as if I traveled many times by air. What nervousness I was having at the first time was not this time. I knew what to be done and how? I met few Sri Lankan boys who were studying in Bangalore. They purchase many Cigar boxes of 555 brands from the custom shop. I enquired them what they would be doing with so many Boxes? One of them replied, "we would be selling it in India". He told me how much they could earn because from the custom shop they get it very cheap. They can earn almost the amount equals to the airfare, which means their traveling was free. Later, I found many people buying something or other in more quantity. After completing all formalities I entered in an Airplane. Again the same announcements and same refreshment, but the difference was beauty. That time I didn't get window seat. But still I was able see sometimes.

About Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a beautiful country in the Indian Ocean. It lies about 32 kilometres off the southeast coast of India. Its official name is the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The country was formerly called Ceylon. The island of Sri Lanka was called Ceylon until 1972. The earliest inhabitants of the island were tribal peoples called the Yaksa and the Naga. The Veddahs are descendants of these peoples. Vijaya, a legendary prince from northern India, is said to have led the founders of the Sinhalese culture to Ceylon. The Sinhalese probably began to arrive during the 400's B.C. They settled in the northern part of the island and built advanced irrigation systems to support agriculture. The city of Anuradhapura was the centre of Sinhalese civilization from the 200's B.C. until A.D. 993.

Tamils from southern India invaded the island, perhaps as early as the 100's B.C. From the A.D. 400's until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 1500's, the history of Ceylon centred on struggles between Sinhalese kings and Tamil kings. Tamils eventually gained control of the northern half of the island. The Sinhalese moved into the southern half of the island. Arab traders, whose descendants are the Moors, began arriving in the 700's.

European control of Ceylon began in the 1500's. The Portuguese sailed into what is now Colombo Harbour in 1505. They gradually gained control of the island's major coastal areas. The Dutch replaced the Portuguese in the mid-1600's.

The British captured the Dutch territories in 1795 and 1796. They made Ceylon a crown colony in 1802. They took over the Sinhalese Mountain kingdom of Kandy in 1815, and became the first Europeans to control the entire island.

The colony gradually gained self-government during the 1900's. It became the independent nation of Ceylon on Feb. 4, 1948. The country adopted a parliamentary form of government headed by a Prime Minister. D. S. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister.

Srilankan flag talk about Sri Lankan culture; a yellow lion on a crimson field is a symbol of precolonial Sri Lanka. Ornaments in the corners are bo leaves, which are Buddhist symbols. On the left, a vertical green stripe stands for the Moors and an orange stripe for the Tamils.

The currency of Sri Lanka is Rupee (1US$ = 72).

Sri Lanka has a population of about 19 Million. The people belong to several different ethnic groups. The largest groups are the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The Sinhalese make up about 74 per cent of the population. They are descended from people from northern India. Their language is called Sinhala, and most of them are Buddhists. Tamils account for about 18 per cent of the population. They are descendants of people from southern India. The Tamils speak Tamil, and most of them are Hindus. Most of the Tamils live in the northern and eastern parts of the country. Both Sinhala and Tamil are official languages of Sri Lanka. Moors, who are descendants of Arabs, form Sri Lanka's third largest ethnic group. They make up about 7 per cent of the population. Most Moors speak Tamil and are Muslims. Smaller ethnic groups in Sri Lanka include Burghers, Malays, and Veddahs. The Burghers are descendants of European settlers who intermarried with Sri Lankans. The Malays are descended from people who came from what is now Malaysia. The Veddahs are descendants of Sri Lanka's first known residents.

About 80 per cent of the Sri Lankan people live in rural areas, and about 20 per cent live in urban areas. Most of the people farm the land and follow the traditions of their ancestors. Colombo is Sri Lanka's largest city by far. Houses that have mud walls and thatched roofs are common among the poorer rural people. The middle class and wealthy have more substantial housing. In both rural and urban areas, a walled compound surrounds many middle- and upper class houses. Many Sri Lankans, especially rural people, live in extended families, in which more than two generations of the same family live together. The caste system, which divides people into social classes, is strong among both Sinhalese and Tamils.

Most rural Sri Lankan men wear a sarong (a garment wrapped around the waist to form a long skirt) and a shirt. Many urban men wear Western-style clothing. Sri Lankan women wear a redde (skirt similar to a sarong), with a blouse or jacket; or a sari (straight piece of cloth draped around the body as a long dress).

Rice is the chief food in the Sri Lankan diet. It is served with curry dishes--stew like dishes of vegetables, meat, fish, or eggs seasoned with a blend of spices. Tea is a favourite drink.

Sri Lankans are religious people. The countryside is dotted with Buddhist and Hindu temples and shrines, Islamic mosques, and Christian churches. About 69 per cent of the people are Buddhists and about 15 per cent are Hindus. Christians and Muslims each account for about 8 per cent of the population.

Education in Sri Lanka is free from kindergarten through to university level. Children must attend school between the ages of 5 and 14. Sri Lanka has eight universities. About 87 per cent of all Sri Lankans 15 years of age or older can read and write. This rate ranks as one of the highest among Asian nations.

Architecture, painting and sculpture, literature, music, theatre, and dance flourished in Sri Lanka before the period of European rule. Much of the island's ancient art focused on religious themes, such as the many large Buddha images. Remains of this art can still be seen in ruins of some cities and in museums in Colombo and Kandy. Today, dance is an important art form among both Sinhalese and Tamils. Sri Lanka craft workers make jewellery and pottery, weave baskets and mats, and carve masks and other objects from wood.

Climatic condition in Sri Lanka, temperatures in the low coastal areas average 27 °C. Temperatures in the mountains average 16 °C. Average annual rainfall ranges from about 130 centimetres in the northeast to about 510 centimetres in parts of the southwest. Despite its relatively small size, Sri Lanka possesses a high level of biodiversity. A noteworthy feature of Sri Lanka's biodiversity is the remarkable high proportion of endemic species among its flora and fauna: 23% of the flowering plants and 16% of the mammals in the island are endemic. Sri Lanka has a wide range of topographic and climatic variation and this contributes to the special features of its biodiversity.

Sri Lanka has been identified by the environment activist group Conservation International (CI) as one of 25 biodiversity hot spots in the world The southern half of the island is dominated by beautiful and rugged hill country. The entire northern half comprises a large plain extending from the edge of the hill country to the Jaffna peninsula. The highest mountain is the 2524m Mt Pidurutalagala near Nuwara Eliya and the longest river is the Mahaweli which courses from the centre and empties into the Indian Ocean at Trincomalee. The best beaches are on the southwestern, southern and southeastern coasts. Large evergreen trees and spectacular orchids are found in the dense southwestern tropical rain forests. Hardy grasslands, rhododendrons and stunted forests predominate in the cool, damp highlands, and shrubs and grasslands survive in arid zones in the north. Animal life is profuse and includes the ubiquitous elephant, as well as leopards, deer, monkeys, sloth bears, wild boar, cobras, crocodiles, dugong and turtles. The island is an important seasonal home to migrating birds, including flamingos, which flock to the lagoons, wetlands and bird sanctuaries for respite from the northern winter. The best time to see birds is between January and April.

It is said By The Mahavamsa (The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka) Historically the world's first sanctuary for wildlife was established in Sri Lanka Twenty-five centuries ago, Mahinda a Buddhist monk and son of Emperor Asoka of India told the King of Ceylon: "O Great King, the birds of the air and the beasts have an equal right to live and move about in any part of the island as thou. The land belongs to the people and all other beings; thou art only the guardian of it." Acting on these words, King Devanampiyatissa established the world's first wildlife sanctuary.

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BACK IN INDIA

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Hetal had a computer at his house. I told him by the time he comes back from College, I would write a Press Note to give it to the Newspaper Offices. Aunty took lot of care. She provided breakfast and even forced me to put all the dirty clothes for washing. Hetal came back in the afternoon and we had lunch together. I was missing Indian food. After a long time, I got to eat good rotis (I had once in Sri Lanka but you won't get the test of India) In the evening we visited News Paper Office of Indian Express and Din Mini. (Local Tamil News Paper) The lady took my interview and Photo by the photographer. She told us, it would come on 27th or 28th. Later we visited Rotary Club of Maylapore where I got financial support. After the meeting, Hetal, Raj and myself went to Marina Beach and enjoyed the city. We didn't have dinner because we had snacks at many places and we were full. Late night we came back home.

The most obvious feature of Chennai is Marina beach. It runs from the harbour in the north to San Thome cathedral in the south. The beach stretches for about 13 kilometres, and is claimed to be the second-longest beach in the world. Elliot's beach is a continuation of Marina beach. It lies on the far side of the Adyar River, which flows through the southern half of the city. I packed my rucksack, as I would move out of Chennai the next day and slept at night at 12.30.

On 27th March, after thanking Hetal's family, I moved ahead early morning. Till 10.30 I was not feeling hot but later I experienced tremendous heat. The climate was very hot and not like Sri Lanka. In the afternoon due to tremendous heat blood came out from my nose. First time I had such problem. I took rest at a Dhaba (highway Hotel) had lunch and moved ahead, I was taking lot of precautions and washing my face with water at regular intervals. There were many villages on the way, but I decided to go to Nellore (166 Km). So I hitchhiked and at night at 9 O'clock I reached Nellore. I had address and phone number of Rtr. K Johnson. I called him but he was not there but still I told his brother that I am coming to his house. Rtr. Sujeet welcomed me outside of Rtr. Johnson's house. He told me he is a Rotary member, who arranged accommodation in a lodge. Rtr. Sujeet dropped me at the lodge and left. I had dinner in the hotel and slept at 12. I moved towards Vijaywada, which was just 30 Km from Guntur, after spending a night at Nellore.

I found in Andhra Pradesh very few people were of helping nature. On the way, I used to ask for the price for fruits, looking at my rucksack they used to coat more than what they coat for others. I had to buy whatever rate they coat cause when I demand for concession, they normally did not considered. People used to look at me with big eyes while walking but when the helping part comes sometimes they do not come forward to help. Vijaywada is situated at the bank of Krishna River. There is a long bridge of around a kilometre, which I had to cross before entering in to the city. Month of March means summer, but still the river was having enough of water. Many people sit on the bridge for fishing. There were lots of fishermen on the bridge. It was evening time and it was beautiful to see around the Vijaywada. Here Rtr. Arun Saboo (Reference- met me in Agra and gave his card) helped me.

The next stoppage was Eluru Rtr.. Arun gave me a letter to get help from a lady Rotary member (Rotary ann). It was my consecutive fourth day of walk. Eluru was just 60 Km and I was traveling in such a hot condition. Theressas College where Ms. Iris Sylwester (A Rotray Club Member) was lecturer, She spoke to the Vice Principal for my accommodation in the guesthouse and opportunity to speak with the girls, as there was a girls hostel in the same campus. The Vice Principal was very nice and kind. It was around 7 O'clock, I took bath and delivered the speech to around 100 girls students. But after the speech the Principal objected that how a young person can stay in the girls hostel. She refused my stay. Ms. Iris said not to worry and took me to Rotary Club meet. She introduced me to all the members, I got the opportunity to speak and at the end Rotary president said, that the club would sponsor the stay in Eluru. He arranged accommodation in a three-star hotel, Hotel Surya.

It was 31st March and I moved towards Rajmundry. (80-90 Km) On the way, few young men were standing near a tea stall. They stopped and enquired what I have and where am I going? I thought they are asking in good manner, but suddenly one man opened my west pouch and took out my camera. I requested them to leave me but the stupid man wasted 2-3 photos just by clicking. Others were laughing and at last I just requested the tea stall fellow to tell them to leave me. He was a young and healthy man and he knew all those men. He shouted and gave my camera back. He asked me if I would like to have tea. I thanked him, but denied and moved as soon as possible away from those bad people.

Before entering Rajmundry town you have to cross the River Godavari and the bridge, which was as long as 5 kilometre. You get to see the same scenario here too. Fishermen, poor people catch the fish for their day's food etc. In the evening I reached Rajmundry, luckily it was the meeting day of Rotary. One thing was good that since Vijaywada everyday wherever I have gone I got the Rotary Club Meetings to attained. The club helped me for the accommodation in a lodge. Rotarian V. S. S. Mallapa Raju was kind to help me here. I spent almost two hours at his house with his son Karthik, daughter Sravya, their cousins Vinay and Aparna. They all loved me so much and they got crazy when they came to know that I am walking. All were very sweet and loving children. I took photographs and even they took mine. Sravya was in 5th standard and she was very enthusiastic. She brought an Autograph Book and asked for autograph. I was really in love with all. Last night I had a very good sleep, but got ready to move the next destination, Tuni, a small town. It was around 80-90 Km. In India I did not find the fruit stalls after regular interval as in Sri Lanka. For kilometres you do not get anything on the highway. Even if you get to see any hotel, you won't get fruits there. It is very difficult to find a tree on the highway to take some rest. Today I got totally a different experience. I was seating under the tree because of hot condition, I was sweating and my T-shirt got wet. Two men came on the scooter, parked in front of me and went inside. There were lots of trees I thought they might have gone for toilet.

But after coming back one of them asked me how many boys are you? Arrogantly. I could see his eyes were in search of something. I replied coolly that I am alone. He did not believed at all and said where is your partner? When he was asking arrogantly, I asked him who are you and why should I answer your questions? When he found that I am not scared, he told me that he was a Police and in this area there are lots of prostitutes. I showed him my photographs and explained him about my expedition. He satisfied himself and left. After sometime a smart young girl of around 17-18 years of age approached to me and asked me to come. Now I believed on that Policeman, he was right. She was very good in Hindi. I spoke to her and told her how much she earns by doing prostitution and what will happen after few years once she becomes old. I told her about aids. She listens to me took out a condom and showed it to me, when I told about aids.

By showing that condom she again asked me to come and said 50 rupees only. I gave her 50 rupees told her it's bad don't do it better work and enjoy the life. I moved without getting into any trouble. I met many prostitutes on this highway. Mostly truck drivers are the customers of these prostitutes. Few places I have seen trucks are parked aside of the road, which means the driver was spending time with the Prostitutes. I was really serious that how these people do not think about aids. I faced tremendous heat everyday between 12 to 4 p.m. So somehow I hitchhiked and reached Tuni at 7 O'clock. When I reached in the market I Called up Rotarian D.V.B.S.R. Sarma (Ref- by Rotarian Raju from Rajmundri). First he took me in a hotel and offered me snacks. I showed him the letter and requested him for the accommodation. He was very excited and happy and praised me and my work. First his plan was to put me in a big and the best hotel in Tuni, but it was full. So he asked me if I have any problem staying with him at his house. I always preferred and enjoyed staying with the Rotarians at their house. I get love and affection from the family members, who encouraged me and gave me courage, to stay away from my own family without missing them much. Even I never wanted to waste much money of the Rotary Clubs or any member on accommodation. Because I always carry everything with me (my own bedding sleeping mat and shawl) and I never minded staying anywhere. Only problem I try to save myself away from mosquitoes.

After reaching at his house I took bath and washed few clothes. Every day I used to wash my walking dress at night, which used to dry up by morning. Rotarian Sarma was running a computer Institute, so after getting enough he took me to his Institute. I delivered message at the institute, there were few Rtr. members also present. I asked them to spread this message through schools in Tuni. I faced problem of itching many times during expedition. When I told him that I want to buy an itching cream, he advised me not to wear underpants because of sweating the itching problem arises. We came back at 9 O'clock and had home made dinner first time in Andhra Pradesh. Rotarian Sarma gave me two Bermuda shorts and asked me to wear these during walk. It was of cotton and was good for summer, as I faced lot of itching problem.

Rotarian Sarma was a nice and kind young man with two small loving kids I played with them for long time at night. His wife was again very excited and happy and she felt like doing more than what she could. All family members were in love with me. I spent some time watching Cricket where Pakistan beat India. I wore one of the shorts given by Rotarian Sarma. His family blessed me for my journey, as I moved after breakfast. His father said, "We are really happy to accommodate you in our house. We are fortunate and it was god's wish to take care of you. You slept without disturbing us (as I was having my own bedding and habituated to sleep on the floor) in all conditions with mosquitoes." Rotarian Sarma dropped me on the highway. I thanked him and started walk towards Vishakhapatnam (105 Km).

Today on the highway, I got a heartbreaking experience. There was an accident of truck and Bullock-Cart. (A small caravan carried by Bulls) The truck hit the Bullock-Cart, 2 people and 2 Bulls were injured. People were taken to the Hospital immediately, but the Bulls were lying on the road for last two days in the terrific heat. One was badly hitted, tears came out of my eyes when I saw that bull. I could see his pain he was crying, his three legs were completely damaged all blood was on the road. The bull was trying to get up many times but it was just impossible. He got hit on the other part of the body too. Moreover, you can imagine since last two days Oh!! My God ....... Yes since last two days that bull was lying in such condition in tremendous heat. No human would be ready to stay in such hot condition. You could see the people are heartless because they cared for human and sent them to the hospital, but what about the Bull who was suffering from extreme pain. I enquired with the people, why the bull has not taken to the hospital? They replied that doctor was informed two days before and he was expected the next day. They kept the bulls alive to show the bull's condition to the Policemen, so that they could get compensation against it. I told those people that when you know you would kill the bull so why should that bull suffer, why you didn't kill the bull the same day. I felt very bad even thinking that the bull would be suffering with the pain, may be for two more days. I prayed to relief the poor animal as soon as possible. It was very painful scene. I spent almost two hours and people were answering me because they respected me, when I show them my message card (Actually it was just a message card but there was picture of a rhinoceros and people cutting horn of rhinoceros. I told them that I am from WWF and would give this to News Paper. I took Photographs of that bull.) I was angry on the Police because if they had completed the procedure the bull would have been killed long back. People do not think about the animal that provides and helps them for their livelihood. I was helpless and could not do anything. I moved ahead with lots of sorrow. The whole day I could not eat anything as I saw the accident in the morning just 10 Km after Tuni. I hitchhiked at 4 O'clock and reached Gajuaka (Vishakhapatnam) I called up Rotarian Suresh Kumar (Ref- by Rotarian Sarma -Tuni) explained him and requested for the help. He asked me to visit nearest place at the shop of a Rotary Club member. (Gave me address) I visited the shop, where the Rotarian was already informed by Rotarian Suresh kumar. He asked his boy to drop me at the meeting venue, as there was meeting of their club. The meeting was going on I got warm welcome by all members. I got opportunity to speak in the meeting. It was pre decided that Rotarian Ch. Narayan Rao (Retd. I.A.F.) Would accommodate me at his residential school. After the meeting I went with him at his house cum residential school. He introduced me to his wife, son Ravi and a daughter. I took bath, had dinner and came to know more about the Residential School. The school runs by the Narayan Rao's family. Ravi was of my age and was helping his father for the school matter.

After long time today I would be taking rest and not going to walk. During assembly, I delivered the speech to the students of Surya Residential School. After the speech many students asked for autograph. I felt like a film star or like a sports person. All students surrounded me for the autograph. I played with the students, had lunch, which aunty prepared. She made special food for me. After lunch I packed my rucksack, as we wanted to go to Vishakhapatnam city (Gajuaka was part of Vishakhapatnam but 15 Km away) for the inauguration of Paul Harris Memorial Dormitory for the Blind for the girls. I said goodbye to all and moved with Uncle. District collector was there for the inauguration, I have been facilited by the Collector and delivered the message in 3-4 mints and it was short and sweet. There I got lots of claps and tremendous respect. After the function Rotary Club of Vishakapatnam accommodated me in YMCA's dormitory. It was dirty dormitory and not maintained properly. YMCA is situated exactly opposite to the sea. In the city I did not contacted any Rotary or Rotaract member because then nobody leaves me alone every time expedition talk. So I thought of spending remaining day just seating at the seashore and enjoying. I had dinner and slept early.

I left the city, but I could not decide where to go because Vijaynagaram (60 Km) was little inside around 10 Km away from Highway and srikakulam was on the highway, but 40 Km more. I moved out and reached on the national highway number 5 on which I was walking from Chennai. But once I reached on the highway I walked around 25 Km I was having snacks and fruits on the way. At 2.30 I met a person who asked me if I want to go to Vijaynagaram. He would drop me. I said ok and reached Vijaynagaram at 3 O'clock. I called up Rtr. V. Sai Anjani Kumar who was already informed by Rtr. Saboo of Vijaywada City. He came and took me to his house. His mother and father welcomed me. I got fresh and moved to the News Paper Office and Cable Television. Both places I gave an interview and it was successful visit. All these places I could not do much regarding schools because I was not able to take stoppage any where continuously walking since I left Chennai and moreover those days were of examination so it was difficult to get permission. At 7.30 I saw my news in the News Program in Telugu Language. Aunty prepared good food for me for the dinner I was highly respected because I was staying with them and whole Vijaynagaram saw me on TV.

The same news we saw in the morning. After breakfast Rtr. V. Sai dropped me on the highway. I moved towards Srikakulum (50 Km) I noticed many times that the animals like cows, bulls, buffalos, horses and many others used to look at me with the curiosity. I have really a different feeling for animal. I used to imagine various stories like animals wants to ask me why am I carrying so much of weight on my back? Some times I used to imagine that animals might be laughing at me and saying, "see how much pain one get when one carries weight on back." When animals look at my rucksack and me carefully and curiously I used to find kindness in their eyes. I used to talk with them and used to say hi!!!!! Hello!!!!!! How are you? Why are you looking at me? I asked many more questions and used to enjoy it a lot. I love animals a lot. But I used to laugh on my stupidity some times while talking my self and imaginating the stories with the animals. In the evening, I reached Srikakulum at 7 O'clock and called up Rotarian D. Gopal Rao (Ref- Rtr. V. Sai- Vijaynagaram) but he was in the shop, I took the shop address and reached at his shop at 8 O'clock. He was in the shop so I explained him and requested to help. He was not much impressed and he asked me to stay in Rotary eye hospital. It was a ten by ten room, but dirtiest. It was open, unsafe and unhygienic place, with full of mosquitoes. I thought, it would be better to stay in a hotel. I moved in search of cheap lodge, one rickshaw driver took me to a cheap lodge. I was happy just because I found mosquito net in the room. It was almost 12 O'clock of night.

Not having enough sleep, rest and also because of less salt or sodium in food I found myself a little weak. Next day, I had fruits and enough salt in lunch. I was walking towards a village called Tekkali (70 Km). I reached Tekkali in the evening at 5 O'clock with the help of hitchhiking. I got down where the truck was moving on the other direction. So the remaining distance of Just 2-3 Km. I saw few persons playing Volleyball in the school campus. I requested and joined them. I spent around 15 minutes play and enjoyed it a lot. After that they enquired about me. I told them what I do, they all shook my hand and wanted to spend sometime with me. But it was getting dark, so I moved. I called up Rotarian Prakash (Ref- Rotarian D. Gopal Rao) and requested to help me. He came at the booth and picked me. When he came to know that I was walking and that too for environment, he got excited and very happy. He took me to his house and proudly introduced me to his family even on the way he was introducing me to people, as it was a small village. All family members welcomed me. I did not eat much because Rotarian Prakash bought food from outside that I did not liked. I slept at 10.30 p.m.

Last night I got a very good and deep sleep. I thought of reducing some weight. I requested Rotarian Prakash to donate few clothes. Two shirts a pant and a bed sheet it was not useful for me. I reduced almost 2-3 kg weight and bought a lighter new bed sheet. Rotarian Prakash took me to Infant Jesus English Medium High School the only English Medium School in the village. It was Residential School. I delivered the speech to around 300 Students. Principal Mr. Issac N.V. was very impressed as it was related to environment. He showed me the garden and offered snacks and a glass of juice. I was in a hurry to go to Icchapuram (70 Km), so I requested Rotarian Prakash to drop me on the highway. I walked again on National Highway number -5. After spending almost ten days in hot climate, I got habituated. In the evening I reached at 8 O'clock in Icchapuram and visited directly at Rotarian M.N.Raman's (Ref- Rotarian Prakash) "Sri baba Printing Press" explained him and requested to help me. He accommodated me in a lodge after dinner. I slept at 10.30

I got a call in the lodge in the morning that Rotarian M. N. Raman has arranged speech in two schools. First we went to a Telugu Medium school, where I had to take the help of Interpreter because of language problem. Then we went to Dnyan Bharti English Medium School, I delivered message to around 300 school students. The school principal presented me a memento (Rotarian Raman sent to my home) I thanked all, carried my rucksack and moved. It was the last village of Andhra Pradesh and I was moving towards Barhampur (Orissa) that was just 24 Km by 5.30 I covered the distance and went to Geeta Silk Palace to visit Rotarian Chandra Mouli (Ref- Rotarian Raman- Icchapuram) I explained him and requested him to help me. He asked his servant to put me in a lodge. I took bath and came back at the shop. Rotarian Chandra asked me to go for the Rotaract meeting, but these Rotaractors were not much interested and helpful. When I told them about going to the newspaper and Cable television office nobody responded except Rtr. Vijay who told me that he would meet me the next day. I came back, had lunch and slept at 11.00 p.m. I watched Cricket Match India Vs Pakistan and today also Pakistan beat India. It was the second day after Chennai I got one day rest. Rtr. Vijay came and he was very much impressed. We went for breakfast. Suddenly blood started again to come out of my nose. He took me to a Doctor who was Rotary Club member. He prescribed some medicines and got tips for the precaution. He asked me not to walk in the afternoon, which was just impossible. I took rest whole day and went out for lunch in a hotel. I ordered for full meal, but I didn't know it would be too much for me. I eat how much I wanted and remaining I carried and fed to a cow out of the hotel, as they served in Banana Leaf. People were watching with the curiousity and few were laughing too but they might have felt sorry when they saw me feeding cow. In the evening I moved with Rtr. Vijay for the Rotary meet. He told me that Cable persons would be coming in the meeting for the interview and coverage. We went at the venue and all Rotarians welcomed me.

Cable TV persons took the interview where I delivered my message to the people of the city. I had dinner again in the same hotel but this time I asked for half plate. I enjoyed some time, watching Cricket Match played between India and England where India won by 20 Runs. Slept at 10.30 p.m.

Many times I was unhappy with people's behaviour. People do not give importance to time. Actually yesterday one school principal permitted for the speech and asked us (the Rotaract members and me) to come at 7.15 in the morning. I got ready before 7 and I knew how important to go in time. I thought of going alone but waited for these Rtr. because they helped me a lot and it would have hurt them. So I waited they all came at 7.15, hurriedly we moved by auto, but still we were late by 10 minutes, could not reach in time. Principal was time conscious he didn't allow us. I was really disappointed for missing the opportunity to make almost more than 1000 students aware about the environmental problems. I always believed that number of people I talk with, few turns out the conservationist. It affects on the students. After thanking those Rotaractors I moved towards Khurda (90 Km). On the way, I saw a person on bicycle. We both said hello to each other, as he was very fast we could not speak. Both of us were looking at each other even after passing almost half kilometre. I thought he might be on expedition. In the afternoon, blood came out of the nose again. I was not able to understand what or how could I avoid this problem. I took lot of precautions and used to take rest every half hour walk. I drank enough of drinking water, whole day. I hitch hiked in the evening and reached Khurda. I got help of Rotarian Dev to stay in the guesthouse of irrigation Dept. he was the chief of the irrigation Dept. of Khurda. At night two Rotaractors came to see me then I had dinner and slept. One of the Rotaractors gave me the name and phone number of Rtr. Sushri of Bhubaneshwar (25 Km). I started walk early morning and was walking fast, as I wanted to avoid afternoon walk.

I had breakfast on the way and without spending much time on rest I continued walk. But from 10 O'clock onwards I experienced increase in temperature. It was tremendous hot. I took out my handkerchief wetted it and put on the face covering almost half of the face. I was having a round cap that was protecting my head and the handkerchief protected nose. I had fruits on the way and reached Bhubaneshwar at a junction at 11.30. I called up Sushri. A Rotaract member of Khurda already informed her. Even she already made arrangement to pick me. She asked me to wait at the same place and she would send Rtr. Manik Sharma to pick me. Rtr. Manik Sharma reached at the place, where I was waiting for him. First he took me to his office where I changed my clothes and went for lunch. After lunch we went to the house of Rtr. Prem. He got surprised; he recognized me and said "Oh! My God, you are still walking?" He was in Agra for the meet the day I started my walk. He greeted me with lot of excitement and called few more Rotaractors, he introduced me proudly to his family members. Rtr. Vinod who was also there in Agra was shocked and praised a lot. He asked me to stay at his house. In the evening I attained their Club meeting and explained about the purpose of the expedition even I explained them that what and how they can help to save our mother earth. I had dinner at Vinod's house and slept at night at 12.

Next day I visited the News Paper Office of The Indian Express and The Asian Age. I got very good response by the Reporters of both the News Paper offices. We visited the OTV (Orissa Television) as one of the Rotary members already spoke to the reporters of OTV. We just confirmed that they would be coming at the Rotary Club meeting for interview. Rtr. Prem spent almost whole day with me. Rtr. Sharma wanted me to visit Rtr. Sushri even I was interested to see her, as she also helped me. She was staying far from the city, so nobody was ready to come with me but then Rtr. Sharma took me to her house. She, her sister and her mother welcomed me and I spent some time at her house and came back. At 7 O'clock, we went to Rotary Club and OTV reporters were there with the Camera. I delivered the regular speech for Rotary. The Club supported me financially and presented a nice banner, which was stating my message, as my previous banners were dirty. Later OTV reporters took my interview in other room. There were around 5-6 Rotaractors and we all had dinner in the hotel. I thanked all Rotaractors as I wanted to move the next day morning at the earliest towards Cuttuck. I carried my rucksack from Vinod's place and slept at Vivek's house.

Bhubaneswar lies about 320 kilometres southwest of Calcutta on a tributary of the Mahanadi River. It has been an important settlement since the 300's B.C., and has many archaeological remains of early settlers. Formerly called Ekamrakshetra, the town flourished especially between the A.D. 400's and 900's, when it became the political centre for many Hindu dynasties and a focus for the worship of the god Shiva. Many important temples were built there until the 1400's, and at one time there may have been as many as 7,000 shrines standing near the town's sacred lake. Remains of about 500 of these temples still survive. Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar, built in the 1000's, is one of the finest in Orissa. The sikhara (spire) is 40 metres high. Today, Bhubaneswar consists of the original city with about 30 ancient temples, and a planned township built since 1948.

Rtr. Vivek dropped me on the highway and gave me Rtr. Manoj's phone number to get help as he would call and explain him about me. I started my walk at 6.30 and Kuttuck was just 22 Km from Bhubhneshwar. There were many turns on the highway and turns always reduced the distance. If there was right turn, I used to walk on the right side of the road and when left turn comes, I used to cross the road straight by looking at the vehicle and reach to the left turn. Thereby, I never walked the whole curved of right side. And the walk used to be fast. I reached Cuttuck at 11 O'clock covered the distance in just four and half an hours. I called up Rtr. Manoj and he got a shock. He was doubtful that how did I came so early. He picked me and first I requested to take me to the News Paper Office "The Samaj." I contacted Mrs. Manorama (I met them in Delhi at Satya Paul Uncle's place), as Brijbhai was not there. She asked one of the Reporters to interview and take photograph, as I walked in the office with my rucksack. So after interview and photographs I thanked Aunty and went to Rtr. Biswajit's house for lunch. I felt very awkward at his house. We had lunch but after lunch I came to know that I would be staying at his house, I requested Rtr. Avinash to take me to his house, as I was not at all comfortable. During lunch, I saw the way they used to give me food like people used to treat Harijan's in early period not only that time, but during expedition I saw still people are narrow minded and the cast problem continue. On my request Rtr. Avinash took me to his house. I wanted to buy a pair of shoe so we visited at one of the Rotary member's shop.

He asked us to come the next day in the morning. I went for the Rotary and Inner wheel meeting and got financial support from both the clubs. I had dinner at 10.00 and enjoyed Cricket Match. India won the match beating Pakistan after long time.

Next day at Cuttuck after breakfast and spending time with Avinsh's father, who was very interesting person, we went to Shoe Shop. I bought one campus shoe worth Rs 600, but Rotarian asked me to pay only Rs 300. Rtr. Manoj and Avinash were very much influenced and told me that they would like to do the same on Motorcycle. I wished them, both they dropped me on the highway and gifted me a goggle for the protection of eyes from such a hot climate. I was wanted to move as early as possible, but these Rotaractors were wanted me to spend time with them. At last I said goodbye to them and started walk. After lunch I took almost an hour rest because of heat. I wanted to reach Bhadrak (100 Km from Cuttuck) by evening I hitchhiked at around 6.30 and reached at 8 O'clock because of dark I called Rotarian Pramod Kumar Jera (Ref- Rtr. Avinash) explained him and requested for the help. He gave me his address and asked to come it was dark and no lights on highway as his shop was 3 Km. He accommodated me in a lodge and left. Not much interested in me. I had dinner and slept at 10.30 p.m.

From 15th April till 19th April I walked through Soro village with the help by Rotarian Ratnakar Rath and stayed in a Daak Bungalow. Balasore City helped by Rtr. Harsha Gupta and Anurag Jain stayed in "Rajasthan Bhavan."They even repaired my rucksack that was damaged and gifted me a T-shirt. Jaleshwar City helped by Rotarian B.M. Agarwal Stayed in a lodge

On 19th April I entered West Bengal through Midnapore. I found there were lots of trees on the highway. Lot of trees were planted and few cut by the villagers and few were still growing. I visited a place called "Bose Abasan Prakalp" to find Rtr. Chandn Bose (From the International Directory). His father was very impressed to see me doing something different. He asked me to stay in the guesthouse, which was dirty because of not using it for long time but still I cleaned it. I took bath and washed few clothes. Mr. Bose called a local News Paper Reporter. He took my interview. At night I had Begali home made dinner. I got a call from Rtr. Dipankar Jana. He came to know from Mr. Bose. He came to see me. Mr. Bose arranged the speech in D.A.V. School his friend Mr. Rana was member of WWF and got the permission for the talk. I packed my rucksack and slept at 11 O'clock.

The next day morning Rtr. Dipankar came picked me to the D.A.V. School. I carried my rucksack after thanking Mr. Bose. Mr. Rana welcomed me and delivered the speech. Everyone praised a lot and wished me for the journey. Before I moved ahead Dipankar showed me the oldest school built in 1835 where Khudiram Bose (Indian Sacrificed his life for the Freedom of India. He was hanged by the British) studied in the same School. I reached Hawrah (130 Km) and called Rtr. Somnath Maji but he was not at home his brother Rajesh was at home he gave me two members phone numbers and asked me to contact them. I tried but no one was at home and others I found helpless. So I decided to visit directly at Somnath's house. After reaching home I got warm welcome by his brother even though I did not informed before coming. I just had a talk with him about Somnath first time. I explained him and his mother about the expedition that time I noticed changed in them. They respected me a lot and asked me to stay in Somnath's room. I took bath and had dinner Somnath also came at that time. His brother explained him and then he recognized because he was present in Agra for "Rotasia Meet" He was stunt knowing that I covered Sri Lanka also. I had chat with him for long time and slept at 11 O'clock.

I was going to Calcutta. Before that Rtr. Somnath called up Rtr. Brothindro and informed him about me. Even he was aware about the expedition. After breakfast and thanking everyone, I moved to Calcutta that was just a few Km away. I walked through the famous Hawrah Bridge. Within an hour, I reached "Marble Palace" I got shock when I entered the palace. It was really a palace and I could not believe it I thought there might be a house and "Marble Palace" name has given to the house. At the entrance, there was a huge gate with a security guard. It was very big and precious. I guessed there might be history behind it. Brathindro was not yet ready, so I took a look and enquired the staff working in the Palace about the history of the palace. He told me that it's historical place in Calcutta. It was built in 1840. Construction started in 1835 and completed in 1840 by Brathindro's great-great Grandfather Raja Rajendro Mullick Bahadur. The whole Mullick family stays in the same palace. The Palace is open for all.

It has Art Gallery, Zoo and botanical garden. By the time I get all the information, Brathindro came and welcomed me. I told him my plan that was to visit Bangladesh High Commission. Actually according to my program I would go to Bangladesh after Bhutan. However, by the time rainy season starts and came to know from many people that Bangladesh suffers from the flood. It would be difficult for me to walk in those conditions so I thought of covering Bangladesh first and then Nepal. But the office was closed as we reached half an hour late at 1 p.m. where, as the timing was 9.15-12.30 Noons. Rtr. Sanjeeb came at the office of the High Commission and he dropped me at Rotarian Ranjeet Mullik's office that I met in Sri Lanka. He gave me Rotary Club's Meeting places and timings to get financial support. After that I visited WWF, where I got some posters and stickers. In the evening, Brathindro picked me from the place of Rotarian Mallik. We came back to Marble palace by Metro (Only place in India where underground local train runs.) I was supposed to stay with Rtr. Apratim Ghoshal. He came and picked me we went by taxi to his house. Everybody welcomed me and I slept after dinner.

In the morning after breakfast, I moved alone at the office of the Bangladesh High Commission. I filled up an application and waited in the queue. My number was very far and the officers were very slow. Before the office closes at 12.30, the officer took everybody's application forms and Passports. No one has received any receipt against the submission. The officer asked us to come on 26th. When I did not wanted to spend much time, conditions goes against me. I was not sure whether I would get visa or not. In the afternoon, I visited a school "Birla Boys School" and spoke to the concern teacher and requested for the speech. Her name was Mrs. D'souza. She asked me to come on Monday. I called up Bangladesh high commission and requested to give the Visa as early as possible but even he denied doing it before the given time. I attained the meeting of Rotary club of Central. After the meeting Rotarian Chittaranjan Chaudhary dropped me close to the bus station and I came back to Apratim's house by bus. Slept at 11.30 p.m.

Today I moved towards News Paper Offices. First I visited "The Telegraph" and "Anand Bazar Patrika", but the receptionist told me that the Reporters come in the evening. Then I visited "The Statesman" but the same reply from the receptionist. In the afternoon, I went to the Hotel Grand Oberoi, one of the Five Star Hotels in Calcutta. I contacted Rotarian S.S. Sinha (met in Sri Lanka). He welcomed me and proudly introduced me to many Rotarians. In the evening, I visited "The Statesman" and met a nice lady reporter who told me that she wanted to make a story so when I would be going to the Birla boys high school two girls would be contacting me. In the evening I visited Rotary Club of Bhavanipur Rotarian Ranjeet Mullik's club. Uncle asked me to come and stay with him for two days. I got disappointment from "The Telegraph" and "Anand Bazar Patrika" even after visiting at the given time. I came back to Apratim's house had dinner and slept at 11.

It was my third day in Calcutta and I shifted to Rotarian Ranjeet Mullick's house. He had a very big and precious Bungalow and a special guesthouse. It was like a hotel room and the room was air-conditioned with a colour TV inside, attached bathroom and toilet. On 25th April, Uncle told me that few Rotarians wants to see me and they would be coming at his house. He asked me not to go anywhere. After sometime Uncle told me there were two Rotary Members, who were very excited to meet and to see me. They praised a lot and one was Rotary ann Mrs. Ratna Ganguli and Mr. Rajesh Shah he was a Gujarathi old man invited me for lunch at his house. Mrs Ratna Ganguly told me that she was running a Shelter for animals. I wished her if I could get to see it and she replied that she would make arrangement for me. In the afternoon I had lunch at Mr. Shah's house and in the evening I went saw Victoria palace and Show in the Birla Planetarium. I came back had dinner and slept at 1.00 after watching a Hindi Movie "Kareeb."

I packed my rucksack and kept aside, as few guest of Uncle were suppose to come to stay. I went to Birla Boys High School and stopped at the meeting point. Pia and Rakshi (Sharanya), these two girls of around 18 years of age wrote many articles for "The Statesman". We met Mrs. D'souza who called me today for the talk turned me down in front of those girls. When principal did not allow me to talk she said, "Why you did not gave any written letter or application as I told you to give?" I was so angry on her that last time when I spoke to her, I specifically asked that would I need to talk to the principal and she denied. Piya and Rakshi saw my face and said do not worry we would visit Birla Girls High School because both studied and knew Principal very well. Both tried a lot and got the permission to talk with the 3rd and 4th standard students. It was better for me than nothing and moreover it would be very different experience to talk with so small students. I got tremendous happiness as the small students of less than 8 years of age responded spontaneously and promised to help in improving the prevailing conditions. After the speech, I thanked Pia and Rakshi. In the afternoon I went to Bangladesh Consulate and tried to get the Visa by many ways. At 7 O'clock, nobody called my name and I enquired again and saw that the application form was still in the first stage. I was very angry, but could not do anything.

The officer again asked me to come on 28th for the interview. Those stupid officers asked me to spend two more days. They do not understand anybody's problem and they do not care for others time. I was fade up, but kept cool and convinced my self that in expedition I would face such kind of problems. I came back at Uncle's house and explained him what happened. He called one of his friends who knew one of the Officers in the Consulate. Uncle explained him and requested him to speak to him and see what could happen. Rotarian Farooq Hamid spoke to the visa officer and told me to visit on 28th. I called up Mr. Debashish Chakravorthy (chief of Compassionate Crusaders Trust reference given by Rotarian ann Mrs. Ratna Ganguli) and requested him to arrange my visit to the Animal Shelter. He asked me to go to Tollygunj office at 11.30 and contact Mr. Amarnath Ghosh. I called up Rtr. Brathindro and told him that I would have to spend 2-3 days more and please search any other place for the accommodation, as Uncle's guesthouse was full. I slept at 10 p.m.

In the morning after breakfast, I thanked Uncle and Aunty they both blessed me. I went to Brathindro's house kept my rucksack and went to visit Animal Shelter. I contacted Mr. Amarnath Ghosh, who took me to Animal Shelter, which was around 25 Km from Calcutta. We moved in a van cum Ambulance that catches dogs. There were few dogs inside and because of heat they were barking a lot. Still at the Tollyganj Office we sprayed the water on the dog and tried to make them cool. When I reached there, I noticed the name that has given to the Shelter was "karuna Kunj" (Kind home) part of Compassionate Crusaders Trust associated with PFA (People for Animal an organization run by Maneka Gandhi) The trust has got everything free land, three Ambulance, an auto, Tube well, water tank and even the construction of the Shelter. There were around 6-8 workers who take care of the Shelter rather animals. There were around 35 Dogs and 75 Cats. The whole Shelter runs on Donations from Govt., Ngo's and many other resources. The work of the Shelter was to provide shelter for stray Dogs, Cats and other animals. The officers like Mr. Amarnath Ghosh visits any Housing Society explain the people of the society about their organization and work undertaken by them. They request the Housing society people that they would take stray dogs of their area provide food and shelter to them against which Housing society should bare the expenses per month. Sometimes even individuals come forward and sponsor for the animals of their own area. Mr. Ghosh told me that mostly kind hearted women call us. When I was there I saw a family came with their dog. The dog was dead and tears were in the eyes of the family members. In a corner of the Shelter there was a Marty yard the family buried the dog and donated some money for the Shelter. Mr. Ghosh told few people come sometime on Sundays with meat and feed the dogs. With the help of people and funding organization "Karuna Kunj" runs the show. I was highly impressed the way all worked to take care of animals.

I had lunch in the Shelter and played with friendly dogs. I took many photographs and came back in the evening. I went to Marble Palace and waited for Brathindro. We had dinner at his house and could see him only at 10 O'clock with another Rtr. Joy Biswas. Both Joy and me came to his house at Salt Lake. His mother and sister welcomed me it was almost 11 O'clock when I went to sleep.

Aunty served me breakfast with fruits. Then I moved alone to the Bangladesh Consulate. I enquired about the Visa Officer and told the receptionist that he has asked me to come. She told he hasn't come. Actually he was inside the office, but the stupid officer does not wanted me to go in. At last at 2 p.m, he called me and asked many questions. He told me to bring letter of any Rotary Club stating that the Rotary Club Sponsored the expedition. I visited Rotarian Ranjeet Mullick, got the letter and submitted to the Visa officer. But I could not understand why the stupid officer was delaying, even after completing all the formalities. Still he asked me to come on 30th because of the holiday on 29th as Bangladesh celebrates Buddha Poornima. India would celebrate the holiday the next day. I was frustrated and cursed on the officers for not understanding value of others time. I spent whole day in the office, but all in vain could not get Visa. I came back to Joy's house and spent time with his niece Ria, who was very sweet girl of around 5-6 years of age and brilliant. Today I spent some time chatting with Joy, as I was not able to explain and show photographs to him, aunty and his sister. I had dinner and slept at 11.

I spent many days in Calcutta running behind visa of Bangladesh. But then one day on 30th the stupid officer replied coolly that I would have to wait for few more days. I got damn angry and felt like killing all of them. I didn't show any respect, I asked for my passport and said I do not need a visa. I got the Passport and came out with the frustration.

In Calcutta I met a girl named Antara Ghosh, she was one of the nicest girls I ever met in my life and became best friend of mine. She took me around the places in Calcutta and helped me in knowing Calcutta.

Calcutta was the capital of India during the British occupation from the 1700's to the early 1900's. It is still important as India's chief port for trade with Southeast and East Asia. It is also the gateway to the most heavily populated part of northeastern India. The city has some of the most crowded living conditions in the world. The main city of Calcutta lies on the east bank of the Hooghly River, a branch of the Ganges (or Ganga) River. Calcutta is overcrowded; there is an acute housing shortage. A third of the city's population lives in slums, in areas known as bustees. The slum dwellings are constructed from scraps of metal or wood. Tens of thousands of people sleep in the streets because they have no shelter. Many of Calcutta's poor are married men who left their families in poor villages in West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and migrated to the city to find employment. Many of them remain unemployed once they arrive. Much of the city still has no proper sewerage system. Many of the poor people who live in Calcutta risk disease by washing in and drinking unfiltered water supplied for street cleaning. Calcutta also has some extremely rich people. Wealthy citizens live near the centre of Calcutta in pleasant neighbourhoods with wide streets and modern houses. The finest residential area is just east of the Maidan. This part of Calcutta includes exclusive clubs, two golf courses, two racecourses, a stadium, and one of the oldest cricket grounds in the world.

Calcutta has produced many poets, writers, and artists. The local people say that every third person is a poet. Calcutta was the home of Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature. The talented film director, Satyajit Ray, was born in Calcutta. The city has film studios at Tollygunge and has one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Asia. After moving out of Calcutta I walked through Bandel a town, Burdwan where Rtr. Prem Agarwal helped me and we could visit St. Xavier's School and before entering Bihar, Bolpur (Shantiniketan). It was not a city but a famous town the birthplace of two Noble Prize Winners, Ravindra Nath Tagore (Who wrote National Anthem of India) and other one was Dr. Amartya Sen (Noble Prize winner for the year 1999 for Economics)

I did not walk through Bihar (Because the dangerous conditions in Bihar. I read once that there was an incident, two foreigners were on expedition and at a place the female was raped where as the male got killed for money. So I did not wanted to take risk) and moved to Raxaul (India-Nepal Border) by train. It was first time that I used train to travel.

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Nepal

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