A group of 28 cyclists, including a female, under the banner of ‘Turbanators: The Pedallers’ arrived here on Saturday evening from Delhi to help NGO United Sikhs in its ‘Rescue a Family’ project and spread awareness about significance of fitness and environment issues. While talking to TOI, founder member of ‘Turbanators: The Pedallers’, Jagdeep Singh, […]
A group of 28 cyclists, including a female, under the banner of ‘Turbanators: The Pedallers’ arrived here on Saturday evening from Delhi to help NGO United Sikhs in its ‘Rescue a Family’ project and spread awareness about significance of fitness and environment issues.
While talking to TOI, founder member of ‘Turbanators: The Pedallers’, Jagdeep Singh, said they had set off from Delhi on February 23 and traversed a total distance of 485km.
Upon reaching here, the cyclists offered thanksgiving prayers at the Golden Temple and took bath in its ‘sarovar’ (sacred pond).
Some of the participants were banned from participating in cycling event because they wore a turban. “I was disqualified from cycling in 2015 because I refused to wear helmet in place of turban. I tried to put forward my views and facts to the organizers to ensure my participation. They were not ready to accept my logical arguments,” said Jagdeep adding that despite being disheartened, he decided to take part in the event.
Under ‘Rescue A Family’ project, United Sikhs provides monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to the widows of farmers who committed suicides in Punjab, help them fend for their families and send their children to school instead of engaging them in intensive farm labour, said international legal director of Untied Sikhs Mejinderpal Kaur. She said the cyclists were from diverse fields of life including finance specialists.