Day 5, July 19, 2017- Palakkad to Perundurai
Distance cycled- 146 kilometres.
Duration –9 hours 30 minutes
Fifth day into her journey and there was no respite from the previous days incessant rain as Sunita waited since 5am in the morning all geared up to hit the road. After waiting for almost an hour her patience gave way and she pedaled off. After that it was a continuous tussle between the typical Kerala monsoon shower and Sunitas fighting spirit as she covered todays track of 140 odd kilometers. Todays cycling also marks the crossing over from Kerala to TamilNadu and the transition from Malyalam to Tamil (not that our Haryanvi girl can differentiate between the two)
Her mission is now reaching the masses as several Regional channels have covered her incredible story.People recognize her as she cycles along . A typical Haryanvi girl, Sunitas love for parathas was evident as she walked into the kitchen of a roadside eatery and communicated to the cook through gestures her desire to have parathas.
The cook could manage chapattiswhich were served to her on a banana leaf with a wide variety of South Indian vegetables, pickles and chutneys and all this for merely Rs 30/-. Another happy food moment for Sunita was when shesighted amilk parlour where she had milk to herhearts content- something she had been missing for the last few days.
At around 4:00 pm she reached her destination where the local chapter of Rotary club had arranged a welcome and interactive session for her. They received her in typical local tradition by giving her a stole and lemon for good omen. Today she is staying in the girls hostel of Kongu Vlalar Polytechnic College. Sunita is very happy about this and is looking forward to her interaction with the girls as her mission relates to them.
To mark her stay at Kongu Vlalar Polytechnic College, their host arranged two sapling plantation by Sunita in the institute campus and named them ‘Jen and Jenny’ after herself (Sunita is called Jenny ) and her sister Jen. Sunita is full of gratitude for her sister who has been her constant source of energy. Her todays message is for siblings of the world…………….
“Friends may come, friends may go but siblings are yours for now and forever”
Special thanks to the “Omni Sangha” NGO for supporting this noble mission.