“When you cycle, you create neither noise pollution nor air pollution. You move slowly enough to hear the birds, feel the mountains, and genuinely connect with the environment around you.”

For Sundaram Tiwari, this is not only a belief. It is a philosophy that has influenced the last four years of his life.

On 7 April 2022, the then 27-year-old social activist from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh set off on a bicycle with a goal to encourage people to think differently about the environment. He had no major sponsors backing him, no support vehicle following behind, and no guarantee of what lay ahead. What he did have was conviction.

Over the next 14 months, he travelled nearly 18,000 kilometres across India, cycling through mountains, forests, deserts, cities and villages. He also survived a violent robbery, spent days in a hospital bed, witnessed environmental degradation up close, and met hundreds of people who strengthened his faith in collective action.

The journey ended in June 2023.

But the mission did not.

Today, at 31, he is helping drive a movement that is encouraging government officials in Uttar Pradesh to choose bicycles over cars for short commutes. Through his ‘Cycle to Office’ initiative, around 250 forest department officials have already participated, proving that environmental action can begin with something as ordinary as the journey to work.

For the environmentalist, the story is not about bicycles alone. It is heavily about changing mindsets.

“In many countries, cycling is respected,” he says. “In India, if somebody rides a bicycle, people often assume that person is poor. That perception needs to change. A bicycle is one of the most environmentally friendly forms of transport in the world. It saves fuel, reduces pollution and improves health. Why should that not be respected?”

The thought that followed him everywhere

Long before he became known for cycling across India, Sundaram was balancing his business with social work in Uttar Pradesh. For years, he watched environmental problems mount around him, until he could no longer look away.

Wherever he travelled, he saw signs of a growing crisis.

Rivers were becoming increasingly polluted. Trees were being felled for roads and construction projects. Noise pollution had become so common that most people barely noticed it anymore.

At the same time, he felt that conversations about environmental conservation remained disconnected from ordinary people. 

“We talk about protecting the environment, but many people think it is somebody else’s responsibility. They believe it is the government’s job or an environmentalist’s job, but every citizen has a role to play in protecting nature,” he tells The Better India.

He began searching for a way to take that message directly to people. The answer arrived in the form of a bicycle.

“When you travel slowly, people stop and speak to you,” he says. “If I had travelled by car, very few people would have noticed me. But when a young person is cycling across the country, people become inquisitive. They ask questions.”

Those questions, he realised, could become conversations. And those conversations could become opportunities for change.

India through the eyes of a cyclist

With every turn of the pedals, the world around him grew larger. Over the next 14 months, he cycled nearly 18,000 kilometres through........

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