President Kovind gives ‘Eidi’ to budding cyclist

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 31 

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday gifted a racing bicycle to a struggling schoolboy, Riyaz, who dreams of excelling as a cyclist.

In a statement, Rashtrapati Bhawan said the President hoped that Riyaz becomes an international cycling champion and realises his dream through hard work.

In a tweet, the President said: “The bicycle delivered to Riyaz today, a day before Eid-al-Adha, comes as Eidi in true spirit of the festival that is marked by gifts given by elders to youngers.”

Riyaz’s story is quite educative for youth who come from underprivileged backgrounds and dream big in their life. A student of Class 9 at Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya at Anand Vihar in Delhi, Riyaz originally belongs to Madhubani district of Bihar, President Press Secretary Ajay Kumar Singh said.

His parents, two sisters and a brother, live in Madhubani, while Riyaz stays in a rented accommodation in Maharajpur, Ghaziabad. To supplement his father’s paltry income as a cook, the boy, in his free time, works in an eatery in Ghaziabad as a dishwasher.

Riyaz’s passion is cycling, and he practises hard after studies and work. In 2017, he won the bronze medal in the Delhi State Cycling Championship. He went on to participate in a school games event in Guwahati, according to the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, and achieved the fourth rank at the national level.

Enthused by his achievements so far, the boy has raised the bar and has been taking professional training from a coach, Pramod Sharma.

Riyaz regularly trains at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi. He, however, had to depend on a borrowed sports cycle for his practice, and all that the budding champion wanted was a cycle of his own. His wish has finally been granted on the occasion of the Eid. The President came to know of Riyaz’s story of struggle through reports in the media.

Complimenting Riyaz for his achievements defying all odds, President Kovind wished him very best in the life and said that his story should serve as worthy of emulation for the country’s youth who must come forward for nation-building by dint of their dedication, hard work, courage and honesty.