PK Mahanandia
PK Mahanandia (also Pikay Mahanandia , actually Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia ; * 1949 in Athmallik ) gained fame through his bike ride in 1977 from New Delhi in India to Gothenburg in Sweden to see his love Charlotte (Lotta) from Schedvin again . The story of this 7,000 kilometer journey, during which he wore out three bicycles, was published in 2015 by Per J. Andersson in the book From the Indian who rode his bicycle to find his great love there again - A true story , original title New Delhi - Borås: the osannolika berättelsen om indiern som cyklade till Sverige för kärlekens skull .
Life
Pradyumma Kumar Mahanandia, called "Pikay" (PK) was born in 1949 in Athmallik, a village in the state of Odisha in eastern India, the son of a post office worker and a weaver. His exact date of birth is unknown. When he was born, the village astrologist predicted that one day the boy would marry a girl who was neither from the village nor from the country. The girl would be musical and also have a jungle and be born under the sign of Taurus.
Pikay grew up with two older brothers in poor conditions. His family was a Dalit . During his school days he had to follow the lessons outside the classroom (only a roof, but no walls). Due to an interest in fine arts and science, Pikay followed his brother's advice and tried to study at Visva-Bharati University but was unable to pay the necessary tuition fees. The Odishas government finally enabled him to study at the Delhi College of Arts through a scholarship . Due to difficulties with the scholarship, Pikay lived on the streets of Delhi for a long time while studying. As a small source of income, Pikay used his drawing talent by making portrait drawings at the fountain in Connaught Square in New Delhi with the slogan "ten minutes, ten rupees" in the evening, and the police repeatedly sent him away.
He became famous when he met the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereschkova on January 26th, 1975. When her column had to stop on their way from the airport to the center of New Delhi on a visit to India, Pikay Mahanandia presented the companions with a sketch for the white woman, whom he took to be the woman from the prophecy. Valentina Tereschkova met with him the following day, accompanied by the press. By reporting on this meeting, dubbed “a boy from the jungle met the woman from space”, Fr. K. Mahanandia received an invitation from the then incumbent Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to portray her at home. As it became more well-known, Delhi's governor asked the police to stop the harassment against Pikay and had generators installed to illuminate the easel so that he could work at night.
On the evening of December 17, 1975, the young Swede asked Charlotte von Schedvin to be portrayed by Pikay. In an interview, Pikay stated that he did not even ask for her name, only if she was born in May and owned a forest, which she affirmed and reminded him of the prophecy. Schedvin and Pikay's “Lotta” spent the next few days together. After just a few meetings, Pikay asked for Lotta's hand. Less than three weeks later they drove together to the home village of Pikay to receive their father's blessing. Lotta then drove back to Sweden. The pen friendship lasted a year and a half before Pikay decided in 1977 to join Lotta. Pikay had previously refused to accept money from Lotta for the trip. He could only afford a bike, which he bought for 60 rupees (then 60 US dollars) in Connaught Place in Delhi. A multitude of encounters and strokes of fate accompanied him on his four month and three week long journey of over 7000 kilometers to Sweden.
Both of them now live on an old farm in Borås, Sweden, and have two grown children. P. K. Mahanandia is still active as an artist today.
The trip by bike
A year and a half after the last meeting between Pikay and Lotta in India, he decided in 1977 to visit Lotta in Sweden.
He bought a bicycle in Connaught Place for 60 rupees (about $ 60 at the time). Despite the fame, he didn't make big bucks. He flew to Kabul with a free ticket and then rode his bike through Tehran and Istanbul to Vienna, where he sold some paintings to a gallery owner for a few shillings and a train ticket.
Bike route
Kabul ( Afghanistan )
Kandahar ( Afghanistan )
Herat ( Afghanistan )
Sari ( Iran )
Copenhagen ( Denmark )
Gothenburg ( Sweden )
Borås ( Sweden ) - Arrived May 28, 1977
literature
- Per J. Andersson: About the Indian who rode his bike to Sweden to see his great love there again - a true story . Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2015, ISBN 978-3-462-04747-9 . (Paperback at Bastei Lübbe, 2016, ISBN 978-3-404-60885-0 )
Web links
- Homepage of PK Mahanandia (English)
- Facebook presence of PK Mahanandia (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Dr. P. K Mahanandia. Retrieved July 21, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c Per J. Andersson: From the Indian who rode his bike to Sweden to find his great love there again . Kiepenheuer & Witsch ( kiwi-verlag.de [accessed on July 21, 2017]).
- ↑ Nina Kobelt: Halfway around the world in 126 days . In: Berner Zeitung . May 20, 2015, ISSN 1424-1021 ( bernerzeitung.ch [accessed on July 21, 2017]).
- ^ The Pioneer: A heavenly love story of Mahanandia and Swedish 'Princess' . In: The Pioneer . ( dailypioneer.com [accessed July 21, 2017]).
- ↑ a b c hermes: The man who cycled from India to Europe for love . In: The Straits Times . March 5, 2017 ( straitstimes.com [accessed July 21, 2017]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mahanandia, PK |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mahnandia, Pikay; PK |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Indian artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Athmallik |