A 55-year-old former Bollywood junior artist, Nagraj Gowda has embarked on a ‘Ram Bharose Yatra’, on his bicycle, to promote world peace. Gowda, who has covered 14 states on his bicycle, pedaled into Nagpur on Sunday from New Delhi. He commenced his journey on December 3 in 2017 and has been spreading the message of love, brotherhood, peace, national integration, saving water and trees. Gowda was forced to put a break on his journey in 2019-end due to the COVID-19 pandemic and again resumed his expedition after July 2020. Before reaching Nagpur, he covered Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.

 

“I am a movie buff and a big fan of Bollywood movies. I worked in some movies too as a junior artist to earn my bread and butter. I have learned a lot of things from the movies, including patriotism,” said Gowda. Gowda, who is from Hassan district in Karnataka, claims that he is on a selfless mission for a ‘universal cause’. “I am not from any political party. But, I met many political leaders during my journey to spread the message of national integration and honesty. I am just an ordinary citizen of India who wants to see change in society. I want to inspire people to bring about a change in society,” he added. Gowda travels some 90-100 km everyday.

 

He gets food from Mandir, Masjid, Gurudwara and community kitchens. “During my journey, temples often become my temporary shelter homes, and places where people offer a place to spend a night. Since I have limited resources, whatever comes from fellow Indians is of great help and support. The best part of the journey is that the people are caring,” said Gowda. After Nagpur, he will cover whole Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and conclude the expedition in Assam.