Armed with nothing but a trolley bag, British activist David Atthowe has embarked on a 10-month endeavour to traverse the length and breadth of India on foot, all for creating awareness about the issues faced by farmers in the country and to raise funds for the families of farmers who have committed suicide in recent times.
David, who commenced his ‘Walk of Joy’ under the banner of his NGO ‘Nomadic Lion’ from the Tsunami Memorial Park in Kanyakumari on July 15, aims to cover a distance of 6,000 km to reach Sri Darbar Sahib (or the Golden Temple) in Amritsar in May 2018.
Activist
The 27-year-old activist is no stranger to long, tedious walks. He has undertaken similar journeys in Malaysia, Brunei, and United Kingdom.
But he expects his current endeavour to be the most challenging one.
“I have covered a distance of 3,650 km through my three previous walks combined. I expect the trudge across India to be much more difficult,” he says.
One-month break
He hopes to walk through Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan to reach Ajmer by December 2017. After a month’s break, he will recommence his journey from Kolkata and head for Punjab via Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Another NGO, United Sikhs, is taking part in the participatory walk that is touted to be the biggest in the country’s history.
The prime goals of the campaign is to highlight the agrarian crisis and go from village to village to reach out to farmers on sustainable agriculture. He also hopes to raise funds to provide long-term support to the widows and children of farmers who committed suicides.
“We expect to face much uncertainty. The biggest challenge is likely to be the task of finding accommodation, particularly with language being a barrier. Notwithstanding such factors, I’m optimistic and have faith in humanity. After all, that is what gives us the reason to keep walking and share joy and happiness,” David said.
