Grab a backpack and cycle all across India after taking a year off from work – this may sound absolutely crazy to most of us, but not to 27-year-old Roshan Naveen, who did exactly that. The youngster cycled all over India to spread awareness about Rotary’s TEACH program. “The program is aimed at eradicating illiteracy from India. The main objective of the mission is to make India totally literate by 2017,” shares Roshan, who cycled across most states in the country. “I wanted to do some service-oriented work, so I chose this mission. My job was to get the ground report from the grassroot levels,” shares the zealous youngster who is a Rotaractor himself.
Having covered over 5,000 kms, this pedal pusher visited more than 500 government schools across 27 states. “In each state I’d cover around 30 to 35 schools. Kerala is totally literate, so I didn’t go there. But in the other states, I got information about what was needed like infrastructure, digital classrooms etc and connected with local Rotarians who took the work forward.”
Even after finishing this mammoth journey, he continues to help Rotary with their noble literacy program. “We work with government agencies for the cause and we’ve tied up with the Indian government as well.”
Ask him why he chose to cycle and not ride around on his bike and he explains, “Cycle is the cheapest mode of transport. While cycling, I would get instant help from total strangers and I could also save a lot of money. I would stay with local Rotarians in schools and I’d even have mid-day meals in the schools when I visited villages. The entire trip cost me around Rs 80,000.”
