6000km in 37 days: 66-year man travels across the country

Sixty-six-year-old Delhi-based entrepreneur, Gagan Khosla embarked on a mission to cycle his way across the Golden Quadrilateral, covering 6000+ km, to raise funds for Bal Raksha Bharat (also known as Save the Children, India) education programmes. His journey began on November 20, 2022, in Delhi, and ended on December 28, 2022, in Manesar, Gurgaon, after a 37-day bicycle journey that covered the states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan.

Amid the coronavirus lockdown, while browsing through news channels, Khosla discerned the threat that the pandemic posed, especially to the learning opportunities for financially disadvantaged children. In response, he decided to test his limits, which he had done previously when he rode a bicycle 4,300 kilometers from Leh to Kanyakumari to celebrate his 60th birthday and raise funds for his former institution, Scindia School, Gwalior, in 2016. His journey was so inspirational that it was turned into a film titled ‘Hai
Junoon’. Produced by the EPIC Channel, the 45-minute film tracks Khosla’s adventures from the vast mountains of Leh to the fast-track highways of mainland India. Bal Raksha Bharat, commonly known as Save the Children India, is a non-profit organisation working to improve the lives of marginalized children in India since 2008. “It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that I was sitting at home watching the news of people departing from cities for their towns and villages, and that was when I started feeling concerned about what is going to happen to these people, especially children. How many children are going to be pushed toward illiteracy? How is this migration going to affect their future? Who is going to look after the kids who lost their parents? My head was full of these questions, and that was when I decided to do my part for society and our children. I was well aware that I would not be enough to change the fate of all the affected children; however, I also knew that every drop in the ocean counts. Finally, I decided to connect with Save the Children and shared my idea with them,” says Gagan Khosla.


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