|
Equal education odyssey
Smooth start
The mission statement of EducationWorld (est. 1999) is to "build the pressure of public opinion to make education the No. 1 item on the national agenda." To this end and to spread the message of Equal Education for All, Education-World co-sponsored the Equal Education Odyssey of our special correspondent Srinidhi Raghavendra (riding with Kishore Patwardhan) under the aegis of Borderless Bikers, Bangalore. This historic 25,000 km motor-cycle odyssey will take him across India and South Asia. Over the next five months, Raghavendra will take the Equal Education for All message to eight Asian countries (including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia) and 62 major cities across Asia. In the next five issues, Education World will feature an abridged version of his blog: www.bangaloreoutings. blogspot.com. The first dispatch:
December 3, 2006. After months of preparation, D-Day dawned bright and clear. Following a quick pooja at a temple, my team mate Kishore Patwar-dhan and I proceeded to the Gandhi Statue near Cubbon Park, our point of departure. The media was there in full force and we were received by R. Chandramouli, vice president (marketing) TVS Motors and John McClure, director (marketing) of Intel Corporation.
We were ceremoniously flagged off at 10.30 a.m sharp together with a cavalcade of over 50 motor cycles and drove for 40 minutes to Nelamangala where most of the bikers signed off after wishing us bon voyage.
Following a quick brunch at Kunigal, the two of us rode to Hassan (115 km), to rest for the night at Kishore’s cousin’s home. An exciting first day had got off to a smooth start.
December 4. Starting at 8.00 a.m from Hassan it took us 45 minutes to negotiate the narrow, pot-holed roads and
streets choked with people, cattle, poultry and pigs, before we reached the state highway leading to Belur. Surprisingly the 34-km two-lane Hassan-Belur road is as good as any national highway and provides a great driving experience. Scenic vistas of quaint villages, azure lakes and green fields enhanced the ride.
Belur hosts a well-preserved historic temple dedicated to Chennakeshava. The Hoysala kings took over 100 years to build this temple and it is perhaps the most popular in Karnataka. We drove smoothly through Mudigere, Kottigehara and continued our ride through Charmadi Ghat, 27 km of sheer riding pleasure. One of the world’s most famous bio-diversity hotspots, a profusion of greenery greeted us. Once into the Charmadi Ghat we had 17 hairpin bends to negotiate. But our TVS Apache bikes smoothly negotiated the treacherous twists and turns.
At Mundaje (pop 5,000) students and staff of the local junior college, where my fellow biker Kishore was a student, were briefed about our odyssey and the importance of Equal Education for All mission. Next stop was Siddhavana Gurukula, a free residential school for poor meritorious students. Established in 1940 the gurukula is housed in a verdant 15 acre campus and has a large auditorium where we were feted. During a two hour interaction, we stressed the importance of self-study and continuous supplementary learning after which we proceeded to Dharmasthala to meet Sri Veerendra Hegde, chief trustee of the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara temple and managing trustee of SDM group of 13 education institutions which have an aggregate enrollment of over 10,000 kindergarten-postgraduate students. Dharmasthala is also a pilgrimage destination which attracts over one million pilgrims annually.
From Dharmasthala we rode to Mangalore via Belthangady and BC Road. It is described as a national highway but is worse than a village road.
December 5-6. We reached Mangalore and stopped for an extra day to get our bikes serviced. There is plenty to see in Mangalore, including the historic Mangaladevi temple and the famous beaches of Panambur and Ullal.
December 7. We set out from Mangalore on the coastal highway (NH-17) towards Karwar. The initial 27 km of road is a shambles without a trace of asphalt or road dividers. But this region is strewn with numerous pilgrimage centres. Notable among them are the Udupi Krishna temple and the 1,000-pillared Jain Basadi at Brahamawar.
After a brief halt on the beaches of
|