Activist rides across the world for a cause

TRAVEL

By JESHER TILTO
TO travel the world is an experience only a few can take enjoyment in.
The thought of venturing to a new land can be frightening for some.
For others, the thrill of being in a new country is exciting.
Many of us would have watched the movie Around the World in 80 Days (2004) and saw the adventures of Phileas Fogg (Steven Coogan) and Passepartout/Lau Xing (Jackie Chan).
It was a great action adventure comedy film that showed their efforts to travel the world in 80 days.
At present day, there is an individual who is on a similar path.
However, he is travelling the world using a different mode of transportation – a bicycle.
Furthermore, with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to visit Papua New Guinea very soon, there is another individual from that country that is worth making mention of.
Somen Debnath
On April 20, 2023, I had the honour of meeting the remarkable Indian globetrotting activist on a mission to raise awareness on HIV/Aids and Indian culture through education of people worldwide.
“My name is Somen Debnath.
“I was born and raised near a mangrove forest in Basanti village in Sundarbans, West Bengal, India.
“At the age of 20 on May 27, 2004, I started my journey.
“After my studies, I decided to take this initiative to travel India first then the world.
“For the first two and a half years, I travelled all of India, then Central Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, Antarctica, North America and now it is the Oceania and Australia.
“Oceania is the last region that I am visiting.
“I am trying to visit all the islands in the Pacific region,” he said.
Somen shared that his journey all began at a young age when he read a newspaper article.
“At the age of 14, I read in a newspaper about someone who had died from HIV/Aids.
“He was not so far from where I lived. There was a quote that said that ‘HIV/Aids was deadlier than cancer’.
“I knew cancer was dangerous but did not know about HIV/Aids.
“Then I researched more about HIV/Aids to know more about it.
“From age 16 to 20, I was travelling in my neighbourhood and state.
“And then I was working with the West Bengal State Aids Prevention and Control Society which allowed for me to travel around India and then the rest of the world,” he said.
The HIV/Aids-related stigma and lack of awareness about this deadly but preventable disease motivated him even more to continue his work.
Somen is currently in the midst of a dream journey to travel the world on his trusty bicycle.
His mission is titled “Around the World on Bicycle Tour for HIV/Aids Awareness and Seminars on Indian Culture”.
Throughout his journey, he has been adamant about educating people from different parts of society by raising awareness among students in schools, colleges, universities, and also encourage these institutions to begin a chapter on the sensitisation programme on HIV/Aids.
He also promotes the use of needles and syringes among people addicted to drugs and condoms for sex workers.
He also aims to create awareness among the youth, and encourage and work with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in countries around the world.
“Prevention is better than cure. This is the message I want pass to the people of the different countries,” he said.
Somen was thankful to the Indian High Commission in Port Moresby for their hospitality during his time in the country.

The journey so far
PNG was the 179th country Somen had travelled to.
With over 180,000km completed on his bicycle, he is not stopping until he completes his journey to tour 191 countries.
Somen has gone through a myriad of experiences, trials and tribulations.
However, through the strength of the human spirit he has journeyed on.
One such incident among many was when he was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2007 for 24 days.
He was released due to the strength of his resolve, and message of peace and non-violence.
He was robbed 28 times in Central Asia, Europe and Africa.
He has lived with wild animals such as lions, rhinoceros, elephants, cheetahs, pythons in the wilderness.
He traveled to the Greenland, North Pole in 2011 facing -45 degrees Celsius.
He has crossed oceans and mountains like the Himalayas and the Alps.
“During my travels I have met six kings, 72 prime ministers, 38 presidents, and almost 400 different ministers of different countries,” he said.
His journey details are listed below.
2004-2007: 28 States and five Union Territories of India.
2007-2009: 23 countries in Asia.
2009-2012: 45 countries in Europe and Greenland.
2012 – 2015: 52 countries in Africa and eight countries in the Middle East.
2016-2017: 13 countries in South America, six countries in the Caribbean, and the South Pole in Antarctica.
2018-2022: Eight countries in Central America and all the countries in North America, including the Arctic Circle, 48 states of the United States of America including the Arctic circle Alaska and Canada, Japan, Russia and Mongolia, China, South Korea, New Zealand.
From 2022 to 2023, he planned to travel to eight European countries, Australia and the Pacific, Southeast Asia then return to India.
He aims to reach his goal of travelling to 191 countries by the end of this year.
By then, he would have covered almost 200,000 km on his bicycle and reached almost 20 million people.
His campaign is supported by donations and company sponsorships.
Sharing positivity in the world
“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” is a Sanskrit phrase from ancient Indian scriptures that means “Whole World is One” or “The World is One Family”.
Somen shared this as he told of his vision to see more positivity in the world.
“We are all one family,” he said.
“Your intention every minute should be that we must be positive for this world.
“Many people are living in a very miserable way. So try pull the hand of your neighbour and say, brother, how are you?
“We should serve this world.”
Somen has a devoted vision of creating a Global Village in India after he has completed his tour of the world.
“I plan to establish a Global Village in India.
“It will be a self-sustainable environment and I will invite 191 nations to stay there.
“It will be on an an eight-hectare portion of land, four hectares for accommodation and four hectares for food.
“Almost 250 people can live there and food and accommodation will be free.
“This will be done in the hope to try and make the world better,” he said.
Somen said that he has maintained a tradition of planting a tree in every country that he visits.
“In every country I visit, I plant a tree.
“Because I cannot give anything to the country but that is the positive way that I can convey my love and gratitude to the people.
“When I plant a tree, I take a handful of soil back to India.
“The 191 handfuls of soil will be at the middle of the Global Village and will be called the Universal Garden.
“That is my dream.
“The world was kind to me so this will be my way of contributing back,” he said.
The last I heard, Somen was in Australia.
If you are interested, you can follow him on his Facebook page, Somen Debnath, and keep up with his travels.
He also has a YouTube channel, World On Bicycle 191 Countries, that you can watch videos of his travels on.
You can also read about him online with news articles from all around the world.
People like Somen are rare and I was fortunate enough to have met him.
Godspeed!