From Thrissur to Ladakh: Kerala man's bicycle journey leads to enduring friendship

Thrissur: In March 2022, 35-year-old Jijo V G left his hometown in Kandassankadavu, hoping to escape irritating and persistent questions about unemployment that came from family members and relatives. He had written the Kerala Public Service Commission's Lower Division Clerk (LDC) examination and was waiting for the results. With no job and little money, he decided to travel to Ladakh on his cycle.

Four years later, after securing a job as a clerk in the judicial department of the Thrissur magistrate court, Jijo returned to the route he had travelled on his bicycle. This time, he was on a scooter, with a longer list of places to revisit and people to meet. Among them was Ajaz Sohil, a truck driver from Banihal in Jammu & Kashmir who had offered him food and shelter during his first journey and promised to keep his bicycle safe.

"I did not have a job and had written the PSC LDC examination. With so many persistently curious relatives around, I decided to take my cycle and just leave," Jijo said. His confidence to take his cycle came from his daily rides to and from his PSC coaching classes at Pulimada, where he pedalled around 30 km every day. "I did not have the money for petrol, so I used to cycle back and forth," he said.

Jijo did not inform his family about his plans until he reached Bengaluru, 10 days after leaving home. For the next two-and-a-half months, Jijo continued cycling towards Ladakh. He slept at petrol pumps and ate at small eateries along the way. After reaching Jammu, he found that petrol pumps were few on his route. He then began taking shelter in tents left behind by National Highway construction workers.

One of these nights Jijo, while eating at a shop in Banihal and looking for a place to rest for the night, met Ajaz. Jijo recalled that the truck driver was a large man with a beard. "He told me not to worry and invited me to his house for food and rest," Jijo said. He brought his truck, which stopped around 100 metres from his house. From there, it was a steep climb through a narrow lane to reach the house where Ajaz lived with his family.

They welcomed Jijo with food, hot water and a place to sleep. "He said he knew Malayalis liked to have hot water with their meals and gave it to me," Jijo said. They also arranged a bath for him. "By then, I had gone four days without bathing and my body was covered in salt from the long ride. My beard and hair had also grown considerably," Jijo added.

When Jijo woke up the next morning, his clothes were washed. He stayed three days with the family before resuming his journey towards Dal Lake. "When we say we are from Kerala, strangers warm up to us fast," he said, recalling another instance when a police officer spotted him sitting near a toll plaza and shared his tiffin with him.

Soon after reaching the Dal Lake, Jijo received a call from his parents, saying he had to return for the PSC recruitment verification. He went to the Srinagar railway station, hoping to find a train to Kerala, only to realise that there were no trains to the state from there. He returned to Ajaz's house, reluctantly left his bicycle there. Learning that a train going down South could be boarded from the Katwa Railway Station, he reached there and bought a general compartment ticket back home. "Ajaz promised to keep my cycle safe till the next time I came," Jijo said.

Jijo returned to Kerala and eventually secured a job as a clerk in the judicial department of the Thrissur magistrate court. But the desire to return to Ladakh never left him. "For the past four years, I wanted to go back, meet the people who were kind to me, including Ajaz, retrace the routes where I slept at petrol pumps and even see my cycle," he said.

After considerable effort to secure leave from his busy schedule at the court, Jijo finally set out on the journey, this time on his scooter. "Previously, if my plan was to go 100 km in a stretch, on a scooter my plan was 500 km," he said.

Jijo began his second journey on September 11, setting off from the Ayyanthole court complex in Thrissur. He travelled from Thrissur to Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Nagpur before reaching Ladakh on the 11th day.

"On the way to Ladakh and back, I revisited the places where I had stayed during my first journey and met people who had helped me. The most anticipated reunion was with Ajaz, who kept his promise to look after my cycle," he said. When Jijo returned to Ajaz's house, his family and villagers gathered to meet him and take photographs.

Leaving the bicycle again with Ajaz, given the practical difficulties in bringing it back, Jijo then began his return journey. From Katwa to Kanyakumari, he covered the distance in six days and reached home on October 1.

The second trip also brought back memories of a terrifying experience in Madhya Pradesh, where he was suspected of being a Maoist. "I was eating at a shop when a man looking like a plainclothes official approached me and began questioning me. I did not have my Aadhaar card with me but showed him my other identity documents. However, my beard and hair made it difficult for him to match my appearance with the photograph on my identity card," Jijo said.

Soon, a group of officials arrived in a car and began questioning him. The situation became tense until the shopkeeper's son intervened. "He said I was his customer and that he had no complaint against me. He also told them that I was from Kerala, a state known for its high literacy rate and beautiful scenery," Jijo said. "If it weren't for the man who diffused the situation, I do not know what might have happened otherwise,” he said.