People have been forced to perform enormous feats of will and grit to get through this lockdown. It’s not like they wanted to, but desperate times call for desperate situations. One of the most striking examples of that was 15-year-old Jyoti Kumar, who cycled over 1200 km from Gurugram to Bihar with her ailing father in tow. Following this, she had been offered a trial by the Cycling Federation of India.
According to The Indian Express, she is not accepting the offer, as she is prioritising her education over the other.
I wish to complete my studies first. I also feel physically weak now after such a long arduous journey.
Jyoti reached her home in Bihar’s Sirhulli, after a gruelling 7-day journey, with her injured father sitting on the back of her cycle.
The District Magistrate of Darbhanga has since enrolled Jyoti in class 9 at the Pindaruch High School. She has also been given a brand new cycle, school uniform, and school shoes.
A second-hand cycle bought with the Rs 2,000 that was left in the house, and a bottle of water, was all that 15-year-old Jyoti Kumari Paswan had when she decided to take her ailing father from Sikandarpur in Haryana to Darbhanga in Bihar. https://t.co/oveu65OZoa
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) May 23, 2020
Accomplishing a near-impossible feat like this at such a young age is highly commendable – what should be lamented though is the fact that she was forced to do it in the first place.
