Bhubaneswar, July 24: Bharath R. is thundering down open roads on his Royal Enfield motorcycle not for pleasure, but a cause.

The youth from Bangalore has undertaken a 20,000-km journey across three countries - India, Bhutan and Nepal - to promote literacy. The youngster, who began his journey on July 17, was in the state capital today after having zoomed past Chennai, Vijayawada and Vizag.

He will visit all the states of the country as well as Thimphu and Kathmandu, the capitals of Bhutan and Nepal, respectively. Bharath will leave for Calcutta tomorrow and after spending some time there, he will move on to the north-eastern states before entering Thimphu. From there, he will travel to Patna before crossing the border again to enter Nepal. After the foreign leg of his journey, he will enter northern India and cover the rest of the states.

Rotary International, as part of its literacy mission, is sponsoring Bharath's journey across the three countries. During the course of his journey, he will visit various government schools at every stopover and conduct a survey on the availability of basic facilities and infrastructure.

"At the end of the journey, we will chalk out a plan to solve the problems at each school by involving Rotaract club volunteers and other civic organisations. We will involve youngsters to teach in schools that have no teachers or lack the adequate number. At other places, we will take on different activities, including sanitation drives," added the BCom graduate.

Rotary International will also submit the results of the survey to relevant government organisations for action.

Earlier, he had undertaken a biking expedition to Goa, Jammu & Kashmir and other states. But, he affirmed that this journey was different. "I am on a mission this time. I want to meet as many people as possible and create a network so that we can work together to better the education scenario," Bharath said.

He has also put special emphasis on safety measures. "The roads at difficult places will be vastly different - some will have rugged terrain, while others may have steep gradient. I have ensured that I have the required biking gear, including shoes, gloves and jackets. I also have a Bluetooth headset and a GPS (global positioning system) device on my bike," he added.

Speaking about his journey till now, Bharath said: "I have visited more than 30 schools and the condition of many are not good enough. As representatives of a new generation of Indians, the youth should come together and take steps to do what we can and improve the situation," he said.

With an interest in biking since childhood, Bharath quit his business in the hope of a life of adventure. "I was running a call centre for five years, but I realised it was not my true calling. I want to travel the country on my bike and start an organisation to provide consultancy services for biking expeditions," he summed up.