By Abdul Wahid Khan:
Riding motorcycles for peace among nations- This is the vision of De Paix Yatra started by two young enthusiastic guys, Parth Vasavada and Nitesh Square, who have been involved in social entrepreneurial activities before and share a vision to make the world a better place for everyone to live in peace. On this trip, they are accompanied by Debi Dutta, a model and an actress, who is anchoring the whole trip and Lamiya Patel, a Geologist by profession, who is the manager of this trip.
The purpose of the trip is to spread the message of peace in the world. The team of 4 members — 2 riders, 1 anchor and 1 manager are travelling to honor the peacemakers of 8 nations who have devoted their lives for peace and bringing a change. It is basically a way to find stories from different nations about the social change that people have made there. It connects the revolutionary people and is targeted at making an impact on the current youth and to inspire them to make a change in society.
There have already been lot of conflicts among the nations on different issues and De Paix Yatra is demanding just peace. They will be meeting more than 600 change-makers, trendsetters and doers; connecting different organizations, politicians, the public, and every person who promotes peace and feels the need to reform society.
This ride for peace started on May 12th, 2012 from Mumbai and will reach London on July 16th, 2012, where the journey will end. There are two motorcycles with two riders- Nitesh and Parth. The journey is spread over 65 days and they are covering 13000 kilometers. It encompasses the selected eight- India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France and England, covering major cities like Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Lahore, Multan, Tehran, Ankara, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Milan, Paris and London. The fundamental thought for selecting this route, is to understand the challenges of Youth of under-developed, developing and developed nations.
The trip is actually very interactive. The whole trip is being recorded by cameras installed on the motorcycles of the riders which will be later converted into a short movie or documentary. Photo-based storytelling books will also be published using this coverage. A book consisting of all stories will be published to spread the message of peace. Extraordinary efforts to connect 8 nations to be made via music shows, organizing peace talks and kindness shows. Letters of love will also be launched with this journey. They are organizing more than 50 charities, music shows, peace talks, street dances etc. After coming back, the Team will travel all around the state and to the nation to spread the word of their experience and inspire the youth to join the plight.
It will be covered by more than 40 International Media including BBC, 95 National Media and more than 300 local media- both Print and Electronic. The trip is also supported by organizations like PETA, UN Volunteers and many more.
Though there have been several motorcycle trips before for promoting peace, De Paix Yatra is a unique trip of its kind. This is because of the fact that the people behind organizing this trip are common youth who want to create a change and revolutionize the society. Nitesh is a social change activist and has volunteered for several NGOs. He has also tried to make change by writing as a journalist for The Indian Express and DNA, Ahmedabad. On the other hand, Parth is himself a social entrepreneur and co-founder and president of the organization Yuva Unstoppable. Parth represents inspiring face of today’s youth of India. The manager, Lamiya Patel, shares the same spirit. Though a geologist by profession, she is environmentalist and worked for animal rescue. She has raised funds for different campaigns to help face the situation. With the leadership of such change-makers, this trip is a unique source of inspiration to the youth of different nations.