Soon after entering Bihar, he found politician Pappu Yadav’s men awaiting him. As they escorted him to an unknown destination, Rohan thought he was done for. “I frantically called up my uncle in Imphal and told him about it. He said ‘All the best’ and cut the call.” Within a few minutes, he found himself in a palatial property, where he was treated to a lavish meal and the next morning he was taken to a school in Darbhanga to share his experiences with students. The incident changed his perception of Bihar. “And I always talk about it during my interactions. It helps shed a lot of pre-conceived ideas,” says Rohan. Philem Rohan Singh is reminiscing about his encounters during his bicycle ride from India Gate, Delhi to Manipur, undertaken earlier this year.
Twenty-three year-old Rohan went on this solo cycling tour to highlight the issue of pollution. He made fliers and distributed them to people he met on his 2,500-km journey covering seven States — UP, Bihar, part of West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. He also visited colleges, schools and universities to interact with students. “What happens is that when you just go for a talk, it doesn’t really excite the students, but when they know that someone who has ridden a bicycle all the way from Delhi has come to interact, they get interested,” says Rohan, who rode Java, an Italian cycle brand.
Rohan is now planning another ride from Kanyakumari to Jammu and Kashmir as he had missed J&K on his anti-pollution ride and really wishes to visit south India. “But it depends on my vice-chancellor now, if he permits me to take leave,” says Rohan, who is pursuing his masters from Sharda University in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Remembering another incident from the sojourn, he says how he was chased by children in UP. “They ran saying ‘ bhaiya hamne aapka photo dekha hai’ . It felt nice.”
Before he embarked on the journey, Rohan started to publicise it through media. “So, a lot of interviews happened in newspapers and news channels and that’s how the word spread.” In Guwahati, a friend insisted that he visit her college and talk to students. “Later, I was told a few of them were depressed and felt very positive after the interaction.”
The experiences garnered during the ride and its success buoyed the cycle enthusiast to undertake two more expeditions. A former model and teacher, he took up the cause of environment again, in addition to drugs and unity and diversity, and rode from Imphal to Kolkata, covering a distance of 1700 km.
For his third ride, from Sharda University in UP to Imphal, Rohan highlighted the endangered State animal of Manipur, the Sangai. Over the years, the number of brow-antlered deer has drastically come down and now stands at approximately 267. The ride ended during the Sangai festival held in November every year in Imphal, where he was invited to share his experiences during his travels. “But I wish, the State Government had done more. I expected more financial support. What they gave was not enough, but now I don’t expect anything and just do my own thing,” he says matter-of-factly.
Rohan would ride 100 km every day for about seven or eight hours and doesn’t remember any negative incidents. “In my first ride, I didn’t even have a puncture. I didn’t even carry any tools with me, so it was fine. It was a smooth ride, but then in the next ride, I took the entire tool kit along and then the puncture happened. I don’t think I will take the tool kit along in my next ride,” laughs Rohan.
The passion for cycling began early on at home, with driving rickshaws to get groceries and water for home. Soon, he was diagnosed with varicose veins and had to be operated upon. “This is not possible with varicose veins but it can’t stop me.”
