Indian Teen Bikes 700 Miles With Injured Dad, Gets Movie Deal — And Sparks Debate
This story was updated on July 6 at 1:07 p.m.
When her father got hurt, a 15-year-old Indian girl used their last $20 to buy a rickety, hot pink bicycle, and pedaled him more than 700 miles to their home village across India — in a heroic, life-saving ride while under coronavirus lockdown.
The story of Jyoti Kumari's epic bike ride has made her a media celebrity, prompted praise from Ivanka Trump and won her offers to try out for India's Olympic team and star as herself in a Bollywood movie.
It also launched a debate about whether the real story is the fact that the teenager felt she had no other way to get her father to safety.
In January, Kumari's father, Mohan Paswan, a tuk-tuk driver, was injured in a traffic accident. He lives in Gurugram, a suburb of New Delhi, India's capital, and works long hours ferrying passengers on his motorized rickshaw. Paswan sends money home
