This is a story that would break all the norms of
romance, love and commitment. Love being a commitment, has no limitations, but the
people who break all the boundaries just for loving someone are the real
humans. Once we have more such people around, the world would indeed become a
better place today that is suffering from hatred, cheating, infidelity and a
lack of commitment, seeking the ample options available to the human kind.
This is a story about a poor man who fell in love with a
rich girl. The girl has to go back to her country for obvious reasons. However the
boy makes a promise to come and visit her there. With time, he struggles each
day in order to lead his life, fulfill his commitments while planning to live the
dream of uniting with the love of his life.
As even after trying hard, he was not able to create a
situation of having enough money to go and meet her, he decides to try and just
doesn’t give up. In order to keep up with his promise, he grabs a cycle and
starts his journey while crossing through 8 countries to meet the love of his
life!
Okay, no
matter this might sound like a story of a romantic epic Bollywood film; however
it remains to be a reality that can be made into a film for sure.
PK the guy behind the story has yet another time proved that
a person can actually achieve all that he desires for; all he need is to be determined
about it.
Pak was born in a deprived weaver family of Odisha,
Dhenkanal in the year 1949. They were considered untouchable, while PK was a talented
artist. But, his family never had enough money in order to spend and invest in
his education. He faced a lot of condemnation owing to the feared caste system
in our country.
In the year 1971, he joined College of Art in the capital
city of our country and started to paint, and in the due course acquired fame
for the portraits he created.
In 1975,
19-year-old Charlotte Von Sledvin, who was studying in London, came to know
about his talent and came down to meet him all the way to India in order to get
her portrait made. As it was destiny that attached a string uniting both of
them together, he was stunned by her great looks and beautiful appearance;
while she got attracted to his absolute simplicity. It started something called
love!
Charlotte then took to be an Indian, while taking over the
Indian name Charulata while they both married abiding by the customary ceremonies.
As the time came for Charlotte to leave, she asked her husband
to accompany her back to her country where they could both live happily and
lead a comfortable life.
While at that time PK was still studying and had his
academic commitments, he asked for some more time and did not even accept tickets
from his wife. He promised her to meet her on his own expense.
While both of them kept in touch through writing letters.
After much struggle, PK could never gather the amount required to leave for her
country, so he decided to bridge this gap between them on a bicycle.
He started from New Delhi, while crossing through Amritsar;
he entered Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Germany, Australia and
then Denmark. This journey is not as simple as it looks; he was actually riding
all this while on his cycle that broke down a couple of times while there were
many days with no food at all.
It took him 4 months and 3 weeks of this tiresome and
long journey, before he could reach Gothenburg, Sweden.
It’s been 40 years since
they have been married, Dr PK Mahanandia is the Odiya Cultural Ambassador of
India to Sweden and is living happily ever since then with his wife Charlotte,
while the couple have 2 amazing children in Sweden. His village that once sidestepped
him being an untouchable, at the moment gives him a great welcome each time
goes there.
“Now this is what we call Love”
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