Interesting! Shri M was born as Mumtaz Ali Khan in Trivandrum is a disciple of Hindu saint Maheswaranath Babaji
Shri M talks about his 6000-km walk across the country to address issues at the grassroots.
Everyone is concerned for Shri M. But he is concerned about the others who are joining him on his 6,000-km walk across the country, starting January 2015. “I can walk about 20-25 km a day easily,” says the 66-year-old. “But what about those who walk with me?”
Shri M is a spiritual guide, social reformer and educationist who established the Satsang Foundation and Manav Ekta Mission in Madanapalli, Andra Pradesh. The Walk of Hope 2015-16 will see Shri M and others walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, targeting issues like interfaith harmony, sustainable living, community health, equality, education and empowerment. Over 15-18 months, he will try to address real issues by identifying them at their roots.
“In the old days,” he says, “when someone wanted to share ideas, they would walk from village to village, meeting the locals and talking to them. It was how many things, including religion, spread.” The importance of movement made him realise that something had to be done to address issues at the grassroots level.
“It’s only when you talk to people that you realise that their problems are,” says Shri M, adding, “We will cover about 15-20 km every day, and have planned our stops at the end of each day. Since the walk will span 500 days, there will be that many stops. We will be walking through villages, cities, forests and mountains. At each place, we will have discourses, satsang and interactions where we will discuss issues like sanitation and women’s empowerment.”
The walk will begin on January 12 — on Swami Vivekananda’s birthday — at the Gandhi Memorial Mandapam in Kanyakumari. It will pass through Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and end at Srinagar in mid-2016. “I know we are too small to accomplish much. But we can’t leave all our problems to the governments to solve. What we can do is engage with the mind and talk to them about issues they can work on themselves — like sanitation, water and so on. Then, we can find volunteers from within the villages and urban areas to keep working on the issue even after we have left, and support them in whatever way we can,” he says. Most of all, Shri M hopes to talk about communal problems.
Anyone is free to join and leave the walk, at any point of time. “We hope that there will constantly be around 30-40 of us. This will help solve other barriers like language, as we move away from places and languages that we are comfortable with. We have spoken to different people in these areas and have a fairly well-mapped route. Every morning, we will start around 6.00 a.m. and, after a short meditation, begin the walk,” he says. The walk will be over by noon, when the group will reach their next pit stop. There, they will spend the rest of the evening interacting, eating and being with the locals.
Earlier, Shri M had addressed communal issues through walks in Bangalore and Madanapalli. “People have certain apprehensions that I try to dispel. When someone tries to rouse them, I see if they have it within them to contain themselves. Most often, they do. That’s why there is hope. For our walk in Kerala, two groups who constantly fight with each other have decided to work with us. They are both accompanying us for the walk. Imagine the change this could create in the area!”
But, at 66, does Shri M think the walk is challenging? “When I was 19, I ran away to the Himalayas to live with my master. I came down years later and lived a normal life, after which I began talking about my experiences. I have always walked and because of a disciplined life and practice of yogasanas, I’m fairly capable. The Dalai Lama and actor Rajinikanth, among others, have been concerned about my health. But I think it must be done. Unless you walk, you will never understand the problems at the grassroots. ”
The road ahead - The Hindu
Shri M talks about his 6000-km walk across the country to address issues at the grassroots.
Everyone is concerned for Shri M. But he is concerned about the others who are joining him on his 6,000-km walk across the country, starting January 2015. “I can walk about 20-25 km a day easily,” says the 66-year-old. “But what about those who walk with me?”
Shri M is a spiritual guide, social reformer and educationist who established the Satsang Foundation and Manav Ekta Mission in Madanapalli, Andra Pradesh. The Walk of Hope 2015-16 will see Shri M and others walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, targeting issues like interfaith harmony, sustainable living, community health, equality, education and empowerment. Over 15-18 months, he will try to address real issues by identifying them at their roots.
“In the old days,” he says, “when someone wanted to share ideas, they would walk from village to village, meeting the locals and talking to them. It was how many things, including religion, spread.” The importance of movement made him realise that something had to be done to address issues at the grassroots level.
“It’s only when you talk to people that you realise that their problems are,” says Shri M, adding, “We will cover about 15-20 km every day, and have planned our stops at the end of each day. Since the walk will span 500 days, there will be that many stops. We will be walking through villages, cities, forests and mountains. At each place, we will have discourses, satsang and interactions where we will discuss issues like sanitation and women’s empowerment.”
The walk will begin on January 12 — on Swami Vivekananda’s birthday — at the Gandhi Memorial Mandapam in Kanyakumari. It will pass through Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and end at Srinagar in mid-2016. “I know we are too small to accomplish much. But we can’t leave all our problems to the governments to solve. What we can do is engage with the mind and talk to them about issues they can work on themselves — like sanitation, water and so on. Then, we can find volunteers from within the villages and urban areas to keep working on the issue even after we have left, and support them in whatever way we can,” he says. Most of all, Shri M hopes to talk about communal problems.
Anyone is free to join and leave the walk, at any point of time. “We hope that there will constantly be around 30-40 of us. This will help solve other barriers like language, as we move away from places and languages that we are comfortable with. We have spoken to different people in these areas and have a fairly well-mapped route. Every morning, we will start around 6.00 a.m. and, after a short meditation, begin the walk,” he says. The walk will be over by noon, when the group will reach their next pit stop. There, they will spend the rest of the evening interacting, eating and being with the locals.
Earlier, Shri M had addressed communal issues through walks in Bangalore and Madanapalli. “People have certain apprehensions that I try to dispel. When someone tries to rouse them, I see if they have it within them to contain themselves. Most often, they do. That’s why there is hope. For our walk in Kerala, two groups who constantly fight with each other have decided to work with us. They are both accompanying us for the walk. Imagine the change this could create in the area!”
But, at 66, does Shri M think the walk is challenging? “When I was 19, I ran away to the Himalayas to live with my master. I came down years later and lived a normal life, after which I began talking about my experiences. I have always walked and because of a disciplined life and practice of yogasanas, I’m fairly capable. The Dalai Lama and actor Rajinikanth, among others, have been concerned about my health. But I think it must be done. Unless you walk, you will never understand the problems at the grassroots. ”
The road ahead - The Hindu
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