“It was the first day of the trip and already we were in trouble,” smiles Dhandapani Loganathan. Last October, Dhandapani had cycled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to spread awareness on child abuse. “My friend P Sathish accompanied me on a bike. We had just reached Anantpur when we got caught in a protest,” the Coimbatore-based techie recalls. “One man, who spoke some English, showed us some roads we could take in case things got worse. The security forces were behind a barbed wire fence at the end of the road. We waited for two and a half hours; suddenly a brick flew out and all hell broke loose.” With stones, teargas shells and pellet bullets flying, Dhandapani and Sathish dodged through small lanes and finally found their way back to the road. “Our eyes were streaming and we were coughing and struggling to breathe. It took us two hours to recover.”
Map showing Dhandapani’s next ride
Born and brought up in Coimbatore, Dhandapani had been interested in cycling from a very young age and took it up seriously in 2014. “Initially, it was for fitness, but it seemed to me that it was a bit selfish to think only of oneself. I decided to combine cycling with spreading awareness on social issues. I began to talk about things like misuse of plastic, conserving water and other environmental issues in places near the city like Ooty and Salem.” With the rising number of child abuse cases in the last few years, Dhandapani decided that he should talk about this across the country. “I decided to cover the length of the country: from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.”
He says people were warm and welcoming everywhere. “Before I left, I kept hearing about violence and robbery in the North, but I never faced any problem. In fact, when we stopped at a hotel near Delhi, one gentleman bought us food and water. Even at small dhabas , the people would give us food and a place to sleep.” People up North have a very good opinion of the South, he says. “Everywhere, they would say, ‘it’s very peaceful’, ‘you don’t have any problems’, ‘people are very respectful’... I began to see the South differently.” He recalls how people in Karnataka — he had stopped at a small shop past a toll booth — opened up about child abuse in their family. “Just seeing their faces as they spoke gave me the strength to continue.”
A pit stop in Punjab
When he reached Andhra and Telangana, they got caught in the monsoon. “We rode through the rains. Mornings were tough because of the mist, but the rain didn’t bother us,” he says nonchalantly, adding, “And we didn’t fall ill despite getting drenched.”
Did he follow a special diet? “I ate a lot of dry fruits and ensured I had adequate protein.” His one regret is not trying new foods during his trip. “I stuck to dal and roti . I didn’t want to eat something, fall ill and throw my schedule out of gear.” He speaks gratefully of the support from Rotary Clubs in Coimbatore and elsewhere. And also from his employer. “I work in an IT company and my bosses helped tremendously. They gave me leave and money for my expenses.”
His second trip is in the planning stage. It’s more ambitious, as he wants to cover the breadth of the country from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh. He plans to leave from Coimbatore in January and complete the trip in two to three weeks. “I will be going through 15 states and want to meet the Chief Ministers in each one.” He’s still working on getting the funding and hopes to be done soon.
Future plans? “A cycling trip across the world,” he smiles. “I have started planning. Maybe two years later.”
