Baripada: The adage ‘Human spirit knows no bounds’ couldn’t have been any truer for Kunaram Murmu — a PG student in Bhubaneswar challenged with partial disability — who bicycled his way home for about 300 kilometers as he was not able to communicate with his family after cyclone ‘Fani’ disrupted all telecommunication channels.
With only Rs20 in pocket and a bicycle, Kunaram travelled from his place of study in Bhubaneswar to his village in Madanmohanpur village of Podagad panchayat under Jasipur block in Mayurbhanj district where his family consisting of his mother and younger sister stays. He lost his father Lambodar Murmu back in 2012.
While most of his friends had gone back to their homes on summer vacation, he had stayed back to carry on with his study. However, the cyclone forced him to change his mind as he had heard of Mayurbhanj to be on the cyclone’s path. With dead telecommunication systems and no others means to contact his family left, he decided to pedal it all along after discussing with some of his friends in Bhubaneswar.
According to the plan, he set out for his village on his bicycle 6:00am Tuesday. Without electricity, ATM machines nearby were dead. Murmu had all but Rs20 left on him. To make matters worse, he could not spend it initially fearing that his bicycle might develop some nags and he might need this money to get it fixed.
Somehow, he kept moving and reached Barchana square in Jajpur district after crossing Cuttack. Hunger had gotten the better of him by that time. Somehow, he approached a ‘dahibara’ seller who took pity on him after hearing his plight and served him a plate free of cost.
With his hunger subsided, he resumed his journey and reached Panikoili by 1:00 pm. After visiting few ATMs, he finally succeeded in withdrawing some money and had his lunch before resuming his journey.
At about 8.30pm, he reached Karanjia where the roads get tricky with dense jungles abound. Unwilling to take a chance, he preferred to spend the night at Karanjia and chose the local hospital verandah for this.
Next day morning, he back on his track for his village and reached his destination at about 12:00 noon. Villagers thronged his house to give him a warm reception as news of his escapade broke.
“I had been thinking to set out on an all-Odisha tour on bicycle. The recent journey has made me all positive and I believe I can achieve my aim of covering the state on my bicycle,” Kunaram said after posing for selfies with his friends and juniors.
“The journey has taught me one lesson that where there is a will there is a way. And this apart, my journey has reaffirmed my belief that humanity is still there in some,” he added.
When asked how he felt after seeing his family members, he said his words fell short to describe the moment when he saw his mother, sister and other neighbours nearly unaffected by the cyclone ‘Fani’.
PNN