Date:20/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/20/stories/2006082000120200.htm

Kerala - Kochi

Cyclist with a message

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: For a 23-year-old, Somen Debnath has seen much, experienced much. Ever since he set out on his bicycle on May 27, 2004, this young man has covered 16 States and four countries. All this to spread the vision of an AIDS-free world.

Debnath left Basanti village at Sunderbans in West Bengal, two days after he gave the final examination for his B.Sc. Geology degree.

"I believe that the human mind could be controlled through yoga and pranayama. And once, the mind is under control, one could control the body and desires. This could be world's way to escape from the threat of AIDS," he says.

Before entering Ernakulam district, he had covered 43,700 kilometres on his cycle. As proof, he keeps laminated photographs of him along with heads of States he has visited.

Language, for Debnath, was no roadblock. "I met around 48 tribal communities in North East and Central India. They did not know my language, nor did I know theirs. But we could communicate using an inner language."

State Governments chipped in with help. "Governor of Tamil Nadu S.S. Barnala and Chennai City Police Commissioner collected and gave me Rs.40,000 after hearing about my cause." He spent more than 30 days in Sri Lanka, besides cycling around Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. By 2020, he wants to cover 191 countries across the world and return to take up another mission.