Meet Bikas Das, the Tripura Rifleman who Cycled from Agartala to Delhi with 'Fitness Concept'

By: Mrinal Banik

Bikas Das, a TSR rifleman by profession, has recently completed a 3,500 km-long bicycle ride from Agartala to Delhi with a motive to reach out to the people with a fitness concept through the means of cycling.

Das, who intended meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, could not meet the Prime Minister. However, he succeeded to cover a huge distance on a cycle and has lately become the talk of the town. Speaking to Inside Northeast, the middle-aged TSR rifleman shared his experience in reaching the national capital and his motive of fitness that could be harnessed through cycling.

When did you start your journey and how did you conceptualize it?

I started my journey on February 11 last from Agartala and reached Delhi on March 1. As a servicemen in Tripura State Rifles my service, does not allow me to take this journey being on duty. I took a leave of one and a half months and started my journey from Agartala. It took 18 long days to reach Delhi and finally, I posted my selfies in social media once I reached there.

What is the actual motive of your journey?

The main motive of the journey is fitness. In this busy world, everyone is busy with some work. However, it is my belief that if one rides a bicycle everyday -- at least for two to three hours  -- it is considered to be enough. Moreover, the concept of fuel savings is also an important issue which I like to address. If every citizen decides to ride bicycle to cover the short distance instead of plying autos or riding motor-cycles, a huge amount of fuel can be saved.

What prompted you to plan such a huge journey? You must have kept this project in the pipeline for a while?

As I always use to ride by-cycle, in my office, in daily routine I have been subjected to taunts by my colleagues and other people surrounding me. This is the prime reason that prompted me to do something extraordinary in the field of cycling. My urge took a turn of passion and I stated my journey without having anyone with me.

How did you manage to cycle such a long distance? Where did you stay? I am sure our readers would love to know that.

I covered several states en route to Delhi. I stayed in nights at the Dharamshalas and temples located beside the road and kept going with few intervals of rests in the middle. I have even cycled for three days continuously while in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh without any breaks..

............................................................................................................................

The 6 battalion rifleman also informed us that he had visited most of the police stations in his way to Delhi to ensure his security. After failing to meet the Prime Minister, he boarded a train to Agartala on March 1 itself, and reached his homeland on March 5. Now, the soldier is rolling his sleeves up to join his battalion once again once his leave is over.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.