India's star athlete Neeraj Chopra will have a special supporter at the Paris Olympics: a Kerala cyclist who has travelled all the way from Calicut, riding more than 22000 kilometers over two years.
Fayis Asraf Ali's arrival in the French capital was the culmination of a long journey on his Surly bicycle that took him across 30 countries, from August 15, 2022.
Ali set off with a mission to cycle from "India to London to spread peace and unity".
Having cycled across 17 countries, he stopped in Budapest one August afternoon last year, when he came to know that the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist was staying across the street.
The ace javelin thrower was with the athletics contingent for the World Championships in which claimed another historic win.
A few hurried calls to a known Kerala coach led to a "dream meeting" with his sporting idol.
"I got a few minutes to talk to the Indian athletes and Neeraj told me since 'you are going to London why don't you come to Paris for the Olympics'," Ali told PTI during an interaction after ending his journey at India House in Paris on Sunday.
"I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to see him again in Paris so I altered my plan a bit and procured the required visa and cycled to the UK before ending my journey here.
"I am so excited to meet him again. I've requested P T Usha ma'am (IOA chief). I'm here to see him create history again. We will cheer for him (on August 8)," he added.
He carries four pairs of clothes, a tent, a sleeping bag and a mat that takes the total weight of the cycle to 50kgs.
"I never stay in a hotel and get some sponsors on the way and that's it. In between twice, I flew to Kerala to arrange
"Visa is all you need to cross the border, a cyclist does not need any other documentation," he added.
Is he not tired or facing any health issues?
"No, never. The love of the people and the warm reception I get everywhere keeps me going. I'm here and so excited," added Ali, who was greeted by star cricketers Chris Gayle, Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina while he was in the UK.
An engineer by profession, Ali was into his fourth year in Saudi Arabia when his father was diagnosed with a heart ailment in 2015. His father died in 2018.
Being the only son, he had to return to India to look after his father. He had quit his job and was back home in Calicut. His wife is a medical professional and he has two sons.
He also has a thyroid issue that makes him put on weight.
"Those three years made me realise that health is the most important thing in life, not money. One fine morning I saw a couple of cyclists touring and thought of starting riding," he recalled.
He first bought a Rs 13K bicycle to get used to riding and then chalked out plans for his maiden solo ride: Calicut to Singapore. Then he upgraded it to a Rs 1 lakh cycle, especially designed for long trips.
For the trip to Paris, he had to buy a more advanced bicycle, costing Rs 2.5 lakh.
He set out on his first trip on August 7, 2019 and reached Singapore on November 21, clocking 8000kms across seven countries.
"Rotary arranged my trip and I got a few sponsors. But my biggest supporter was my wife who took care of both my kids and the family. So I just had to embark on my journey," he said.
He starts after sunrise and clocks on an average 150kms a day, depending on the route and stops.
"Originally, I had planned to cover it in 120 days but I made it in 104 days. Then COVID-19 happened and my plan for this trip got delayed. Finally, I made it. I'm now so excited to meet Neeraj and cheer for them," he said.
