On a two decade old scooter mother, son goes on pilgrimage
27,400 km voyage across 7 states: temples, mutts are the shelters
Udupi,Nov.9: In order to fulfill the dream of ageing mother who had spent her life for family, a son decided to go on a pilgrimage along with her. The mother-son duo chose a decade year old scooter to traverse through seven states during their pilgrimage. After travelling through outer states the duo has now returned to the coastal part of Karnataka.
The son who made his mother's dream come true is D. Krishna Kumar (39) of Mysuru and the lucky mother is Choodarathna (70).
A bachelor Krishna Kumar is the only son of Choodarathna. She had lost her husband four years ago. The journey that began on January 16 had crossed Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Goa. After visiting many temples in these states the duo is now travelling across the coastal region of Karnataka. They have already travelled 27,400 km on this old scooter.
The duo has recently reached Udupi Shri Krishna temple and from there they are planning to visit Dharmasthala, Subramanya and other holy places.
Resigned job for pilgrimage
Krishna Kumar was working for a private company since 13 years. He resigned his job to fulfill his mother's dream and chose Bajaj Chetak scooter that was gifted by his father in 2001.
Though it was a two decade old scooter ran smoothly throughout the journey. One tyre was punctured after crossing 16,000 km. But then there was no problem. We have travelled a minimum of 30 km and maximum of 170 kms. Wherever we go we take little rest and then continue our journey. We took the journey with the help of interest that we are getting for our deposits, said Krishna Kumar.
We met Chandramathi in Sagar who was a friend of my mother during Hindi teacher training after SSLC. They met after 47 years and an old friendship found new lease of life. We stayed at her home for a week. Next we are planning to meet Jayalaxmi Kaje, a resident of Vittla.
We had never gone to a hotel in our entire journey. We used to stay in temples and mutts where we used to have our food. We would drink borewell water. We never faced health problems like cold, fever, back pain etc. throughout our journey, said Choodarathna.
Our's was an undivided family and my mother spent her whole life serving our family. She had given 67 years of her life to this home and never visited any holy place once. After the death of my father four years ago my mother told me about her dream to go on a pilgrimage. Then decided to fulfill her dream and for that I resigned my job.
Krishna Kumar Mysuru
I happy with the pilgrimage. My son used to take me on the age old scooter for 40-45 km every day. Hence, it had become a routine for me. These days when most of the children neglect their parents I feel proud of my son.
Choodarathna Mysuru.
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SC to hear wife's plea challenging Sonam Wangchuk's detention on Monday
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court will on Monday hear a plea filed by Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, terming his detention under the National Security Act “illegal, and an arbitrary exercise violating his fundamental rights”.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria is likely to hear the matter.
On November 24, the top court had deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the UT of Ladakh, sought time to respond to the rejoinder filed by Angmo.
On October 29, the top court sought responses from the Centre and the Ladakh administration on an amended plea of Angmo.
According to the amended plea, “The detention order is founded upon stale FIRs, vague imputations, and speculative assertions, lacks any live or proximate connection to the purported grounds of detention and is thus devoid of any legal or factual justification...
“Such arbitrary exercise of preventive powers amounts to a gross abuse of authority, striking at the core of constitutional liberties and due process, rendering the detention order liable to be vitiated by this court.”
The plea said it is wholly preposterous that after more than three decades of being recognised at the state, national, and international levels for his contributions to grassroots education, innovation, and environmental conservation in Ladakh and across India, “Wangchuk would suddenly be targeted”.
Angmo said the unfortunate events of violence in Leh on September 24 cannot be attributed to the actions or statements of Wangchuk in any manner.
Wangchuk himself condemned the violence through his social media handles and categorically stated that violence would lead to the failure of Ladakh's "tapasya" and peaceful pursuit of five years, Angmo said, adding that “it was the saddest day of his life”.
Wangchuk was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) on September 26, two days after violent protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union territory. The government had accused him of inciting the violence.
The NSA empowers the Centre and states to detain individuals to prevent them from acting in a manner "prejudicial to the defence of India". The maximum detention period is 12 months, though it can be revoked earlier.
