Published 02:29 IST, May 23rd 2020
‘Beautiful feat of endurance’: Ivanka Trump on Bihar girl cycling 1,200 km with father
Ivanka Trump described the feat of Bihar girl cycling 1,200 km with her wounded father to get home amid lockdown as a “beautiful feat of endurance and love”.
Jyoti Kumari, the Bihar girl who cycled almost 1,200 km for more than seven days with her father as pillion to reach home amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, has caught the attention of US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump who took to Twitter to shower praises on the former. She called the 15-year-old's effort a "beautiful feat of endurance and love".
Ivanka's take on Kumari
Jyoti Kumari's story
15-year-old Jyoti Kumari cycled her injured father for almost 1,200 km from Haryana’s Gurugram to her home in Bihar amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Driven to penury following an accident that rendered him unfit to make a living as an e-rickshaw driver, migrant worker Mohan Paswan was driven on pillion in the scorching heat by his daughter Jyoti Kumari with essential items loaded on the bicycle after they were asked by the landlord to either pay rent or “leave”, a media report confirmed.
Native to Bihar's Darbhanga district, the father-daughter duo paddled from one state to another for days, until they reached their village Sirhulli under Singhwara block of the district, where they were quarantined, as per media reports. Determined not to let her father stay in Gurugram in misery with no money and ailing condition due to the critical accident he had met with a month ago, Jyoti portrayed an extra-ordinary spirit by commuting on a bicycle to unite with the family in Bihar.
After her astonishing feat, the Cycle Federation of India has invited the 15-year-old girl for trials next month. While speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network, Jyoti said, "After the lockdown was announced, me and my father had nothing to eat. So I decided to take my injured father back to our village, riding on a cycle. I reached here in seven days. I used to make stoppages at petrol pumps at night. My father initially resisted, but I convinced him that we can travel to Darbhanga on a cycle. My mother also resisted over the phone. I have got an invitation from Cycle Federation, to participate in the trials in Delhi. I will be going there next month. I wish to represent the country in cycling."
Cycle federation of India chairman Onkar Singh said, "We have invited Jyoti for a trial in Delhi next month. If she qualifies the training, she will be selected as a trainee in the training academy at IGI stadium complex. We want to test her physical endurance. She must be having something to drive the cycle for 1200 km."
After Jyoti's feat, awards and accolades have been announced by many people, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who has announced a reward of one lakh rupees.
Updated 02:29 IST, May 23rd 2020