New Delhi/Ghaziabad: In their spiritual quest, a homeopathy doctor and his daughter cycled all the way from Ghaziabad to the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj.
Dr Umesh Pant had started planning the trip with his 19-year-old daughter Umang in January. Enthused by the prospect of an unusual adventure, Umang, who is pursuing her graduation from a private college in Uttarakhand, encouraged her father amid her mother's apprehensions on the trip. The father-daughter duo started the around 650 km journey on February 10 and reached Prayagraj five days later where they took the holy dip at Mahakumbh.
Dr Pant said he and Umang cycled 100 to 150 km every day. "We cycled for three hours, took rest and resumed the journey. Umang encouraged me a lot during the trip," he said. Dr Pant said he met people from all walks of life during the journey who helped them a lot. "As we started the journey, it seemed tough. But people came to us and asked us about the trip and also helped us," he said. Dr Pant said cycling is a healthy way of travelling and he wanted to make people aware of its benefits on human body as well as the environment. "We made around 10,000 people aware of the benefits of cycling and ways to keep fit," he added.
Dr Pant said considering the distance, they needed sturdy and reliable bicycles and bought two of them for Rs 25,000 each before embarking on the journey. Dr Pant cycles 30 km every day. for the last eight years, he has been reaching a target of cycling 1,000 km a month. Which he completes. "Our body is our most precious asset and every person should make efforts to keep it healthy," he said. However, the journey was not cheap and the father-daughter duo ended up spending Rs 75,000 on it. Dr Pant and Umang, who are back at Ghaziabad, said they are looking forward to one more such trip.
