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Noble mission

It is not easy to find individuals like Somen Debnath

PHOTO: K.GANESAN.

CONCERTED EFFORT Creating awareness on HIV/AIDS

Sometimes revelations can hit hard. Like in the case of Somen Debnath. As a witness to a disturbing incident at the age of 14, the main purpose of this 23-year-old person is to create awareness on Human Immuno deficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) among the youths all over the world.

Determined

Hailing from a tiny hamlet in Sunderbans called Basanthi, he embarked on his mission on May 27, 2004. "I was a happy boy like any other of my age till the day I happened to see an AIDS victim dying in my village. Everybody feared to go near the body and it was abandoned. It disturbed me. I wanted to know the reason but nobody explained. One day the seriousness of the issue dawned on me, I was already 21. But it had strengthened my conviction to help the society," narrates Mr. Somen, who is on a bicycle mission.

Somen set out the day he graduated as Bachelor of Science in Zoology. After passing rough Sunderbans, West Bengal, Bihar, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Burma, Mizoram, Tripura, Bangladesh, Meghalaya, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu (Chennai), Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu (Tiruchi), he arrived in Madurai.

Obstacles

Though his was a noble mission, he had to face severe hardship and overcome terrorists' threats to accomplish his goal. "It was not a bed of roses. My tryst with terrorists and naxals hardened me. At times, I was forced to back off. But I continued. Initially, they tortured me. But once they were convinced of my mission they greeted, offered food, shelter and even funded my journey," he reminisces. He has enough materials on HIV/AIDS awareness and wherever he goes he meets the office-bearers of service organisations in respective cities. He also conducts programmes for school children and college youths. He teaches preventive methods and ways to discipline by practising yoga and pranayama techniques.

In Madurai, the Rotary Club of Madurai Mid Town received and honoured him. He never fails to visit the heads of State and ministers of the cities he visited. He has got certificates issued by Sri Lankan Western Province Governor S. Alavi Mowlana, North Western Province Governor Dharmadasa Wanniarachchi, Sabaragamuwa Province Governor Reggie Padmasena Ranatunga.

So far, Somen has travelled 42,700 km meeting 13 Governors, 11 Chief Ministers. He has conducted programmes in 2000 schools, 935 colleges and 28 universities across India and other countries. From Madurai he plans to visit Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. And from there to Pakistan, Afghanisthan, China, Russia, Western Europe, Middle East countries, Africa, America, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand. Somen dreams of completing his mission by 2020. "I am not the person to succumb to family commitments. I wish to dedicate my life to the welfare of my people," he says.

T.SARAVANAN

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