Teacher’s unique ‘padayatra’ for building a society for better future of children

Team Udayavani, Dec 3, 2022, 11:13 AM IST

Udupi: As elections draw near ‘padayatras’ have become vogue. Unlike these political campaigns, a teacher from Gujarat is on a unique ‘padayatra’. He is traveling 40,000 km on foot for raising awareness about building a better society and environment for children.

Yogen Shah, a Gujarat-based teacher, has trudged 14,000 km of the solo walk so far. Recently, he reached Udupi and has now crossed over to Dakshina Kannada.

Shah returned to India in 2007, from Oxford where he was enrolled as a student, after being diagnosed with a degenerative spine disease. He found relief from the disease through yoga, physical exercise, and walking.

Shah began his Padayatra from Vadodara Gujarat on June 15, 2020. Along the way, he has been raising public awareness on better education of future world citizens. He first traveled to Delhi via Chandigarh and then moved south and entered Karnataka via Goa.

Talking to Udayavani, Yogen Shah said he feels strongly about instilling self-confidence in children. Living a simple life with the hustle and bustle is more necessary nowadays, he says.

“I have been working to create awareness among school and college students in rural areas,” he said.

Shah said he will travel to Kanyakumari in the south and then go on a padayatra to many countries including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and USA.