Pedal pushers

Sheetal

A 13-year-old guy, Shaurya Sagar Sharma, decided to cycle from Chandigarh to Mumbai to raise awareness to go green and opt for cycling instead of a four wheeler. As the children his age are contributing their bit for the better world, he says “It is our responsibility to jump in the bandwagon for all the right reasons.”

Ask Shaurya who inspires him the most and he beams, “My father, of course. He supports me and always leads the way for me to follow. Sanjeev Sagar Sharma, his father says, “It is a family thing. I got inspired from my elder brother Rajeev Sagar Sharma who was an IPS officer and served in Haryana. He once had a disagreement with his senior and revolted by cycling to work each day. Apart from them, UT advisor Vijay Kumar Dev should be credited for bringing cycle culture and awareness among the Chandigarhians.”

Another connection in the males of Sharma family is their schooling from St. John’s High School, Chandigarh. Rajeev and Sanjeev commuted from Ambala to Chandigarh daily and on the other hand the youngest in the family Shaurya rides his non-gear bicycle daily from Sector 49 to St. John’s and back. 

It is a dream-come-true for any child to have a father-son trip of the lifetime that too when you get to skip school. For Shaurya, going on the bicycle trip was a great experience and he says, “We wish to go from Kashmir to Kanyakumari next. Had the situation in Kashmir not been sensitive, we would have planned it already.” 

During their journey, they share that they not only inspired people to contribute their bit for the saving the environment but also made few of them to promise that they will ride bicycles to their work or school. Mere Sai television show director and the lead actor promised them to be more sensitive toward this cause and commit to come on bicycle at least one day in a week.  Sanjeev shares, “We have taken many detours and were given the chance to inspire on our way to Mumbai by giving talks at various religious and educational institutions. We were associated with radio channels from the outset of our journey.”

Shaurya may be a child but his efforts and thinking inspires people double his age. He requested for a car-free day in every State government where they travelled to. In response of their efforts, Gujrat government has already made a promise to observe car-free day once in a month. He also actively did a survey with the help of his class mates Harjap Singh Riar and Yuvraj Makkar and submitted a report in January before heading to Mumbai that had detailed notes of broken cycle tracks in the city.

It took Sanjeev and his son 105 days to travel a total distance of 5181 km. If you ask them, were they able to judge which city is the best for cycling, they answer in unison, “There is no such place as Chandigarh which is safe and convenient for cycle commuters. But yes, Gandhinagar reminds a bit of Chandigarh.” As Chandigarh celebrated car-free day on Sunday, they were honoured by Chandigarh administration for their efforts.

Together groups like Go Green Cycling & Enviornment Club, Cyclegiri Club and many others are bringing the change. You can easily spot young kids on cycles with their full safety gears on Sunday who very sweetly tell you to switch off your engines during red lights at different traffic lights in the tricity and helps in campaigning about traffic rules. Even traffic policemen know him and many like him by their faces. If these kids can do it, so can you!

sheetal.dadhwal@tribunemail.com