Tag Archives: S. Nagoor Meeran

Tailor who cycled 2700km to meet Kalam narrates how the former President ignited his mind

Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

S Nagoor Meraan
S Nagoor Meraan

Chennai :

Seventy-year-old S Nagoor Meraan is a tailor by day and a watchman by night. Meraan is one of those scores of people whom you wouldn’t bother giving a second glance unless you come across his photograph with former President Abdul Kalam that adorns his makeshift workplace under a tree in Thiruvanmiyur here.

Pointing to the photograph, he recollects the story of pedalling all the way from his hometown Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu to Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi (over 2700km) in 2003 to meet the former President.

The idea of meeting Kalam was mooted when a Lions Club member told him to make use of his passion for cycling to attract the Missile Man’s attention.

Thus began the journey that lasted 35 days taking the Chennai, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Bhopal and Agra route. During the journey, he camped at police stations, open spaces and even strangers’ houses. “Curiously enough, not even once did my cycle tyres get punctured. It was a smooth journey. It was as if Allah was conspiring for my meeting with Kalam,” says Meraan, who’s now into his 70s.

Initially, his plans of meeting the former President was met with uncertainty. “When I reached Delhi, I couldn’t meet him immediately. I wrote a letter of my mission and dropped it in a guest box on the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises. Fortunately, he read the letter and extended an invite,” he says.

Meraan dined with Kalam during the rendezvous that spanned 35 minutes. “I had taken along with me a shawl to present to him. But he declined the offer citing the presence of many homeless in the capital city suffering due to extreme cold and asked me to give that to one of them,” he recollects.

He stayed in the official residence for two-and-a-half days and had his brush with a few politicians. During the time, they discussed issues such as world peace, humanity and a charter of demand for Meraan’s hometown among other things.

“Kalam sir asked me to make interacting with school students a habit. I had always hatched a plan to travel to Mecca, partly by cycling and partly otherwise. He strongly advised against it citing security issues,” says Meraan who has been a tailor for over three decades now.

Reflecting on Kalam’s first death anniversary, Meraan says, “He should have lived, instead of me.”

He is penning a collection of short poems and plans to publish the same in the near future if there are takers.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> India / Shilpa Vasudevan / TNN / July 27th, 2016

Geared up

Mission on wheels: While cycling to Delhi from Chennai, S. Nagoor Meeran made many friends./  Photo: M. Karunakaran / The Hindu
Mission on wheels: While cycling to Delhi from Chennai, S. Nagoor Meeran made many friends./ Photo: M. Karunakaran / The Hindu

Nagoor Meeran, a tailor, cycled to Delhi to meet Abdul Kalam. Vipasha Sinha on his feat

Neither the merciless weather nor the bumpy roads could stop S. Nagoor Meeran from meeting the APJ Abdul Kalam in 2003. At that time, Kalam was the President of India.

Nagoor started his journey to the capital by cycle from Tenkasi. In 35 days, he rode through Chennai, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Bhopal, Agra. It was commendable for a 57-year old to perform such a feat.

Ten years later, Nagoor shares the story of that journey and talks of his love for cycling.

“The Lion’s Club was planning to do an event to promote world peace. They had different ideas in mind but I suggested that I could cycle all the way to Delhi and meet the president,” says Nagoor, who is a tailor by the day and watchman by the night.

It was an Imam from his town who suggested to him the idea long ago and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. He had also met Kalam’s brother in Rameshwaram and expressed his interest in meeting the head of the country.

“However, when I reached Delhi I was told I could not meet the President. Yet I was hopeful. I wrote about my journey and the purpose of the meeting and left the request in a glass box kept for people who wish to meet the President. Reading it, he agreed to meet me. I quickly changed my clothes ahead of the meeting. Mr. Kalam was kind enough to have lunch with me. We spoke about three things – the need to promote peace and communal harmony, development in his native town of Tenkasi, and my desire to visit Mecca. I also presented a letter appreciating him,” says Nagoor.

He also got a chance meet other ministers and personalities. All that he carried for the journey on a basic Hercules cycle was a small bag and a bottle of water. He says there were many people who helped him complete his quest along the way.

“I would start in the morning and by six in the evening, I would look for a temple or a police station or a forest department office where I could spend the night. Some people would offer food and water. Between Agra and Delhi come these humungous soft drink outlets, I went there and they gave me two big bottles of cool drinks for the journey. Since water was a major problem, I would befriend the truck and lorry drivers on the highway, and they would erect tents where they could rest. I would use their water tanks to clean my clothes and take a bath. There were times when I would go without a bath for days. I also maintained a diary with the signature and names of all the people who helped me during the journey,” says Nagoor, who has to spend around Rs. 10,000 for this trip, which was partially sponsored by Lions Club and Sun Tv.

Completing his mission, he took a train back to Chennai. Now, he carries in his small bag a photo taken with Kalam and few newspaper clippings lauding his feat. Ask him why he took that journey, he says: “It was just for the love of cycling.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Down Town / by Vipasha Sinha / Chennai – March 29th, 2014