Disability is no handicap to pursue his passion

Disability did not deter this 30-year-old man from moving towards his goal to create awareness about road safety and eco-friendly activities while riding a bicycle.

Pradeep Kumar Sen of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, lost his left leg in a train accident in 2013. But, the accident did not deter him from riding the bicycle. Sen, who aims to pedal 12,000 km to enter into Golden Book of World Record in bicycle riding, has clocked 3,000 km when he reached the 'City of Palaces', on Tuesday.

Sen reached Mysuru via Belagavi, Hubballi, Davangere, Chitradurga, Sira and Bengaluru. He will continue his journey covering Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chattisgarh and Odisha to achieve his goal.

During his journey, Sen creates awareness about Swachh Bharat, Swasth Bharat, road safety and about the 'Handicapped Society'.

As part of his awareness drive, he interacted with the students of Mahadevi Higher Primary School, Akkanabalaga, on Thyagaraja Road, here. Sen says, he wants to give something back to the society and decided to create awareness among the people and schoolchildren while riding the cycle. "Today, many people are unaware of how waste can be converted into wealth and I wanted to create awareness about the significant issues, which is very important for the healthy nation," said Sen.

Besides cycling, Sen is also a professional painter and also practices dance. He says, "My confidence level has improved after the accident. I want to motivate the people, who feel they cannot achieve their dreams due to physical disabilities."

During his interaction with the students, he told them to follow traffic rules strictly. "Life is precious and we should not ignore traffic norms. The rules are made for people's safety. We should not put our life at risk by violating rules" Sen said. Similarly, he also explained the benefits of cleanliness and suggested the students maintain their surroundings clean to maintain good health and to make the nation healthy.

The students said, Sen is a role model for them. "He sets an example for us. Sen shows nothing can deter us from achieving the goal if we have determination and confidence," they said.