Riding from Maduravoyal to Mamallapuram, endurance athlete Naresh Kumar would often face this one remark, “Buddy, your girlfriend seems to have fallen off!” Understandably, because the Chennai-born was riding alone on a tandem bike.
This was just a warm up to the mega event he has in mind. On the morning of February 27, the 35-year-old will pedal away from Chennai, on a tandem bike all the way to Hamburg, Germany, in an attempt to raise awareness and charity for survivors of human trafficking and child abuse. He is supported in this effort by Dr MGR Educational And Research Institute, of which he is an alumnus, and the Rotary Club.
Naresh has done a version of this before — in 2017, he cycled the entire stretch of New Zealand, where he now lives, espousing the same cause. But this is the first time that he will be biking across continents for what he calls the ‘Freedom Seat’ project.
The idea is to pick up strangers on the way and educate and entertain them with stories. “You can run or ride to raise money, but people still forget about it. My mission was to create something more lasting, that would rally more advocates.” Something like the experience of riding a bike together, swapping stories that matter to them.
Given how much this ride depends on the whims and fancies of strangers, and their implicit trust in his cause, when Naresh first discussed this idea with his friends, it seemed laughable. “But I had to take that leap of faith in humanity. One man can’t do everything, we need everyone to join hands for this cause.”
The cause
It was a chance encounter with an alleged trafficker in Kathmandu, Nepal a few years ago that drew his attention to bonded labour. “One night, I was approached by a man who offered to sell me girls as young as 12,” he recalls. Further research, speaking to various NGOs who work against human trafficking — the International Justice Mission, in particular — drew him deeper into the cause. “The problem has grown bigger now, with the increasing chances of online sexual abuse of children,” he says.
Having grown up in a poor neighbourhood in Korukkupet in North Chennai, he says, “You can have food, water, shelter… But all of that is nothing if you’re not a free person. It’s something as basic as that.”
Touching lives
Naresh will be travelling across India first: covering Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, from where he will fly to Muscat, going forward to UAE, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Austria and then finally Germany. The route, however, is still tentative.
The bike for this ride has been specially designed by his friend, and named ‘Kindness’. In 90 days, he has to reach Hamburg, where he will attend a global Rotary Convention on June 1. A task he is sure is manageable. “Back in March of 2018, when I did a solo unsupported ride across Australia, I was averaging four hours of sleep every day, for 24 days,” he says. He would bunk everywhere from hotels to public toilets — sometimes even without any shelter, under the night sky. “That was a billion-star hotel,” he jokes.
“People start engaging by first asking me why I am riding alone. When I tell them about the cause, and that all they have to do to help is ride with me, they willingly hop on,” he says. “In those 10 odd kilometres, I tell them my story and listen to theirs.” In New Zealand, he had riders as young as a three-year-old girl to a 74-year-old mayor.
Because they aren’t facing each other, Naresh finds that people open up a lot easier. The answer to ‘What’s your story’ is hardly ever their biodata or resume; it’s what made them who they are. “People share their secrets, talk about their families and lives…” Naresh is not worried about the language barrier in the other countries. “Humans always find a way to communicate,” he says.
Naresh will start his journey from ACS Medical College and Hospital, on Poonamallee High Road, on February 27, at 11.30 am. People who want to follow him along his trip, can visit www.freedomseat.org, where live updates of his destination will be displayed, via the GPS on his bike. For enquiries, call 9176335335.
