Indian cyclist on AIDS awareness mission

To visit seven areas in Sri Lanka

Lakmini Rodrigo

COLOMBO: Indian cyclist Somen Debnath who has taken upon himself the task of freeing the world from HIV/AIDS arrived in Sri Lanka last week as another step of his long journey around the world.

Born in a small village named Basanti in West Bengal, Debnath began his journey on May 27, 2004, two days after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree (BSc).

His goal is to enlighten the public on the disease and

eliminate all false fears and wrong attitude about the disease.

Somen believes that by healing the minds of people the chances of them luring towards wrong can be decreased, and strives to bring inner calmness towards the youth via many yoga and pranayama exercises.

Since 2004 the 23 year old courageous young man has carried out awareness programmes and meditation programmes with the view of healing people's minds and changing their attitudes towards the fatal disease in thousands of institutions.

According to Somen who has dedicated his life towards this task, the institutions include 1017 schools, 650 colleges, 24 universities, 93 Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) and 34 brothels.

He has travelled over 38,900 kms in 14 states of India, Myanmar and Bhutan and plans to cover eight areas in Sri Lanka focusing on schools and universities.

Somen, explaining his reasons for choosing Sri Lanka as his next stop, said that he saw the need of addressing communities where so many ethnic groups were mingled as in Sri Lanka.

He answered the question as to what motivated him to take up such a difficult task, saying that a childhood experience had led him to the attempt of saving the world from the deadly disease.

Somen said that when he was 14 years of age, he came across an incident where a person had died of AIDS and everyone had declined to touch the corpse.

He explained how no one had a correct idea about the disease, and he then realised the timely need for the enlightenment of the public.

The areas Somen plans to tour in Sri Lanka included Colombo, Negombo, Kurunegala, Kandy, Kalutara, Panadura and Ratnapura and said that he would be very grateful if any generous person or organisation would come out and assist his priceless task by sponsoring him.