How to get the government sponsor you on an all-India cycle tour?
Getting sponsorship for your all-India tour is like a double-edged sword. On one hand, you get to enjoy the perks of the sponsorship while, on the other you are forced to endorse the branding on social media platforms, making it more or less a job of sorts. It is a rare match to get a sponsorship from the branding you use and heartily believe in.
What if you get to have the government support you in some way not expecting anything back in return? Such an opportunity is as rare as a golden-speckled unicorn! But what if I told you there was a way?
In this article, I will explain to you all my failed ideas, attempts, and the struggles I went through, to have the government get to support me on my all-India cycle tour (at least in some way!).
The initial Idea
Before I decided to head out on my all-India touring adventure, I wanted to speak with somebody who has already been there and done that. I decided to meet Sai Teja who has travelled 12 states on his cycle and was luckily in Bangalore on a break at the time (Read: How much does it cost to tour India on a cycle?). Of all the advice that he gave me, one of the better ones was to visit the local MLA and inform him of my journey and ask him to get to write me a ‘best wishes letter’. Although he hadn’t got one himself, he believed that this letter had to allow me to show that I am an authentic traveler. This should help me clear any sort of doubts that may arise in people’s minds when I pitch my tent in public places.
During a chat with my friends over the tea table, as crazy as it sounds, we came up with the idea of mailing the Prime Minister of the nation – Narendra Modi, requesting best wishes letter. We even modified the best wishes letter to a ‘request letter’, where the letter was addressed to ‘whomsoever concerned’, with the body of the letter requesting to afford me stay and food wherever possible during my travel. Retrospectively, now that I think of our actions to post the letter, I get the feeling that we PhD graduates are designed to approach the problem keeping the best solution in mind. Of course, the crazy idea did not work! Or at least that is what we think. We haven’t heard from the PMO yet!
My crazy friends and their crazy ideas were still worth giving a try. This exercise helped us think about our future course of action to have the support letter endorsed.
Downsizing the idea
Of course, expecting a reply from the PMO is a no-brainer. We had to somehow still end up having the endorsing letter from some government authority to have the government support my ride. The next best authority we thought was the right person to be approached for this reason was the Member of the Parliament at any of the constituencies in Bengaluru. This was not as crazy as mailing to PMO. This was still worth the shot.
Without any reluctance or hesitation, I approached the MP office at Bengaluru South constituency, headed by Tejasvi Surya. Although I did not have the luxury of getting to meet Tejasvi Surya himself, I learnt a lot in this process. The executive assistant to the MP was somebody I could easily approach without having to wait for very long. Unfortunately again, I didn’t receive a positive response from the MP office for the following reasons:
-
If I were to be doing this for my own personal reasons, without any social cause why would the MP want to support my ride?
-
A large number of people may come requesting for such letters to be written. What are my credentials to stand out amongst the lot to deserve such a letter?
-
Who am I even? Why should the MP office help a stranger who they can not even place their trust in to start with?
For the above reasons, I was politely pointed towards the exit door of the office. I felt all the above reasons were fair enough reasons for me to be stripped of the chances of support from the MPs end.
We didn’t want to make this our final blow. We had to bowl only go back and do our homework to have the above questions addressed.
Same idea with a twist
There were still three other constituencies I could approach in the city. I had to only learn from my mistakes and be smarter this time to make things work.
Covering up mistake 1.
Address the social reasons for the travel: I built up the story about how I am interested in learning about the local cultures and traditions of the country. I had articles written around them to show them as credentials. This website was built around the same time for the same reason.
Covering up mistake 2:
Why do I specifically deserve support: I drafted an extremely strong CV from my end. A resume of the sort I hadn’t ever prepared. All my athletic experiences of the past that a lot of people would fail to achieve was the stand-out point.
Covering up mistake 3:
Why should the MP office trust a stranger: I must be honest here to accept that I approached many of my friends who could potentially help me by reeling in necessary threads.
It was now time to head over to the opposite end of Bengaluru. The MP office of DV Sadananda Gowda at North constituency. I had everything prepared up my sleeve. Photocopies of the request letters we had framed ourselves that were typed out both in English and in Hindi. Photocopy of my Resume. Also the preparations for all the questions that the MP office could ask. I was a top ranker who was heading to the examination hall, confident that I would return with full marks. Heck! I even took my bicycle to the office as proof!
Luckily for me though, I faced the easiest interview of all time. Sadananda Gowda Sir was extremely polite and well-spoken. He listened to my propositions patiently without interrupting me and asked me to get the letter printed out on the letterhead through his PA. It was just a two-minute chat I shared with him. I felt so relieved and happy at his gestures of understanding my cause.
With all that joy exuberating from within me, I splurted out without reluctance, asking him if he would mind taking a picture with me and my bike which was just kept outside his office. As simple as he is, he walked out without even wearing any footwear for the picture.
The hustle was finally over. All is well that ends well. For me, it ended with the brightest smile on my face.
How will this letter help me?
For the type of touring I am planning to do, firstly, this letter gives me the confidence that I won’t be questioned for staying or pitching my tents at odd places during my journey. Secondly, there are government offices everywhere evenly distributed across the nation. Schools, Police Stations, Post Offices, Inspection Bungalows, etc. Space enough for me to pitch a tent and use water to take a shower and wash my clothes will help me immensely during the journey.
Every village has a panchayat office or a village head who I have the privilege of approaching from the word go thanks to this request letter.
Finally, there will hopefully be several occasions where I could be offered food. My heart yearns to meet these kind people who have in them to serve others as a way of feeling joy.
I am a 31 year young PhD graduate who has decided to travel the length and breadth of India on my cycle, to document the journey of meeting a vast array of people. In my journey, I intend to understand the characteristic features of the people of this nation and categorize them based on their demographics, age, profession, gender, traditions, and cultural differences.