SHILLONG, June 4: Twenty-six-year old Aasha Malviya arrived in Shillong two days ago on a goodwill mission to spread the message of women’s empowerment wherever she goes as part of the Sampoorn Bharat Yatra.
A native of Nataram village in Rajgarh District of Madhya Pradesh, Aasha has cycled across 21 states and covered 17,100 km so far. Her goal is to cover 25,000 km and to complete that by August this year on Independence Day at New Delhi where she hopes to meet President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Her mantra, wherever she has travelled, is to tell young women that if they see a problem they should mobilise the support of other women to tackle that problem.
“I lost my father when I was just 3 years old. I have an elder sister and we were both sent to school even while my mother laboured hard to support us. I studied up to Class V in the village. After that I had to travel 12 km back and forth to attend school. In Class 8, I was selected for the national games in athletics. A gentleman who knew my family, Om Prakash Sharma, first got me a cycle and encouraged me to cycle to school and back. In Class 11, I started working to earn some money for the family. I struggled through college and finally managed to complete my Post Graduation in Physical Education. It has been a very difficult yet challenging journey,” Aasha told this correspondent.
Aasha participated in marathons, both half and full, and used the prize money to build a house for her mother. She herself worked along with the masons to save on labour charges. Whatever earnings come her way she has saved to get her elder sister married. In 2021, the elder sister was married to a chartered accountant. The couple has a daughter.
Aasha launched into the cycling expedition with the mission of covering all the states of the country to spread the message that women can travel alone safely if they take the right precautions and address their fears and apprehensions, by working in solidarity with other women to build a safe future for and to empower women and girls.
There is nothing that Aasha has not done. She is a mountaineer who has scaled two peaks – Mt Tenzing Khan (19,545 ft) and Bisi Rai (20.500 ft) at the Bhutan-Nepal-Bangladesh border.
Riding a highly-equipped GPS-enabled cycle, Aasha says her journey is powered by her zeal to work towards the safety of women and to educate women about the opportunities available to them is they stepped out with courage. It is not as if Aasha’s journey is smooth but she overcomes her problems one at a time, each day.
In Shillong she is being hosted at the Police Guest House. She will be meeting Governor Phagu Chauhan, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Chief Secretary DP Wahlang.
After leaving Shillong on June 7, Aasha will be headed for Bihar.
As someone has rightly said, “She packs a lot of power in that petite frame of hers.”
Wherever she has gone the chief ministers, governors and others have wished her well and showered praises on her single-minded devotion to accomplish her mission.
