This inspiring story is about a man from Jaipur who has a passion for cycling. He has been cycling continuously for the last four years and has completed the journey of 15 states of the country.
In the year 2017, Ankit Arora of Jaipur set a goal of his life and set out on a long cycling tour. He had to enter his name in the Guinness Book of World Records. To fulfill this mission, he decided to travel to India.
Ankit has previously worked in the media and BPO sector for four years. He even quit his job for this unique journey.
Ankit told The Better India, “I love cycling and used to participate in many events like cycling and marathon. I was always fond of going on a long cycling tour and in the year 2017 I courageously decided to tour India by bicycle.
Before starting the journey, he bought a cycle, some clothes, a camera and a tent by investing around Rs 80,000.
In the beginning, he was only cycling without any specific purpose, but after some time he realized that he should connect this journey with a purpose.
He says, “I was just after setting a record by covering more distance. But while traveling in different places, I realized that through this cycling trip, I should try to understand the social and cultural aspects of the country. Because all these experiences were more important than any record.”
So Ankit changed his approach and emphasized on enhancing knowledge through his experiences rather than chasing any record. During his four-year cycling tour, he has covered 15 states covering northern, western and central India. “I have traveled to all the five states and eight union territories of South India,” he said.
It was this unique journey that inspired him to model a sustainable and eco-friendly village in Karnataka. Whatever he has learned about the country’s diverse cultures and traditions during his cycling trip, he is using it in this village.
Journey to a Rich Culture
Talking about his cycling tour, 32-year-old Ankit says, “During the cycling, I lived with many people like their family. I have lived with army officers, engineers, teachers, farmers, artisans, doctors and even surrendered Naxalites. In this way I got the opportunity to live with about 600 families. I also learned his work by working with him.”
During the journey, Ankit also got a chance to live in tribal areas. In these areas, where he understood the life of the people, he tried to understand the local art as well. While living in rural India, he also met many artists. He met wood sculpture makers in Maharashtra and Bangalore. Apart from this, in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, learned the trick of making Khadi shirts and mud houses.
He adds, “I learned to make cutlery, jewellery, flute and veena instruments from coconut shells in Nuzvid city of Andhra Pradesh. I got a chance to learn about the forest by staying with the people of the tribal community. I have learned painting from Thanjavur, Madhubani and Gond artists. During the cycling, I also learned to make toys from 400 years old wood in Etikoppaka, Andhra Pradesh.
Recalling his thrilling journey, Ankit says, “There was a time when I had no place to live, then I stayed in a Gurudwara. There I got a lot of love from people. When I lived on the side of the road, the people living there used to feed me very lovingly. Although some local people used to doubt me, then I had to explain to them why a stranger boy from Rajasthan had reached their city riding a bicycle.”
But last year his journey came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, by then he had covered a distance of 1,540 km and at that time he was living with a family in Bengaluru. He said, “Sridevi, a painter from Bangalore and her husband Balasubramaniam, who was an army officer, used to read about my cycling trip on Instagram. He told me that whenever he comes to Bangalore, he must come to his house.”
Ankit talks about his experience with the couple says, “I told Sridevi how rural India is moving away from the traditional lifestyle, leaving our rich culture and heritage on the verge of extinction. I had seen that even in the village, pucca houses are being built with concrete nowadays. People are forgetting to build eco-friendly mud houses. Not only this, today farmers in the village are considering organic farming as a bargain.
Made eco-friendly village model
Impressed by Ankit’s words, the couple thought of making some changes. For this purpose, he bought two acres of land in Anchetty village in Krishnagiri near Bangalore.
Later on, these three together prepared a farm on this land by the name of Innisfree Farms. It is a sustainable farm, in which mud houses have been built using eco-friendly materials. He has taken this step to create awareness about sustainable lifestyle among the people. He has created this farm as an example to educate the local farmers about traditional methods and to connect them with organic farming.
Ankit said, “We have built two mud houses in the farm, in which we have used locally available red and brown colored soil. In making the walls, we have used clay mixed with jaggery, honey and egg yolk. This is an ancient tribal technique. We have designed these houses in the shape of hexagon and octagon which is a cheap and natural way to reduce carbon footprint and increase thermal insulation. To protect the walls from termites naturally, we have prepared a layer with water and herbs like neem leaves, green chillies, garlic, turmeric and lime.”
Ankit has also made a sofa out of clay, in which he has used plastic and glass bottles. He collected these bottles from the banks of the Hogenakkal waterfall and nearby rivers.
Apart from this, he has also built two wooden and thatched houses. There is no water use in the toilets of this house as there is no flush in the bathroom. He said, “Here human waste is kept covered in a six-feet deep pit using natural materials like clay, wood shavings and lime. This bio-waste decomposes within a year and can later be used as manure. ,
The waste from kitchen to bathroom is completely recycled in this farm. Apart from this, he has also made two ponds for rainwater harvesting. The farm has 60 fruit trees. Along with this, they are growing many vegetables like spinach, tomato, chilli, turmeric, okra, bitter gourd, gourd in an organic way.
Recently Ankit has been teaching organic farming to the local farmers. Along with this, he is also teaching the women of nearby villages to make jewelery and other decorative things from coconut shell.
Today this farm has become a model for many nearby villages. But Ankit’s cycling trip did not end here. He plans to build many more such model villages across India.
He says, “I will continue my journey and will also travel to the remaining parts of India. My aim is to create awareness about sustainable lifestyle among all sections of the society. With this message, I want to meet more people, build some more mud houses. I want to revive the forgotten and hidden art of India. That’s why my journey will go on longer.”
Original article- Himanshu Nitnaware
Editing – G N Jha
Also read: Settled home in just three bags, rode on bicycle and started touring India
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