An elderly couple from Madurai has travelled over 86,000 km across the country spreading the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi’s teachings offer a solution to numerous problems faced across the world, including terrorism, say the couple.
Now, M. Karuppaiah and his wife Chitra are on yet another 1,000-km padayatra from Erode in Tamil Nadu to Hyderabad in Telangana to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma to spread the message of non-violence and Satyagraha.
During a brief stopover in Ongole, the couple said Gandhi’s teachings can inspire real change in the country, and recalled how the great man used to walk long distances while leading the country’s freedom struggle.
Carrying the national tricolour, the couple drew the attention of passersby at Church centre here. The couple briefly interacted with the denizens after paying tributes to Pingali Venkaiah, who designed the national flag.
The couple’s padayatra also coincides with the famous Salt March of 1930, when Mahatma Gandhi began a 24-day march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi on March 12, 1930 to protest the tax rates imposed by the British Raj on salt.
Mr. Karupaiah is the coordinating secretary of the Agila Indhiya Gandhiya Iyakkam’s (AIGI) Madurai branch.
The couple resumed their journey to Hyderabad, where they will meet Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan. The couple uses a bicycle to carry their belongings and plans to reach the Telangana capital on March 12.
