Celebrities walk or run miles, swim long distances in the sea or fly across continents to raise money for charity. But Kaustubh Khade has chosen a new way — go kayaking solo for 500 km from Mumbai to Goa — to raise Rs. 25 lakh for Magic Bus India, a non-governmental organisation involved in child development for nearly a decade and a half.
On February 14, he will start the 20-day expedition from the Gateway of India or H2O on Marine Drive, when the neap tide creates favourable conditions, and finish on the Miramar beach in Panjim, Goa.
The 28-year-old Khade, a 2009-batch Delhi IITian, took to kayaking five years ago, trained under a 12-time world champion for Surfski Kayaking, Oscar Chalupsky, and has won medals for India in international meets.
He has spent Rs. 4 lakh out of pocket to import a Chinese-made sit-in kayak for the Mumbai-Goa event. “Most kayaks are imported and the sit-in is not available in India; I received it 10 days ago and have been practising kayak rolling at Mandwa in Raigad district. I have been training for six hours a day now. Since last October, I have been practising in the Arabian Sea [Marine Drive] and the Kundalika river waters at Kolad,” he says.
A demanding training schedule has not allowed him to get across to the corporate world to achieve his dream of raising the targeted sum. “I think I will be able to touch around Rs. 6 lakh before I start and then raise the balance in the post-expedition phase,” he says.
“The chief executive officer of Magic Bus, Pratik Kumar, is also a former Delhi IITian. The NGO teaches underprivileged children through sports activities and that got me going with it. I enlisted with it two years ago. The simple delight of playing football with Magic Bus children at Shivaji Park developed into a crazy bond. Whenever I get time, I play with Magic Bus children. Secondly, the sport needs to be recognised; there was virtually no media coverage in India after we returned with Asian medals in 2012.”
