Most of us go through life sprinting after money, but this young computer engineer definitely stands apart. Meet a 29-year-old Kaustubh Khade who has embarked on a two-month long solo expedition from Kutch to Kanyakumari (K2K) in his kayak.
A resident of Mumbai, Kaustubh who is a 2009-batch Delhi IITian in computer science, is not doing this for pleasure but to support three causes including, encouragement to the sport of kayaking, propagating the message of peace and brotherhood and last but not the least actively volunteering for 'Magic Bus', a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which works for the betterment of underprivileged children in Mumbai.
Kaustubh’s journey which will go through five coastal States and one Union Territory, began on 17, November from the Dwarka coast in Kutch and is expected to end on 16, January in Kanyakumari. After paddling his way from Dwarka, Porbander, Okha-Mandi, Somnath, Surat, Nandgaon and Palghar, Kaustubh reached the Uttan sea coast on Thursday afternoon where he was warmly welcomed by local villagers in the presence of fishing community leader, Leo Collaso and municipal corporator, Sharmila Bagaji. Interestingly, some of Kaustubh’s friends are accompanying him, but not in the waters but on land, riding bicycles.
For, Kaustubh this is not his first sea journey, he has already earned an entry into the Limca Book of Records as longest solo sea kayaking in India after he successfully finished the Mumbai-Goa trip last year. “Kayaking as a sport in our country is still very uncommon. Lack of awareness is the basic reason deterring many people from pursuing the sport,” said Kaustubh who has bagged medals in various kayaking events including National Championship for Dragon Boat Racing, Asian Sea Kayaking Championship and the Asian Dragon Boat Championship.