Jyoti, 15, cycles 1,200 km with dad for 7 days, invited by cycling fed
In a show of courage and also highlighting the neglect of guest workers by state governments, a 15year-old girl pedalled over
1,200 km for seven days to take her injured father from Gurugram to her house in Darbhanga in Bihar.
The girl, Jyoti Kumari, who visited her injured father in Gurugram in January, was stuck in the industrial and IT hub of Haryana because of lockdown announced by the government. Though the father and daughter sustained themselves during the lockdown period, they soon went out of cash. They didn’t have money either to buy food or to pay rent, forcing her to pedal themselves out of Haryana.
“We didn’t receive any help from the Haryana government after the lockdown was announced. Since there was no option left, I took my injured father on a bicycle and travelled all the way from Gurugram to Darbhanga. My body ached badly, but I was determined to carry my father to Darbhanga. I am very tired right now and taking rest,” Ms Jyoti told Deccan Chronicle over the phone. She reached Darbhanga on Tuesday.
During the seven-day travel, the father-daughter duo survived only on “water and biscuits”. “We ate a full meal only once at a petrol pump”, she said.
Though Ms Jyoti aspires to study in Bihar and sought the administration’s help, she received an offer from unexpected quarters — the Cycling Federation of India (CFI).
Highly impressed with Jyoti’s grit, CFI has offered to provide all required support to her for taking up cycling as a sport. Cycling 1,200 km carrying her father on the bike is not a joke. She definitely has it in her to be a good cyclist,” CFI chairman Onkar Singh told this newspaper. We will call her for selection trials to the National Cycling Academy in Delhi once the lockdown ends
The Cycling Federation of India (CFI) will take a call on training Jyoti Kumari, for the future. “We will need to put her through medical tests and cycling drills to determine where she fits. Looks like she has good endurance ability (needed in Pursuit and Road events) and we will do all we can in providing her the support to become a successful sportswoman,” CFI chairman Onkar Singh said.
Should she make it, Jyoti will not have to worry about money. “Everything will be provided to her, the bikes, the kit, the gear... cycling is an expensive sport with each cycle ranging between `4 and `5 lakh, a good one will cost you `10 lakh. CFI will bear all the costs for her,” Singh said.
When asked if she would accept the training offer from the cycling federation, she said, “I received a call from a gentleman who wants to train me. At the moment, I am stuck in this quarantine centre and I can take decisions regarding the issue after the lockdown is over. My priority is to study and become something in life but at the same time I also want a better life for my family.”
She has also requested the Bihar government to help her father. “I have requested officials to find a job for my father. I want my father to work in Bihar and live with us,” said Ms Jyoti, who had quite an ordeal in Haryana.