By Rajib Roy
SHILLONG: A messenger of world peace and prosperity, Parvesh Masih, a resident of Amritsar, who is presently on a bicycle journey in India, Nepal and Bhutan landed in the pine city recently. He is furthering the cause of world peace and prosperity.
He started his bicycle journey in January 20, 2009 from Wagah Border in Punjab and has covered thousands of km visiting states like UP, Uttarakhand, Tibet, Leh, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Nepal, Assam, Sikkim, Bhutan, West Bengal and Meghalaya. From Meghalaya he will move towards Silchar, Mizoram and Manipur.
“Our country is known for brotherhood, peace, love and respect. There is no caste, creed, nobody is big or small and it is the politicians who create the trouble in order to increase their number of supporters. I urge for brotherhood,” he said. He embarks on his journey everyday from 7am/8am in the morning and retires by 8pm.
“I got the inspiration from inside and I thought I have to do something even if people like it or not,” said the 63 year old Masih on asking how he got the idea of his bicycle trip. “When I was small, I saw in movies the beautiful scene of nature, seas and mountains and would think whether they are real or not. It was then that I decided that whether I have money or not, I will see the entire world and sought god’s blessing to undertake this journey,” he said. He is married with two sons and two daughters. This is his second cycle journey. His first cycle trip started from Amritsar and proceeded towards Kanyakumari, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir. But his cycle trip is not sponsored except that he is helped by the public wherever he visits. The cycle was presented to him by the Amritsar District Administration.
He is planning to meet the Meghalaya Governor, Chief Minister and other ministers on Tuesday.He is planning to leave for Silchar on Thursday.
After his arrival here, he stayed in Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha for few days and is presently staying in Punjabi Lane with his community members. He generally puts up in a police station or in a Dhaba at night while he is traveling.
But the reaction to his peace and prosperity mission is mixed. “In Leh and Ladakh they have not given me any respect. With the help of Army, BSF, CRPF I could visit Jammu and Kashmir. I was looked down upon by police and the District Magistrate threw my papers when I showed them,” he said adding in Assam people are not that bothered about the mission.
“In Sikkim, I got maximum support from the government there. In the rainy season, the government gave me a car, money and a driver. Mr Dhiren Lama, SPS, Deputy Superintendent of Police also gave me place in his family for staying. He even instructed that I should not face any difficulty in the course of my journey in the state,” said Masih adding that Mr Lama also gave him monetary support including the state government. In Uttarakhand too, the public respect was maximum for him. On his cycle trip, “It is madness because everyone cannot do this,” he said with a smile.