Kerala - Kochi   

It is charity on wheels

KOCHI: At 44, Nijam looks young for his age. Maybe it was this youthfulness that made traversing the country on his cycle rickshaw for the last one decade possible for him.

When Nijam started off on his cycle rickshaw in 1998, it was not an adventurous spirit that led him.

His aim was to spread the message of Mother Teresa, who had always been his inspiration. Till now he has covered seven States- Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal.

His companion was an old-fashioned cycle rickshaw which, except for a number plate mounted on it, would not attract anyone’s attention. He had engraved the words “AP 7 Mother India,” on the plate, claiming that he was licensed to pedal his way into any part of his mother country. He says that he had till then covered 18,000 kilometres. Give him a look of disbelief and Nijam rolls out a logbook signed by police authorities of all the places through which he had passed as evidence.

Born in Palakkad, Nijam was brought up in Andhra Pradesh, which perhaps explains the “AP” on his rickshaw’s number plate.

Nijam and his rickshaw are always at the service of the needy in the places through which he passes.

He helps the utterly poor, especially the physically challenged and the pregnant women, taking them to their destinations.

However, alcoholics, smokers, and pan chewers are not even allowed to touch his rickshaw, forget about being offered a free-ride.

In most cases he renders his service free of cost. “I accept if they give me something, but I won’t ask,” is his policy.

Of whatever meagre amount he earns, he sets apart half of it for social causes.

He eats if there is enough money or if someone serves him food. Sometimes he goes without food for days. “Malayalis are appreciative of my cause, but they seldom serve me food,” he said.

His latest leg of cycling started this February, and he plans to cover 35 places. Kochi was the 17th destination on the list.

“Roads here are so bumpy that I almost fell down from my rickshaw once,” he said.

Poor Nijam didn’t know that for the Kochiites who are fed on a daily diet of similar experiences it was no longer news.

Whether to escape the potholed roads or not, Nijam pedalled his way out of Kochi to a new destination, with the firm conviction that his efforts would indeed make some difference to the chaotic world around.

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