A walk to spread peace, love and celebrate life
The group was inspired to come to South Africa because of Gandhi and Mandela, two great men who spread their message of peace in the country
Five men are on an incredible journey from Johannesburg to Mvezo via Durban as they spread a message of peace, love and celebrating life.
Nitin Sonawane (27), Jalandhernath Channole (44), Ikedahe (39), Sangram Patil (26) and Yogesh Mathuria (61) are currently walking towards Mvezo, a total of 1200 kms and recently passed through Dannhauser and Dundee. The group was inspired to come to South Africa because of Gandhi and Mandela, two great men who spread their message of peace in the country.
The group is led by Nitin Sonawane from Pune, India, who has been travelling across 18 countries on foot and bicycle over the last two years. He has already covered more than 20,000 kms and is on a three-year mission to spread the message of Gandhi’s teaching of non-violence to the world. Bhuddist monk, Ikedahe from Japan is also a part of the journey. His guru, Nichidatsu Fujii, practised with Gandhi. Jalandhernath Channole has lived at the Gandhi Ashram – Seva Gram near Nagpur for the last 28 years.
Youngster, Sangram Patil is an MBA student who is committed to social reforms and wanted to go on a journey of self-exploration and follow Gandhi’s example. The oldest member of the group, Yogesh Mathuria, known as VishwaMitra, also has the most interesting story. For 30 years Mr Mathuria worked for Microsoft, working with Bill Gates.
At the age of 51 though he felt as if something was missing from his life and quit his job, dedicating his life to promoting world peace.
“Our joint mission is to spread the message of peace and non-violence given to this world by great iconic leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela,” said Nitin.
“Despite our different backgrounds, we all have one calling. We are all the same deep down. Humans, animals, plants, there is no difference. So we must always show humility,” Nitin added.
Mr Mathuria also emphasised how their journey was to spread the message of humanity.
“Region and religion are the two biggest dividers of man, but they are not things made by God, they were created by man. We must remember that above all, we are human beings.”
They had high praise for the locals who have shown them support along the way, sharing their homes or items of clothing with them as the weather turned. They also praised the SAPS, who on numerous occasions allowed them to sleep over at the stations along the way and even delivered their possessions to the next police station along the route so that it would be waiting for them when they got there.
The peace walkers arrived in Dannhauser recently from Newcastle and were impressed with the hospitality they received from the Ramgoolam family, who hosted them for the night.
They also had high praise for the children and ward councillor who walked the last few kilometres with them into town. The following day they made their way to Dundee in the pouring rain, where they stayed with Nalini Aku.
They also had the pleasure of visiting Talana Museum where they visited the Sathya Graha Centre and posed with the Gandhi statue. They then continued their journey the following day towards Ladysmith as they continue to spread a message of peace and humanity.
