Bengaluru, 23rd March: Lions Club Sanjaynagar facilitated a young man from Kerela, he walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, and now he is on his way back home from Jammu till Wayanad by cycle. Melvin Thomas is a 24-year-old student from Kerala who walked and cycled across India with the message, “Donate blood save life.”
He is on the road for the last 5 months. October 2021 when he started his journey all by himself with not much experience of traveling in different states, he didn’t have any idea how to complete the journey. Without any support and not much budget, he used to sleep in petrol pumps and bus stations. He completed 400Kms and then various NGOs started helping him for his noble cause. It took Melvin 118 days of 8 to 10 hours of walking every day to reach Kashmir. In the month of February 2022, when he reached Kashmir, he was not allowed by the security forces to walk to Srinagar due to security and unpredictable weather. He traveled to Srinagar by cab and returned to Jammu and planned to return his way back home in a cycle. Walking and cycling for a distance of over 7000 Km he won the heart of many nitezens.
“Not many people believed that I could walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir because I was heavy (overweight). When I started my journey I was 120 Kg and currently, I weigh around 98 kg.” Mr. Melvin told This Week India in an Interview.
He also shared moments, when he was tried to be robbed but saved by the pedestrians. Many people offered him food and stay and he thanked them in his speech for Lions Club. He is set to start his journey to Mandya tomorrow morning and will reach his home town Wayanad on the 2nd of April 2022.
By Nishant Agarwalla
