A glance from a distance might deceive anyone that V. Manikandan is just another bicyclist. Only upon a closer look one realises that he is differently abled who rides his old-fashioned bicycle with his right leg alone. While this is impressive already, Mr. Manikandan is planning to cover nearly 1,200 km from Kanniyakumari to Chennai on his bicycle.
Starting his journey from Kanniyakumari on December 13, Mr. Manikandan crossed Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Dindigul and Tiruppur in the past week and arrived at Coimbatore on Saturday. “I will reach Chennai on New Year's Day,” he said, where he is hoping for a grand reception at Marina Beach.
Hailing from Ramanathapuram, the 36-year-old Mr. Manikandan lost his left leg during an injury while playing cricket when he was 15 years old. “The bone got infected and the doctors told that the leg must be removed,” he recalled. Upon encouragement from his family, he learned how to ride the bicycle with just one leg, Mr. Manikandan said.
Long-distance bicycling is not new to him, as he said that he covered nearly 600 km from Sivaganga to Chennai in 2008 and nearly 400 km from Rameswaram to Kanniyakumari in 2013. However, traversing the whole State by covering over 1,200 km is something that he has not attempted before. “I have searched in Facebook and Google, nobody has attempted anything like this,” he claimed, adding that he would send this attempt to Guinness Book of Records upon the trip's completion.
Mr. Manikandan is accompanied by two of his friends: V. Subburam and V. Selvakumar. Mr. Subburam, who is visually challenged, first met Mr. Manikandan at a workshop for the differently abled in Madurai on October. He follows the bicycle in a two-wheeler driven by Mr. Selvakumar, a mutual friend and distributes pamphlets about this trip during the stops.
The team of three will next reach Erode and travel to Salem, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Vellore, Kanchipuram and finally to Chennai. Mr. Manikandan said that they stay in taluk offices, government schools or any other government building during the night.
The pamphlet says that Mr. Manikandan is embarking on this trip to create awareness on a variety of issues, such as linking of rivers, rainwater harvesting, organ donation, enrolling children in government schools, wearing of helmets and even installing CCTV cameras in public places.
A father of two daughters, Mr. Manikandan said that he is still unemployed despite claiming to hold six degrees. “I have been writing a lot of competitive examinations,” he claimed, but he has not managed to land a government job. He said that his family supported him financially for this trip.
Mr. Manikandan does not prefer wearing footwear while riding his bicycle as he notes that his toes provide the “grip” on the pedal. Having pedalled straight for over a week, his right foot seemed to have swollen. “I will just apply an ointment,” he said. However, Mr. Manikandan does not plan to rest any time soon. “No matter what, I have to reach Chennai on January 1,” he said.
