Becomes friends with Lethpora youth who invited him home

PAMPORE: Rakesh, a young man from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh who works as a store manager in Hyderabad, has reached Kashmir riding 2,987 kilometers on bicycle, doing so in 26 days.
Kashmir Reader talked to him at Lethpora Pampore where he said, “I am on a tour of Kashmir to explore its beauty.”
He said he chose riding a bicycle because it saves petrol and does not cause sound pollution.
“Cycling is also good for health,” he said.
He said travelling by bicycle allows him to stop at any place to explore the beauty of the area, observe habits of people and other things.
He said he was very impressed with the scenery of Kashmir.
He said after Kashmir he will cycle to Ladakh and then to Meghalaya.
“I want to see the Rainbow waterfall in Meghalaya,” he said.
He appreciated Umar Majeed Magray, son of Abdul Majeed Magray, a resident of Lethpora Pampore, for hosting him for a night.
“He has become a good friend of mine and I have been staying in his house for the last day and night,” Rakesh told Kashmir Reader.
Umar, who works as an engineer at a local factory in Srinagar, told Kashmir Reader that he caught a glimpse of Rakesh when he was going to Srinagar on the national highway along Lethpora.
“I saw that this fellow countryman looked exhausted and I invited him to my house for taking a rest,” Umar said, adding that Rakesh stayed with them for a night and enjoyed their hospitality.
“I cancelled my office to attend to him. I gave him good company and we became friends. He is just like my brother,” Umar said.

BILAL HABIB