It is not easy for any person to quit a good salaried job and sweat it out on a bicycle across the country. Yet, this is what exactly Manjunath Nagraj did to fulfill his mission of spreading awareness about organ donation.

In India, people are least bothered about organ donation and the dismal statistics are proof of lack of awareness on this issue. Manjunath decided to do his bit by cycling solo through the length and breadth of the country to meet as many people as he could and explain to them the importance of organ donation.

Inspiration And Training

Manjunath was concerned about a lack of awareness about organ donation. He realized that there is only one donor for a lakh of people. He wanted to bring a change and worked with an NGO but soon understood that his efforts were not enough. That is when he embarked on his mission of pedaling across the country to reach as many people as he could and spread the message. He started by covering distances of 400km-500km in Bengaluru and trained to survive in extreme conditions.

Overcoming Challenges

At the initial stage of his journey, he encountered heavy rains in Kerala. Flooded and ill-maintained roads were a big challenge as they led to several minor accidents. However, Manjunath persevered in his mission and believed that roads were the best way to reach a large number of people. Instead of taking to highways, he chose the longer routes that went through villages, towns and cities in order to touch a wider population to spread the message.

Manjunath completed his journey in two phases- From Kanyakumari to Kashmir (4,000 km) in 40 days and Ahmedabad to Guwahati (3,000 km) in 30 days. It was a once in a lifetime journey for this adventurous young man who successfully completed his aim to educate as many people as he could about organ donation.