MELBOURNE, 2 July, 2023: Somen Debnath is no ordinary traveller. He has been paddling globally since 27 May, 2004, starting from a remote village, Basanti, in Sundarbans, West Bengal, India. He has, he claims, cycled about 189,500 kilometres across seven continents in the last 19 years. His mission is HIV/AIDS awareness and talking about Indian culture. On 20 June, 2023, he travelled to Melbourne from Canberra.
Today at the Australian Indian Community Centre (AICC), Rowville he was facilitated by members and supporters of the Bengali Association of Victoria (BAV) along with the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) and the Oriyas in Australia (Orioz). Somen Debnath detailed some his experiences in different countries and how many a times he coped with issues that crop up. During the Q-A session he told about his experience in Afghanistan , which he called tough, though he had no problem. He cheerfully posed for photographs with his cycle.
Surashmi Chatterjee, President BAV, addressing the gathering welcomed Somen Debnath, praising his big effort and courage. She called the effort an ‘incredible journey’ and praised his mission of creating awareness about HIV/AIDS.
Among those present included Mr. Shiv Kumar, Consul Indian Consulate, representing the Consul General Dr. Sushil Kumar and Mr. Sury Soni, President. FIAV was also present. Vote of thanks was given by the President of Orioz.
The group also went to the first floor of the AICC, and took a tour of the Dr Dinesh Parekh’s Museum India. The late Dr Parekh donated many of his premiere exhibits to create Museum India, the first Indian Museum outside India in Dandenong, Victoria and was a former trustee of AICCT.
