If anything the world needs the most in today’s time is every one of us to be more compassionate. There is a lot you can do to make a difference when you are empathetic and driven by a purpose.
Such is the case for a motivational speaker from a coastal village Thoothoor in Kanyakumari as he has already walked 3,352 km across India in a mission to create awareness about hunger and food waste in the country.
LifeBeyondNumbers spoke to 25-year-old Nigin Binish, who will be representing India in the ClimateForce: Arctic 2019 Expedition, where 80 individuals are selected from all over the globe to study about the climate change and develop ideas and methods to protect the Arctic.
While his mother is a homemaker and father a fisherman, he has 3 brothers and 1 sister. For this family, money crunch has always stayed with them.
On asking him what persuaded him to travel on foot, he says, “When I was doing my master’s in PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore I saw a disabled woman having food from a trash can. I was so heartbroken to see that, I started doing my research on food wastage and hunger. And to my utter shock, I came across a report that says- in India each day 7000 people are dying because of hunger-related issues including 3000 innocent kids and, on the contrary, we are wasting 67 million tonnes of food per annum.”
Nigin was all alone in this walking expedition and his journey started on August 24, 2017, from Coimbatore and he reached Kashmir on February 21, 2018. With a lot of enthusiasm, a backpack, and no money- he traveled India’s backcountry for 182 days. Hiking through forests, desert, mountains, crossing rivers; he also visited local schools and communities to give talks along the way.
Walking up to 42 kilometers in a day, he slept in the wild most of the nights, and at times was taken into the homes and hearts of the wonderful people in between. He has come across 30 languages while traveling on foot. On his way back home from Kashmir, he traveled on trucks, bikes, tractors, bicycle, school van, even an ambulance!
While on his journey, he tried to educate children and adults about the consequences of food wastage and number of people dying because of hunger.
“While talking about hunger, we usually picture war-torn countries and drought-affected areas. But, we fail to notice that some of our fellow citizens are struggling to manage food every day. When we waste food, not only we contribute to hunger in the world, but most importantly, we end up disrespecting our farmers,” feels Nigin.
“At times, people have also helped me out of curiosity. While I was on my journey, people asked me why I’m carrying the national flag or where I am heading to. I have slept without food for days. Strangers often came forward and helped me with free food.”
Through his Instagram account, Nigin shares his thoughts and glimpses of his wonderful journey.
Nigin needs 12 lakhs to make it to the ClimateForce: Arctic 2019 Expedition. He wants to educate people and create awareness about the present social issues in the country and inspire people to follow their dreams.
Kindness and selfless love from strangers helped Nigin to complete his whole expedition – making us believe absolutely that the world is indeed one big family.
Will you stop if we tell you that the amount of food we are wasting now can almost feed a country like Egypt?