Following in the footsteps of her grandfather Manchikanti Ramkishan Rao, 58-year-old M. Sridevi has shown age-defying agility and perseverance apart from motivating others in the town to lead a healthy lifestyle.
A resident of Naidupeta, Ms Sridevi pedals 4-5 km along the main thoroughfares of the town on her cycle almost daily to reach a retired bank employee’s house in the town, where she is working as a cook. With this, she is inspiring others to take to cycling to maintain good health and save money in these times of skyrocketing fuel prices.
“My grandfather, who was a two-time CPI(M) MLA from Khammam in the 80s, led a simple life and earned wide admiration for his generosity. He also used to travel by cycle in the Kothagudem coal belt region to meet workers as a trade union leader,” she said, adding that she inherited the qualities of simple living and hard work from her grandfather.
“My husband Muralikrishna, a retired employee, gets a meagre pension. I am working as a cook at a retired banker’s house to supplement our household income,” she explains.
She takes pride in commuting by cycle which she purchased more than two decades ago and relying on hard work to augment income for her family, Ms Sridevi asserts with a sense of accomplishment.
Cycling involves just one-time investment in a bicycle and offers independent mobility free of cost, she notes, calling upon youngsters to embrace cycling for the sake of personal health and that of the environment.
