"Education is not about molding children the way you think they should be. Education is about organizing the natural longing in a human being to know." - Sadguru

My name is Giridhar Kamath & I am 46 years young! I grew up in a small town in Karnataka. I moved to Bangalore learnt magic, learned to perform and then branched out into making magic kits. Today we export these magic kits across the world. Five years ago, I began running and today running has become my passion.

Last year I ran 8000 kilometres - that’s the distance from Bangalore to London, UK in a 12-month period.

I AM NOW RUNNING 400 KMS " BAREFOOT" IN 6 DAYS FOR A WORTHY CAUSE - TO RAISE FUNDS FOR ISHA VIDHYA @ COIMBATORE

I want to use my drive for running to fuel a cause greater than any one person. While looking for an avenue to channel this, I came across the Isha Vidhya initiative of the Isha Foundation. I believe that education for rural children is something that is very close to my heart & believe strongly in what Isha Vidhya does.

WHAT’S THE PLAN?

I WILL RUN FROM BANGALORE TO COIMBATORE – a 400 KM STRETCH IN 6 DAYS

On the 3rd of September 2016 I will commence a run from Bangalore and aim to reach Coimbatore on the 9th of September 2016. This isn’t just a run for the sake of a run, although that’s enough of a reason in itself!! I am doing this to raise funds for Isha Vidhya, an initiative of the Isha Foundation. This will be done BAREFOOT!

There is another major significance to the run dates. The 3rd of September, the day I commence the run in Bangalore, is the birthday of Sadhguru, the founder of the Isha Foundation & the 9th of September, the day I finish the run, is my birthday.

I STARTED RUNNING BAREFOOT THANKS TO MY GREATEST INSPIRATIONS, MILIND SOMAN AND THOMAS BOBBY PHILIP!

The Route Map:

You will be able to track us through every step of this 400 km run through regular updates on the campaign page and on social media.

Why Running?

In 2014 - 2015, I ran 8000 kms through the year. In the first 4 months of 2016, I have run 2500 kms an average of 20 kms a day. In comparison my THAR Jeep has run 260 kms in the same time frame!

Running is something that inspires and keeps me happy every day. As a Pinkathon Ambassador, I believe in celebrating wellness through running. It’s a firm belief that people have to take time out to keep themselves fit as fitness leads to happiness.

WHO AM I?

I started out as magician in the early 1990s. With over two decades of experience in the magic space, we started The Magic Space, in a short span of time it’s become the perfect place for magicians and magic enthusiasts to get together for a tete-a-tete, to exchange ideas, to read magazines, or just sip a cup of coffee/tea; a next generation magic shop where you can catch up with magician friends – old and new.

About Isha Foundation and Isha Vidhya

Isha Foundation, founded by Sadhguru, is a volunteer-run, international nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating human potential. The Foundation is a human service organization that recognizes the possibility of each person to empower another - restoring global community through inspiration and individual transformation.

Isha Vidhya, an Isha Education initiative of Isha Foundation, is committed to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India and help disadvantaged children realize their full potential. The project seeks to ensure quality education for children in rural areas in order to create equal opportunities for all to participate in and benefit from India's economic growth. Through this effort, the foundation is committed to raising the level of education and literacy in rural India and to helping disadvantaged children realize their full potential. It promotes female education and has seen a significant rise in the number of girl child enrolment in schools.

Isha Vidhya currently operates 9 schools ( 8 in Tamilnadu and 1 in Andhra Pradesh) with 5200 students of whom 56% are on scholarship. The rest of the students pay a nominal fee. Each school will support 1100 students when completed. With the experiences gained, Isha has also adopted 31 Govt.schools in 2012-13 with 26843 students, who will benefit from critical interventions that will make a dramatic impact on the quality of education in these schools.

THE JOURNEY PLAN

While I run the 400 kms I will have friends & fellow runners also with me for small stretches. My wife Radha & daughter Parinitha will be following us in my THAR jeep . We will camp outdoors along the route (ie no hotels) & will blog & capture the entire journey on Social media. The run will start in Bangalore & culminates at the Isha Ashram@ Coimbatore.

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

Through this run I want to raise INR 10 lakhs for the Isha Vidhya Foundation. I hope to stretch the goal of this campaign to INR 1 crore. The money will go towards the funding of scholarships and the running of the Isha Vidhya schools through Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Please FUND this campaign – anything from 500 ₹ to 5L ₹! Below are the details of the contributions you can make through the contribute button.

Please SHARE this campaign on social media

Please REQUEST your friends to support me in this endeavour.

TOGETHER WE CAN!