For Ankit Aurora, cycling is a passion

Vizianagaram: Ankit Aurora, a 29-year-old commerce graduate does not like to remain in the office going through files and maintaining ledgers. He quit the job and joined an English daily ‘Jaiapura’ of Rajasthan state and started visiting rural areas covering news on various issues. As he began to lose interest with that job too, he decided to quit. 

Later, he started going through the villages in various parts of the country on his bicycle. He simply packed up his four pairs of clothes and some other essentials and started his voyage on August 26, 2017. His aim is only to observe the lifestyle of rural people and to study their lives. Till now, he covered 12 states and four Union territories meeting thousands of people in villages and towns. 

He travelled through states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Pondicherry and many more. Speaking to The Hans India here on Sunday, he said, “I discovered a new India during my journey.

What we are seeing in newspapers, TV channels and movies are completely different from the real India. I interacted with rubber farmers in Kerala and spent with fishermen in Kanyakumari. I was amazed to know the real life of rural people. Some are even struggling a lot to earn Rs 100 per day but some are easily spending Rs 100 for a coffee or ice cream for their children.”

“I never stayed in lodges and hotels at night and I never had food in hotels too. Only the locals have been providing food and shelter for me. They have been treating me as their friend or guest and providing me food and a bed in their home. I came to know the life is completely different in the Thar desert than life in seacoast and its very horrible to live in the forests of Western Ghats.

I found that children in poor families are not going to schools and going to work in mills and machines and fields. But, the rich are enjoying their wealth and availing every facility,” he added. “I never felt bored during my journey. I am expecting to complete my journey in the next 18 months at Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.