By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : As London welcomes the Olympics torch Sunday – with both protest and applause – a non-resident Indian teenager is cycling all the way from London to Beijing, taking the ancient Silk Route to spread the message of non-violence.
Miheer Dodhia, 19, was hundreds of miles away in the vicinity of the Czech Republic as the Olympic flame reached London, preparing to meet Tibetan protesters inflamed by the violent suppression of human rights in their homeland.
But Miheer did not speak of either human rights or Tibet when he launched on his Trafalgar Square to Tienanmen Square marathon last month – a journey that will take him to 14 countries across two continents.
Rather, he spoke of his target to raise £10,000 for the global charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, describing it as “a great charity who provide humanitarian medical aid on the front lines to those in desperate need in exceedingly dangerous regions such as Darfur”.
“My message is about peaceful co-existence and non-violence,” said Miheer, a vegetarian who is in his ‘gap year’ between the end of school and start of university.
Miheer, who comes from the London suburb of Kenton – home to a large population of Gujaratis – hopes he has enough pedal power to be in Beijing for the closing ceremony of the Olympics in August before flying back home in time for university.
Miheer was 15 years old when his father mentioned someone who had cycled from London to Beijing despite having no experience of such marathons. The teenager says the thought stuck and inspired him to do “something worthwhile” in his gap year.
“I’m just your average 19 year old student. I prefer jeans to a suit and my alarm clock gets a good bashing in the morning,” he says on his website, www.cyclinglondontobeijing.com.
But he adds: “Best not waste this time sitting in front of the TV watching endless reruns. Well I’ve always wanted to see Tiananmen Square. But you know what, going through the airport can be such a hassle. Well only one choice then. Better hop onto my bike and pedal my way there.”
Miheer is keeping a journal over the course of his 12,0000-km journey. Although his website currently shows him as having reached just south of the Czech capital Prague his last entry in the journal is from March 27 – on his way from Belgium to Germany.
“Went to my former school – the British School of Brussels and “found out” that I am giving a small talk in the theatre at lunch time, half way during the concert for Amnesty International and tolerance day,” he says.
The journal records, “Most nights [spent] in a youth hostel, and an occasional hotel. I am often touched by people’s kindness and generosity, with many a free meal given graciously.”
It took the teenager more than six months to prepare for the journey. The adventure takes him from London across the channel, into France and then through Western and Eastern Europe, down to Turkey where he retraces the ancient Silk Route, through Iran and Central Asia into and right across China to the eastern city of Beijing.
While Europe should be largely incident free, Miheer is nervous about the treacherous terrain of Turkmenistan and wild dogs in Turkey, who apparently love chasing cyclists.