Written by Nysha Khimawat, a grade 6 student in Mumbai.

A 15-year-old girl, named Jyoti, pedaled her way from Gurugram to Bihar, a 12000 km journey along with her injured father. This seven-day journey soon hit the news and made it in The Times of India on 24th May 2020.

The young teenager had gone to Gurugram with her mother and her brother-In-law to look after her dad, who had a leg injury while riding a rickshaw. Later, her mother and brother-in-law went back to the village. However, Jyoti had decided to stay back in order to take care of her father. Sadly, the COVID-19 lockdown made things very unfortunate. They had no money and could not pay the house rent.

Hence, Mohan Paswan (her father) and Jyoti decided to leave Gurugram. They bought a bicycle with the money they had left and decided to leave. The journey till Bihar was more than 12000 km and not an easy one. However, the determination to have a roof over their head a full meal gave them strength.

They managed to hitch rides on trucks and tractors for stretches across Uttar Pradesh, but yet Jyoti cycled for long hours on the seven-day journey to reach home. After they reached home the news of her bicycling became news.

Various people tweeted and retweeted this remarkable story. Even Ivanka Trump tweeted praising Jyoti, calling her act a “beautiful feat of endurance and love.” It was later decided that Jyoti would be given a chance of a lifetime. She would appear for the Cycling Federation of India trials once the lockdown ends. The federation’s chairman, Mr. Onkar Singh said that if she passes the trial, she will be selected as a trainee at the state-of-the-art National Cycling Academy at the IGI Stadium complex in Delhi.

To conclude, determination and grit is everything you need to succeed in life. Evidently, it has changed Jyoti’s life forever and has given her a reason to explore and has opened up her options. 

Want to write for I Kid You Not? We publish children’s writing.Reach out at: ikidyounott@yahoo.com