Nine cycling enthusiasts from various walks of life are bicycling from near Mumbai to Islamabad. A diary from their third week.

Nine young women and men who embarked on a ‘Cycling for Peace’ expedition in Mumbai will be reaching Delhi on March 23, en route to crossing the border at Wagah on 1^st April a month after they set off.  Cycling an average of 100 km daily, they will be cycling more than 3,000 km to reach their destination, Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. 

The Cycle Expedition, a unique a unique experiment in peace building, has been organized by the Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), Maharashtra chapter. It was flagged off from Panvel, Maharashtra on 1st March, 2007 by Admiral (Retd.) L Ramdas and Dr. Manoranjan Mohanty. 

In Delhi, the cyclists will be welcomed by PIPFPD, Delhi Chapter, on March 23 at 03.00 pm at Nizamuddin. They will be reaching Delhi on 23rd March 2007; Delhi Chapter of PIPFPD will welcome them at 03.00 pm at Nizamuddin (near Nila Gumbaz round about, on the way to Bharat Scouts & Guide). On 24 March 2007 at 2.30 pm an interactive programme has been organized at Delhi School of Social Work, Mall Road, University of Delhi, at which university students will interact with these youngsters. Later that evening a solidarity reception is being organized at the Islamic Cultural Center. The group will leave on 25th early morning for Haryana.

Enroute they are talking to villagers, journalists, social and political activists and civil society groups about the importance of peace and friendship between India and Pakistan.

The cyclists are from Panvel and Mumbai and include two women. One of them is a student of medicine, while some others are working with various IT companies. There names are Ms Shraddha Tisgaonkar, Ms Rupali Nehate, Prasad Karve, Mandar Karve, Neeraj Ghate, Dhananjay Madan, Kaustubh Gujare, Vikas Chavan and Anand Lokhande.

March 14: Nine young cyclists on the way to Pakistan from Panvel, Maharashtra, are near Gwalior. Today morning they started from Guna. They pedaled 114 km and reached Shivpuri by evening. Tomorrow's destination is Gwalior.

At Shivpuri they met some Rotarians and activists of Nehru Yuvak Kendra. They also met few political activists.

In Shivpuri they are staying at a hotel as we had no local contacts. But, people came and met them when they came to know about unique expidition.

They will be reaching Delhi on 23rd. Various programmes are planned in Delhi. Programmes in Delhi will be important. They will be meeting students and people from other stratas of the society

March 15: Our nine young cyclists on the way to Pakistan today evening reached Gwalior. Today morning they started from Shivpuri and pedaled 120 km to reach Gwalior. Some last minute contacts made them Rani Laxmibai University Hostel available. It is a deemed University. As they reached in the evening they could not have meeting with students. But, tomorrow they will have interaction with students.

On the way to Gwalior they met quite a few ppeople during lunch stoppage. People met cyclists expressed there solidarity with the mission.

Tomorrow they will have a rest day. In real sense it means getting cycle repaired and do over oiling of it. They will be meeting students of the University. They also plan to visit Gwalior Fort.

They plan to reach Agra on 17th evening. Distance between Gwalior and Agra is around 125 km.

March 16: Today was a rest day. Gwalior is a historical city and so young cyclists decided to get a feel of city. In the evening they went to historical Gwalior Fort. It has a light and sound programme. Immediately after getting down from the fort Anand Lokhande described it as amazing.

Rotarians of the city came to meet them in the morning and so they had long discussion on IndoPak relations and other issues confronting India and Sub-continent. They had lunch with Rotarians.

They also met few journalists and told them about their expedition. They also got there cycle repaired.

It is not sure whether tomorrow evening they will reach Agra. They may have to stay little before Agra.

March 17:Today an unfortunate incident took place at Gwalior. Shraddha Tisgaonkar fell down from her cycle and got injured in the rib. Other colleagues took her to the hospital. Good news is injury is not serious. Though, she has to take rest for around five days. Because of this inccident, everybody are still in Gwalior.

Tomorrow, the idea is, to take her to Delhi in some taxi. One or two colleagues have to accompany her. She can take rest in Delhi. The modalities of Delhi arrangement is being worked out. She will join other colleagues in Delhi and will proceed further. Shraddha is keen to join cycle expedition from Delhi. Young cyclists, on way to pakistan from Panvel, are scheduled to reach Delhi on 23rd afternoon.

We are trying to get some accomodation for Shraddha and 1-2 colleagues who will be reaching Delhi tomorrow.  Others will start their onward journey.

March 18: Everyone,today, stayed at Gwalior only. Shraddha will be leaving for Delhi tomorrow. She will be accompanied by 1-2 colleagues. Others will proceed to Agra. Shraddha was feeling little better today. They will reach Delhi on 23rd afternoon. Delhi destination is important. Shraddha will join cycle expedition from Delhi.

They met quite a few people today in Gwalior.

- Jatin Desai is  member of Pakistan India Forum for Peace and Democracy and continues to report on this effort. He can be contacted at 093222 55812.