A YOUNG man from India has taken it upon himself to raise awareness on climate change and promote world peace on a global scale and he is doing it with the help of a bicycle.
Abhishek Kumar Sharma, 30, from Uttar Pradesh in India is in Fiji to spread his message.
A team from this newspaper caught up with him at the Damodar City Centre on Monday night as he shared his journey.
Mr Sharma said he was travelling around the world on a bicycle to promote awareness on climate change and share peace.
“My journey started in November 2014. As an Indian, I strongly believe in peace because we are the most peaceful country and community in the world. We believe in a concept called Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam which means the entire world is your family,” Mr Sharma said.
“I am promoting this concept and as an ecologist, I am promoting and advising people that this is the time to act together and we need collective and inclusive approach towards climate change.”
Mr Sharma said he had travelled to six continents, covered about 95,000 kilometres and Fiji was the 42nd stop on his list.
“This is also a friendship tour between India and Fiji.
“I always had a lot of ideas of Fiji that so many Indian descendants were living in the country. When I was a child growing up in India, I heard a lot of stories about Fiji and now I am exploring and visiting Fiji and people are doing really well,” he said.
“This idea came up by promoting the core philosophy of India, Indian values and culture and heritage and awareness on climate change. I contributed six years of my life towards my country.”
During his stay in the country, Mr Sharma said he had a 10-day plan which would see him cycle from Suva to Ba.
“The response has been very positive as people are actually aware about climate change and we need peace,” he said.
He added he was planning to visit 80 to 90 countries before he completes his tour. He said after he finished his world tour, he would start on a project called Global Eco Village in India after 2020.
His next stop will be New Zealand.
