This man cycled thousands of miles from Delhi to Sweden to reunite with the love of his life

In a story fit for a Bollywood movie, Dr PK cycled across continents to be reunited with his Swedish wife. They've lived happily ever since.

Dr. Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia Charlotte Von Schedvin / Source: Facebook

Dr Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia and his wife Charlotte Von Schedvin. (Source: Facebook)

Lately, a lot of people have been taking cross-country road trips. Remember the family who took a road trip from Bengaluru to Paris and the three women who took a road trip to London? But wait till you hear this. Way back in 1978, a man pedalled across continents from Delhi (India) to Gothenburg (Sweden) — all in the name of love and on just two wheels.

And, no, this is not a Bollywood story. It’s the true love story of Dr Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia from Odisha, India, and Swedish girl Charlotte Von Schedvin who had come to India as a teenager to get her portrait done from Mahanandia, of whom she had heard. As romantics would root for, the two fell in love and soon got married. But as fate would have it, in 1975, Charlotte had to return to Sweden, but PK (as Mahanandia is popularly known) wanted to complete his studies, and thus could not accompany her. Neither did he have enough money to make the trip.

PK spent several years trying to earn enough for the trip, but couldn’t manage. Three years later, he simply decided to sell all his belongings, buy a bicycle, and pedal his way across to the Far West. This grand voyage (and it can be called that) took four months and three weeks, during which his bicycle broke down crossing a lot of hurdles on his way.

Facebook user Satyanarayan Parti shared the duo’s story on his Facebook page which has gone viral; it has been shared over 75,000 times.

“Those were the days when not many countries required visa for travelling. Upon reaching, he was questioned by Swedish immigration officers who were amazed to see a man who had come from India riding a bicycle. PK told them the reason behind his visit and produced photographs of his marriage with Charlotte,” wrote Parti.

Today, Dr Pradyumna Kumar has been happily married for 40 years and is working as an Adviser, Art and Culture, under the Swedish government. The government even made a documentary to immortalise their love story.