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When Mr Jayanta Mandal left his home in Calcutta, he promised
his father that he would return in a year. Fourteen years later,
after having traveled to 127 countries over a distance of 376
000 kilometers, he is still on the road. "It's not easy to go
home yet, especially when I have so much more to explore," said
the Indian traveler. Mr Mandal had just graduated from the
University of Calcutta with an honors degree in Botany when he
expressed his desire to do something ___1___.
After many arguments, he finally convinced his father that he
had to pursue the goals he had set for himself. "But at that
time I had no idea that it would take me so long and so far," he
explained. Equipped with a five-speed bicycle, good health,
self-confidence and lots of determination, Mr Mandal
___2___ to see something of
the world.
"In the beginning, things were difficult," he said. "I had
problems getting visas. But as I became quite well-known. I was
able to get ___3___, usually
a university or a business group," he explained. Then there was
a question of his identity. "Many people had never met an Indian
like me, carrying 140 pounds of ___4___
on a bicycle and a little flag with the word "peace" written on
it n several languages. In the Middle East and Eastern Europe,
people ___5___ for an Arab,
and in the US and Central America, I was taken for a Latin
American. But I kept moving on. Things got easier and more
fascinating, despite the ___6___,
"Mr Mandal explained.
Over the course of his travels, Mr Mandal has been exposed to
kindness, cruelty and to the ___7___
in his life. He was arrested and beaten up by rebel soldiers in
Central America who took him for a ___8___,
chased by elephants in Botswana and attacked by a mugger in New
York. In the Soviet Union, he was followed and ___9___
by the security police and the Swiss border guards accused him
of smuggling narcotics. But he says, "in most countries, I
encountered friendliness and helpfulness. people who were
absolute strangers to me fed, clothed and gave me shelter. And
thus I learnt so much about ___10___,
he added. |
