Whenever we talk of true love, most of us believe that it is a thing of past now and we can see it in the movies only nowadays. There is no doubt that majority of the youngsters do not take love seriously and change their partners in the blink of an eye. However, there are still few people left who think that true love does exist and if you have the passion to look for it, you will definitely meet your soulmate.
Today, we are going to share a beautiful love story of an Indian man and a Swedish woman who got united despite many problems and huge distance between them.
The hero of our story is Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia, who took birth in an Indian family of untouchables in a remote village in 1949. His year of birth in his passport is 1951 but in reality, he was born in 1949. PK Mahanandia was a street artist and used to draw portraits of people.
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In India, it is a common thing for parents of the new born kids to call astrologers at home and try to find what is in store for them in future. The astrologer said that Pradyumna won’t get married the traditional way as everyone does in the village. As per the prophecy, his woman will be from far-away land, she will born under the zodiac sign of Taurus, own a forest and must be a flute player.
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PK’s father wanted him to pursue engineering as everyone of his age was doing at that time but PK’s cup of tea was art. Pradyumna was also not happy with the way society used to treat him and there came a moment in his life when he felt completely hopeless and wasn’t sure about his future.
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The phase of hopelessness was so disturbing that he decided to commit suicide. In his first attempt, he went to get run over by a train but the rail tracks were very hot and Pradyumna’s skin got burnt, prompting him to return. In his second attempt, he was stopped by police and sent home.
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Pradyumna understood that he needed to run away from home to make his dream come true. He went to Santiniketan to enroll in Visva-Bharati University but the course was too expensive for someone who ran from home with Rs. 55 (less than $1). Someone advised him to go back and try to take admission in Khallikote College of Art and Crafts in Odisha because they teach high-performing students for free. But he moved to Delhi for taking admission in College of Art to study Fine Arts in 1971.
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He became a street artist and used to draw portraits of people to make his ends meet but police used to put him in the lock up. However, Pradyuman liked to go to the police station as there he got free food and a place to sleep. This was the period when he learned a lot about life. Somehow he also managed to make portraits of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Vice President B. D. Jatti, and also cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.
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It was December 17, 1975, when a 19 years old blonde-haired girl walked towards Pradyumna who was sketching portrait. She was curious to know how he could make such exact portraits in just 10 minutes. When Pradyumna saw her, he got mesmerized and felt as if her big blue eyes were not just looking at him but seeing inside him like an X-ray.
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Pradyumna got so much engrossed in the beauty of the girl from Sweden named Charlotte Von Schedvin that he couldn’t even make her portrait on the first day. He asked her to come back which she did and this time he drew the portrait. When she returned on the second day, Pradyumna felt as if she is the one about whom the prophecy was made. Somehow he gathered courage and asked her about her zodiac sign, ownership of jungle and playing a flute. She told that her zodiac sign is Tauras, she is the owner of jungle and she does play flute as well as piano.
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Pradyumna told her that they were destined to meet and it was decided in heaven. Charlotte didn’t understand in the beginning but she gave the young man a chance and then one thing led to other. They both fell in love, Pradyumna took her to his village and in a tribal ceremony, they both got married.
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Charlotte had to return and a year was left for Pradyumna’s course to complete, so now they were in touch with the help of letters. Charlotte had planned to return in August 1976 but her mother asked her to check whether the connection is real and to keep on communicating through letters.
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It was almost a year and a half that they both were communicating through letters but now it became very difficult for Pradyumna to live without her. So he decided to go to Sweden through the Hippie trail; nevertheless at that time, he confused Sweden with Switzerland. He sold everything that he had and bought a second-hand bicycle for Rs. 60 and started his journey on January 22, 1977.
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He started his journey of nearly 6,000 miles and used to cycle almost 45 miles daily and sometimes, he took lift from truck drivers as well. He had a sleeping bag with the help of which he slept under the stars too, but mostly people invited him for food and lodging in return of their portraits.
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Throughout his journey, his art helped him a lot whether it was for shelter, food or money. People loved the portraits he drew and there was no need for him to touch the $80 with which he started his journey from India. In fact, when he reached Sweden, he had $800 other than his $80.
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They both cried and embraced each other when they met after such a long time. It was a completely new world for Pradyumna but still the parents of Charlotte liked him. Moreover, with this journey spanning over 8 countries, the man also proved his true love for Charlotte. These two showed the world that even long distance relationships work; you just need to be true to your love.
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In 1979, they got married again in Sweden and since then, they have been a pillar of support for each other. They are proud parents of a son Siddharth and a daughter Emelie and till date, even after more than 40 years, Pradyumna feels a little surprised when people make his cycle journey look like a big deal because as per him, what he did was for love.
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In 2017, J. Andersson wrote a book on PK Mahanandia titled as “The Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled from India to Europe for Love”. The book which has been translated in 15 languages has also won the Marco Polo Outstanding General Travel Themed Book of the Year award. A movie can also be made on PK’s story and as per reports, the lead may be played by Dev Patel.
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True love still exists!