HYDERABAD: In an effort to rid the country of corruption, a group of professionals and students from the city will be embarking on what they call, “Honest Steps”, a marathon walk from Kanyakumari to New Delhi from Dec 18. “Honest steps, along the walk, will touch the hearts of a million, raise questions and inspire them to take a pledge of personal honesty and join to establish a Zero Corruption Day,” said Ashar Farhaan, a social activist at the launch of Honest Steps, here on Wednesday. The group call themselves Proud Indians.On Dec 18, over 120 young students and professionals will set out on the 5,000-km route and hope to reach Delhi on April 7 next year. Proud Indians will be interacting with people from different walks of life during their journey. They have decided to call April 7 as Zero Corruption Day. One of the organisers, Mujeeb Abdul Khan who runs BHUMI, an NGO working on leadership building among slum dwellers, said walking from Kanyakumari to New Delhi was as inconvenient as trying to be honest in one’s own life. “We can have a corruption-free country only when we change ourselves first,” he pointed out, explaining the idea behind the marathon.“With the knowledge and experience we are going to gain from this walk, we will ask the right questions to the right people seeking a change in the system,” added Rohit Lingineni, who is among the few, 14 to be precise, who have voluntarily chosen to survive throughout the trip with `32 a day, to experience the poverty and pain of the people. “Food would be cooked by ourselves and we will stay at any of the community centres, temples, gurudwaras or masjids along the route,” explained Rohit adding that they would be covering 40 km a day. For Faiz Rai and Jawad Ali, independent film-makers from Hyderabad, this is a great opportunity for self-realization and self-education along with documenting the entire trip’s adventures and experience.The group will pass through 15 states and over 100 cities and towns, in different phases. “We are planning to organize one of the largest dance-mobs in January when the Honest Steps reach Hyderabad,” said Choeeta Chakrabarti of Steps- studio for danz, Hyderabad. If you are interested, you could also join Proud Indians. You can mail them at [email protected] or call them on 09581212340.
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