He is all of 18 and has
taken some very big decisions in
life. Rohan Agrawal from Kamptee a suburb of Nagpur city has decided to walk
all over the country. He intends to meet people across the country, learn their
customs and traditions. And yes, he has dropped out of college. Rohan believes
the road he is on now will provide him with great learning. He says he is
learning much more than from the formal form of education. The road he said was
his university.
Rohan set off on his journey 14 months ago
from Varanasi after taking a dip in the Ganges. He then walked, hitchhiked his
way across Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana to name a
few states. This was an education like no other of North India. He said he
talked to students studying in the formal system and many of them confessed
they had no idea why they were studying what they were studying and in many
instances they were doing so under pressure from their parents or a job or for
the sake and stating in society that they had a degree. He said “If it does not
make sense, then I will not do it.” He then walked through Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Rohan has walked and hitchhiked his way. He has traveled in ambulances,
buses, trucks, a Mercedes Benz in Kerala, police vehicles and interestingly
slept in temples, churches, jeeps, ambulances, football stadiums and yes
outside an office which was shut for the night. This is a journey across India
which he believes will take him two years.
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When asked about the difference in ethos between north and south
India, he said there the south was more liberal and more social when compared
to the north. In the north people are much more inquisitive and they had an
opinion on everything. The cultures he said were very different. He said he was
fascinated to see the importance of rice in the cuisine in the south.
The journey across the country he said taught him two very important
things. He has learned to be patient and to listen. He said “If you are not
patient you will not learn and if you do not listen you will not learn
anything.” Once he is done with walking and trekking across India he intends to
walk from Delhi to Omyakom the coldest part of Siberia. Yes, he intends to
travel through the North East into Burma, Thailand, China and then Russia.
That’s the rough idea. He intends to do this over a period of ten years. He has
learned a smattering of the various languages of the states he has traveled
through in India and hopes to add a few international languages as he travels abroad.
He made it very clear the journey abroad would be done on foot and he would not
hitchhike.
All this is a great adventure without a doubt. The thought
developed over a period of time. He was always fascinated by languages and
culture. Travel he said was an important aspect of the lives of the holy men of
the various religions. From Lord Ram, Jesus, Lord Buddha all traveled and
spread the word. He said this made him understand the importance of travel. He
said “ The four important sites in Hinduism are in the four corners of the
country. If you traveled to each of them, you learned a lot about the culture
and people along the route. Those days travel was education now travel is
education. I was also triggered by the Gurukul system of which I was a part. It
prompted me to go ahead with the plan.”
He plans to leave for Sawantwadi and will either walk or hitch
a ride. The journey he said would be enriching by his experience with people.
When asked how he managed food. He said he would go over to a restaurant and
offer to help them in exchange for food. Or he would offer his services at a
shop in exchange for food. He has taught at a school for the mentally
challenged in Tamil Nadu and cooked even though he did not know how to. But he
managed. It is without a a doubt , a life filled with incidents.
One
can only wish him all the very best as he moves on in his journey to educate
himself.
