Why are they travelling on foot?
Meet Akshay Aralikatti (27 years old) and Gurkirat Singh( 28 years old) who have undertaken a 4000 km journey on foot across India, to highlight the lack of infrastructure for pedestrians in the country and to promote an active lifestyle.
When did they begin?
They started this journey on November 20th,2021 from Kohima in Nagaland. The Project is known as Project WINK( Walking India from Nagaland to Kanyakumari).
Who are Akshay and Gurukirat?
With an engineering background, these 2 former colleagues used to work for India hikes, a Bengaluru based outdoor enterprise as Trek leaders. They realised in their first meeting that they shared similar perspectives on everything from the environment to education and philosophy on life. They are trained in mountaineering and endurance courses that equipped them to undertake the journey safely.
How did the Journey begin?
Initially, Gurukirat Singh had planned to ride a bicycle across the periphery of the country but further decided to walk. In September 2021, Akshay was having a rough ride with body aches while pedalling his bicycle up the Rohtang La in Manali. He decided to call his friend Gurukirat for support. Singh asked his mate to join him on a walk as well.
Together, they worked out the best possible route and decided to start the journey from the magnificent hills of Kohima to the mesmerising waters of Kanyakumari in a rough estimate of 100 days.
How did they Motivate themselves?
Without a thought of giving up, the duo found motivation in conversations with their friends and family back home. They often listened to podcasts and music on the road. They would walk alongside each other, lost in their thoughts during the day while their evening regime became popping and cleaning their blisters while stretching in their tent.
What was the experience like?
They happily shared that they haven't faced any problems on the road and people were very warm and welcoming. They would get curious and walk along with them to understand their motive for this journey. One such companion in Falakata, West Bengal asked them to address over 200 children, who were eager to know about their journey.
Akshay shared that they would struggle to find basic dal chawal in someplace and survived on chai, samosa and rasgullas.
Which states were covered?
As per reports, they walked for over 40 km every day and slept in tents most of the places. They would catch up on some rest after a 117-day-long journey from Nagaland, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, which will finally culminate at Tamil Nadu.
You can follow their journey on Instagram. Akshay- Gurukirat.
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These Duo Have Undertaken Project Wink to Spread Road Safety Awareness With Positivity