It’s destination hope for labourers pedalling towards home

It’s a new challenge for these 15 men in the cycle called life.

They will have to pedal with the zeal of professional cyclists looking to win medals. The group is hoping to do at least 100 km daily for 15 days.

But all that they will see at the end of the fortnight is their city, Puri in Odisha.

They want to be in the temple town, their sweet home, having started from Belagavi. Their logic is this: “We want to be in our place amidst our people, even if we were to contract Covid-19,” as one of them puts it.

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These labourers, who worked at a small steel-related industry in Belagavi, still had 1,650 km to pedal when they spoke to DH in Bagalkot on Thursday.

The group is heading home for the first time, after they had arrived here in March 2019. They want to reach home before they exhaust whatever cash they have on hand.

The group of 15 is carrying some packed food. But they have encountered people offering food and water on the way. "The police are also helping them in whatever way possible,” team leader Sudarshan Sain said.

He said their employer had given them some money, in instalments, after the lockdown came into force. They were not sure whether their job will remain.

Having left Belagavi in the wee hours of Wednesday, they plan to travel via Hyderabad. None of them had lockdown travel passes nor did they seem to be aware they should apply for them through the Seva Sindhu app.

The group is finding its way with the help of the Google map on Sudarshan’s phone.

Each of the 15 men bought a new bicycle, each costing Rs 1,200 for the journey. The group starts early so that it can cover a good distance before it starts getting hot.