KAILALI: On November 19, after culminating a journey of approximately 85 kilometers from Tikapur of Kailali District to Khajura of Banke District by bicycle in approximately seven hours, Chandra Singh Bhattarai documented the event on Facebook: “I left home on my bicycle at 11:30 AM via the Postal Highway towards Nepalgunj and reached my friend Rameshwar Kandel’s house in Khajura at 6:20 PM.”

Readers might wonder what distinguished accomplishment a vigorous youth achieved by completing an 85-kilometer journey by bicycle in seven hours.

If you are contemplating this, you might be wrong, though. Because the individual who completed the bicycle journey from Tikapur to Khajura in seven hours is the 83-year-old Chandra Singh Bhattarai.

Active in Nepali Congress politics for six decades, he is also a former teacher and former State Minister for Energy. His most enviable quality today is his physical activity. Even at the age of 83 years, he rides everywhere he needs to go.

After reaching Khajura from Tikapur on the evening of November 19, he described his daily routine this way: “Since I left home a bit late, it was dark when I reached Khajura. I stayed at my friend Ramshwar Kandel’s house in Khajura. Then, in the morning, I rode my bicycle from there to the house of another friend in Nepalgunj, former Minister of Communication and Information Krishna Prasad Gautam. After chatting with Gautam, I rode to the house of another friend, former MP Kailash Nath Gupta, and met him.”

Chandra Singh was born in Kanpur, India. He has been cycling since the age of nine years. While still in India, he was influenced by the ideas of Nepali Congress founder BP Koirala. After passing his high school exam in Kanpur, he returned to Dhangadhi. Since 1961, he has been associated with various schools, teaching English. From around 1964 to 1966, he also practiced journalism as a local correspondent for Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS). After this, he headed to Kathmandu to study Certificate Level (IA). However, due to his political activism, his studies did not go as planned. Around 1967, he returned to the Terai and resumed teaching in Munuwa in Kailali.

Yes, it was at this time that he bought his first bicycle. Following this, his relationship with the bicycle became so profound that it continues even at the age of 83 years. The list of friends who have left him in recent years is long. But the bicycle has not left his side.

Chandra Singh Bhattarai’s bicycle

“Now the bicycle itself is my life. Many friends with whom I was close have passed away. Neither have I abandoned the bicycle, nor has the bicycle abandoned me,” he said when met in Nepalgunj last week.

He bought his first bicycle for Rs 250 at the Tikunia market in India, near the border of Kailali. He still remembers the bicycle’s brand, which is Atlas, which was considered the number one brand in India at the time. While working as a teacher in Kailali for 12 years, that same Atlas bicycle was his number one companion.

“I earned money by cycling. I completed my IA and BA studies in English by taking private exams. I also started politics by cycling as well,” he says, sharing his feelings about his bicycle.

Chandra Singh became politically active immediately after the declaration of the referendum in 1979. After this, he quit his teaching job. Those who know him still say we never saw Chandra Singh in a car. We either saw him walking or cycling.

From mid-June 2009 to mid-February 2011, he served as the State Minister for Energy for about 19 months in the cabinet of the then CPN (UML) General Secretary Madhav Nepal. Locals were astonished to see him in a government car then. His presence in a car felt new and unusual to everyone. He still laughs when he recalls that period of riding in a car.

“During the Panchayat era, while expanding the organization of the Nepali Congress, I would cycle to Kailali sometimes and Kanchanpur other times. I worked on organizational tasks in most settlements of Bardiya and Banke districts as well. It is natural for people to find it strange seeing a person they usually see cycling suddenly appear in a car,” he says. He served as the District President of Nepali Congress, Kailali, for about nine years, from the fiscal year 1991/92 to the fiscal year 2000/01.

Immediately after resigning from the State Minister position in the fiscal year 2011/12, he bought another bicycle called Ladybird from the Tikapur market. Its price was Rs 5,000. The Ladybird is considered a women’s bicycle.

From mid-June 2009 to mid-February 2011, he served as the State Minister for Energy for about 19 months in the cabinet of the then CPN (UML) General Secretary Madhav Nepal.

“That bicycle was my choice because it was easy to mount and dismount. After riding it for about four to five years, I bought another Ladybird bicycle somewhere around 2015. It has been 10 years since I started riding that bicycle. I continue my political activities and daily life riding this very bicycle,” he says, sharing his passion for cycling.

He took retirement from active politics following the distribution of tickets for local-level, provincial assembly, and House of Representatives members in the fiscal year 2021/22, complaining that the Nepali Congress disregarded merit, ability, and contribution, distributing tickets to unqualified people based on access. He has now formed the Prayas Group with like-minded contemporary Nepali Congress leaders Basanta Gautam, Rishikesh Gautam, and Purushottam Basnet. The group’s objective is to protest the growing anomalies and distortions in parties and lobby for capable and good individuals, regardless of the party, to reach higher leadership levels.

Chandra Singh has three sons and one daughter. His eldest son is busy in the banana trade in Tulsipur, Dang; his second son and daughter-in-law are working abroad in Dubai; and his youngest son and daughter-in-law are in the United States. His son-in-law, Prachanda Bikram Neupane, is serving as the Minister of Transport in the Lumbini Province government. In recent days, Chandra Singh and his wife have been living in Tikapur.

Immediately after resigning from the State Minister position in the fiscal year 2011/12, he bought another bicycle called Ladybird from the Tikapur market. Its price was Rs 5,000. The Ladybird is considered a women’s bicycle.

His life is very simple and modest. A vegetarian since 2004, he wakes up at 4 AM. He practices yoga for two hours daily. Even at this age, he does not take medicine. All his health indicators are normal. He says, “I have not had to take medicine thanks to regular yoga and cycling.”

He considers the bicycle a cheap and easy means of transportation. He argues that cycling is also good for health. “You don’t have to rely on others to ride a bicycle. I never drove a motorcycle. You don’t get a license after the age of 60 years. Hence, the bicycle has become a part of my life,” he says.

Chandra Singh Bhattarai with his Ladybird bicycle

Family members and friends occasionally advise him not to travel long distances alone by bicycle. But he never listens! He clarifies that he will not stop cycling as long as his body supports him.

On the morning of November 20, while having a bicycle conversation with him, a call came from former Minister of Water Resources Baldev Sharma Majgaiya. Majgaiya offered advice over the phone: ‘Cycling long distances alone carries the risk of an accident. Don’t do it, brother.’

But he wasn’t one to listen! He silenced Majgaiya by quoting Nepali Congress leader BP Koirala: “Life itself is a risky journey; therefore, one must move forward by facing challenges.”

While talking to me for about one hour, he was at his sister-in-law Nirmala Sijapati’s house in Ganeshpur, Nepalgunj. Bidding farewell from there, he cycled towards his eldest son’s house in Tulsipur, Dang, in the morning. The distance from Nepalgunj to Tulsipur is about 127 kilometers. However, his bicycle broke down just ahead of Kusum, Banke, after covering 77 kilometers. Due to the broken bicycle, he had to seek assistance from the police there. Chandra Singh, who reached Tulsipur at 8 PM that night, called me and said, “My desire to complete the distance from Nepalgunj to Tulsipur on a bicycle was unfulfilled this time.”

I was astonished by his encouragement. And I consoled him, saying, “Don’t worry, brother, your wish will be fulfilled soon.”

Isn’t that a wonderful story full of confidence from Chandra Singh, sir?