The positive face of India

This crusader embarked on his unique mission with the objective of “national integration, communal harmony and environmental protection. In every town and village I visited, people welcomed me. My interaction with them made me realise that communalism is not the hallmark of the common man of India, it is the exclusive property’ of a few vested interests. It is unemployment and inflation which bothers the common man."

“Emancipation of women is the guide to development of India,” says this freelance journalist, a M.Phil in journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi.

“In Punjab, where I stayed for 86 days, I bore an expense of only Rs. 21. The magnitude of the hospitality of the locals was exceptional. They insisted, since you are on a mission for the nation we would like to have the honour of looking after your needs while you are here.’ “After travelling for twelve hours every day, I stop the night at a local’s home.” Khan’s journey is not guided by maps. “At every village I approached the panchayat and planned my tour on their guidance.”

“My expenses on the journey are only on three accounts – petrol for the scooter, photographs and cassettes.” Anwar carries his own camera and records his conversations with the common man. These expenses are borne by the honorarium earned from informal talks held at schools and colleges which he visits en route. “I also earn by contributing articles to local newspapers and matters to local cable channels,” says Khan who is inspired by Khushwant Singh, Kuldip Nayar, M.J. Akbar and Arun Shourie.

“Language was never a barrier,” says Khan who can talk and understand thirteen languages. “Even in the southern states my broken Telugu and Kannada came to my rescue.”

On Pune he says, “the people here are open and warm, except on the roads where they metamorphose into a fearsome race.”

“I have not had a bad or negative experience throughout the journey. This pilgrimage’ has changed my outlook. Earlier, I held pessimistic views on my country but now I have only positive images.”

Khan’s plans to document his experiences in a book titled India Through My Eyes.’ Anwar who plans to travel to Pakistan and Bangladesh, in the future feels, “unification of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is the only solution for peace in South Asia.”

Anwar’s unique enterprise attracted representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records and the Limca Book of Records. “When I was in Delhi last month, they collected details from me,” he says.

After having kept in touch with his wife, a schoolteacher in Parbhani, through telephone, Khan now looks forward to meeting her in person on August 15, when he returns home after being on the road of experience for four years.