Satish Kumar and his friend EP Menon embarked on an 8,000-mile
peace pilgrimage from India to Washington, from the grave of
Mahatma Gandhi to the grave of John F Kennedy. Walking at the
height of the cold war, taking no money with them and declining all
offers of transport and donations, they talked to heads of state
around the world and met with peace activists such as Martin Luther
King Jr. along the way. Kumar, author of No Destination and Earth
Pilgrim, tells the story of their pilgrimage in this autobiography.
When the philosopher Bertrand Russell was imprisoned for his
anti-nuclear activities, this was a call to action for Kumar. If a
90-year-old man would go to jail for peace, what could Kumar
contribute to the struggle? So he set out to walk to the four
nuclear capitals of the world - Moscow, Paris, London and
Washington. A young Georgian woman he met along the way gave him
packets of tea to give to the leaders of these countries, so that
they would stop and have a cup of tea when they might "get the mad
impulse to press the nuclear button". He was determined to deliver
a packet of this Peace Tea to each of the leaders. From New Delhi
to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and the Soviet Union, through
Poland, East and West Germany, Belgium, France and England, to the
US and finally Japan, Kumar and Menon walked for two and a half
years. They faced severe challenges - walking illegally without a
visa in the Soviet Union, imprisonment in France and experiencing
the Jim Crow laws in the USA - but everywhere they were met with
incredible generosity from the people who housed and fed them.
Pilgrimage for Peace is a book about trust - in yourself, your
companions, and humanity - about confidence, resilience and the
courage to stretch your limits. It is an ode to the power and the
solace of pilgrimage, to peace, disarmament and hospitality. It is
an adventure story that shows how travel can bring people together
in hope and help them understand one another. It demonstrates how
you don't always need money to see the world, just time and
patience. With conflict and war constantly in the news today, this
book is a timely testament not only to these pilgrims for peace,
but to the many people who cheered them on their way, seeing in
them the harbinger of a new peaceful future.
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