Nepalese man pedals for peace
Jordana Mishory
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 6, 2004 12:00 AM
Pushkar Shah was noticeably uncomfortable sitting on a plush couch in a fashionable Scottsdale home.
It was unlike anything he knew growing up in a small Nepalese village near Mount Everest without electricity or even roads.
He never thought he would someday be sitting in Arizona. He never thought he would fly in an airplane. And he never thought he would bicycle around the world promoting peace.
But he's here now, in the sixth year of his solo 11-year journey, which has taken him through 60 countries in Asia, Australia and North and South America.
Although he did not learn to ride until 15 years ago when he was 21, he is used to it now. He has to be. It's his job.
Shah plans to visit 90 more countries in his quest to promote non-violence. He does not elaborate on how to achieve a war-free world, he simply believes it has to improve.
"The Earth is not in good condition right now," he says. He knows firsthand. He says his father was killed by terrorists in India in 1986. Shah says he himself was tortured for being a part of the Nepalese democracy movement.
Since his journey began in November 1998, he has been held at knifepoint, kidnapped and had his bike stolen in New Zealand. But he does not let his hardship stop him.
"I get more encouraged to do against the violence," he says. "I keep riding. I don't worry about tomorrow. If I worry about tomorrow - be it a big jungle or a dangerous animal or dangerous people - if I do that kind of thinking, I cannot move.
"I always think on my mind good things."
When he left Nepal, his mother gave him 100 Nepalese rupees (about $1.50). He keeps it in his diary.
"After I finish around world I will return it to her," he says.
Shah estimates he needs $20 a day to live, which he gets through donations.
He carries everything he needs on his bike - two bags of dry food, cooking gear, spare wheels, gear wires and other parts on either side of his front wheel. He keeps his sleeping bag, tent and clothes - six outfits, four pairs of socks - in the bags around his seat. He has only one pair of shoes.
And he always carries the Nepalese flag. It is attached to the left side of his front wheel, and he places the flag of the country he is traveling in to the right. The closeness of the two flags symbolizes friendship.
When he completes his journey, he wants to climb Mount Everest and bring all the flags he collected to the summit. He then wants to do social work in his village.
