1.25 LAKH STEPS TO COMMEMORATE INFANTRY DAY
Jaipur, Wednesday, 23 Oct 2024 : Brigadier Kuldeep Singh Gulia, 76-year-old Gaurav Senani of the Sikh Regiment, who walked 1 lakh steps on Infantry Day last year, will walk 1.25 lakh steps in Jaipur on the occasion of Infantry Day 2024 this year. His effort to walk 1.25 lakh steps is inspired by the epic of Guru Govind Singh Ji and the tradition of the Sikh Regiment “Sava Lakh Se Ek Ladau”.
With the slogan ‘Aage Kadam’, he will walk for about 17 hours throughout the day and pay tribute to the dedication and sacrifice of the soldiers for the country in his own style. Brigadier Gulia will start this walk from his house in Mahadev Nagar Colony of Vaishali Nagar at 12 midnight on October 26.
Brigadier Kuldeep will walk 1.25 lakh steps at a speed of 7 to 8 km per hour. He will walk continuously around the house from 12 midnight. After that, in the morning, he will pay homage at the Sikh Battalion’s Gurudwara located at Vijay Dwar and salute the martyrs at the War Memorial of the Military Area. He will walk in Grass Farm Nursery Park, Khatipura from 11 am to 4 pm. Then he will reach Gandiv Stadium located inside Vijay Dwar and complete the last leg of his walk. Herein after interaction with the soldiers, he will leave for his home at Aditya Vihar Mahadev Nagar Park. During this, a squad of 10 to 15 soldiers of the Sikh Regiment will also be a part of the walk with him, who will keep changing after a few km. His daughter-in-law Sonia, nephew Rajneesh and other family members will also be with him.
Retired Brigadier Kuldeep Singh had set a target of walking one lakh steps on Infantry Day last year in 2023, but by 6 pm he had completed the target of 1 lakh 15 thousand steps, about 104 kilometers. In the last 10 years, he has covered all the areas like Jaigarh, Nahargarh and Jain temple built on the Aravalli hills by walking alone. He has measured every corner of Jaipur with his steps.
Kuldeep Singh Gulia, a fourth generation soldier, originally from Jaipur, will turn 76 on October 28, just two days after completing his 108-km journey. He completed his education from Military School Ajmer. Brigadier Gulia, commissioned in 1972, commanded an infantry brigade 4 Sikh in Gandhi Nagar and was Deputy GOC of Mountain Division in Bareilly. He has explored almost all the hills and forts around Jaipur and Sariska, trekking across the entire Indian Himalayan state, trekking more than 60-70 km in a single day on several occasions after the age of 70. Brigadier Gulia has also written books like ‘Human Ecology of Sikkim’ (also worked as a PhD thesis), ‘Origins of Disasters’ (in the wake of the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, and rehabilitation work) and contributed to 15 volumes of ‘Encyclopaedia of Himalayan Studies’ and 5 volumes of ‘Encyclopaedia of Human Ecology’.