A Bengaluru man walked across the city holding the tricolour and tracing the map of India using GPS to celebrate Independence Day. In doing so, he covered more than 73 km on foot in 17 hours.
Speaking to Moneycontrol, 51-year-old Vikas Ruparelia said that he wanted to do something that left an impact. "In Bengaluru, more than 500 people have attempted to retrace the map after I completed it," he said.
Ruparelia, a marathoner and director of a private company in the city, started off at 7.45 am from the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Orion Mall in Rajajinagar, beginning with tracing Jammu and Kashmir, and completed the map to reach the same spot again at 1.40 am after walking for 17 hours.
He used Strava to help him with the route. The app lets users track their running and riding with GPS and join challenges. The route was designed by a fellow user Rishi Raghav.
"The app requires a gpx file. This file -- which contained the details of the route -- was designed by someone a long time ago, but I was the first one to complete it," he said, adding that previously he had also traced the same map of India on a cycle.
The marathoner who usually runs barefoot said he ran the entire way wearing sandals and carrying his phone, power bank, water bottle, and the Indian flag.
Speaking about the challenges he faced, Ruparelia said that the major hurdles were the afternoon heat, when both his phone and power bank ran out of charge, and barking dogs.
"It was really hot in the afternoon and by the time I had covered 40-45km (around 4pm), my phone and power bank had drained out and I couldn't complete the route without the app. So, I had to call my brother who arrived with a power bank at Jayanagar and only then I could resume my walk," Ruparelia said.
And then came the rains.
"It started raining very heavily around 7 pm, but I couldn't stop because it was getting darker and I had to complete tracing the map. Plus, around 1,000 people in Bengaluru were tracking my progress on the Strava app and were sending encouraging messages, urging me not to stop," he said.
Another obstacle came in the way of buildings constructed on the route itself. "Since the GPS map was created years ago, many buildings have come up in the way, I had to reroute slightly to stick to the design. I walked through dark and tiny lanes with dogs barking at me. It was scary," Ruparelia told Moneycontrol.
Around 10 pm, he called his family to accompany him for the final stretch. "By 10 o'clock I had called my wife, daughter, and son. It was very dark and scary, someone could have snatched my phone," he added.
The family reached Orion Mall at 1.40 am to finally complete tracing India's map.
"Being in Bengaluru for the past 50 years, I have not seen most parts of the city. This walk was the best way to explore the city while creating an impact for Independence Day," Ruparelia concluded.
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