Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): "Empowerment and security are feelings that come from within and are not dependent on external factors"
Women travelling solo in the country are as safe as they feel, says Asha Malviya, a 24-year-old cyclist from Madhya Pradesh who returned to Bhopal after covering almost the entire country while riding bicycle over a period of 10 months under Bharat Yatra initiative.
“You are empowered if you feel empowered. Empowerment and security are feelings, which come from within and are not dependent on external factors,” she said.
Principal Secretary Tourism and Culture, Sheo Shekhar Shukla, felicitated Asha on Tuesday. Asha, with the help of Tourism Board, covered a distance of 25,500 kilometres in 29 states.
The cyclist who also passed through the trouble-torn Manipur told media persons on Tuesday that she didn’t face any problem in the state. “The dispute is between two communities in the state and they have no animosity towards outsider,” she said.
She said problem in Manipur could be solved only if both the communities come to negotiating table and resolve differences.
Asha spent more days (15) in West Bengal. “West Bengal is the only state in the country with a woman chief minister and I view Mamta Baneerjee as a symbol of women empowerment. She said despite waiting for 15 days she couldn't get an appointment with the chief minister.
Asha whose mother is a labourer says that the aim of atra was to spread the message of women empowerment, save daughters and safe Madhya Pradesh. “I wanted to do something different so I became a part of this campaign,” said Asha who is also a mountaineer.
Asha said that she has written a book while travelling. “I would spend half an hour at night to write a diary daily. I have written about my experience of people whom I met including chief ministers and Governors,” she said. Her diary mentions shortcomings and specialties of states.
