Praveen & His Adventure
In 1998, December, I embarked on an awareness raising/fundraising walk that should have taken me across Asia and Australia. The most interesting part of the Journey was “Traveling Without Money”. I succeeded in completing 90% of my journey but was brought to a halt in Singapore, where I discovered that I could not obtain a visa to Australia unless I could demonstrate the ability to support myself in that country. Unable to find a donor who could provide the required sponsorship at short notice, I ended the walk there.
I walked through India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for almost one and half year. This book narrates the interesting episodes, stories, people, etc. of the expedition. It is an interesting travelogue, a good encouraging and motivational book for the adventurous people.
“Asia on Foot”
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.
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 visited more than 200 schools in Eleven countries and motivated school going community for the protection of our environment.
We are using this book as our fund raising tool. We are a small organization, our trustees has put in a lot of money to print this book. The organization has more than 25000 Sqft. of land in Torankel village of Khunti Block. In our first stage, we would like to construct two rooms for old people, two class rooms and one Training cum Community hall. Objective of this project is to provide better life to the old and better education to the rural children. It also involves vocational and skill based training to the rural youth - to stop the rural population joining insurgent groups and create opportunities for Income generation.
Thank you and visit again
