India's Bhakti Sharma is aiming to create a world record by swimming in the Antarctic Ocean

Bhakti Sharma is trying to swim 2.5 kms in the Antarctic Ocean to create a new World record

Have you ever wondered how can one play a part, albeit a small one, to eradicate illiteracy in India? Change often happens when one has enough conviction to go all the way in order to make a difference to what they strongly believe in. After all, a journey of thousand miles begins with a single step.

There is one such girl who is striving to make sure that education is accessible to all.

Meet Bhakti Sharma, a 24-year-old who is quite the water baby. She started swimming when she was just 2 and a half years old! Bhakti has come a long way since then. Her mother has played a key role in helping her grow as an open-water swimmer.

Bhakti is the youngest in the world to cross seven seas, including four oceans, and is only the third person in the world to have swum across the Arctic Ocean. She firmly believes that everybody has to give back to society by any means possible.

The Udaipur girl received the ‘Tenzing Norgay National Adventure’ award for water adventure from President Pranab Mukherjee in 2012. It took years of hard work and commitment from the youngster to get this far.

Her initial struggle

“I was only 14 when I swam in the ocean and the open sea. The experience was amazing. As I did continued swimming, I faced newer challenges which moulded me as a stronger person and athlete,” she recalled.

“Throughout my journey I have faced a lot of difficulties especially in terms of financial back up and me being a girl was always seen as an extra 'something' (sometimes positive and sometimes negative). So when I came to know about the numbers related to gender gap in education in or country, I realized there are others who are struggling for something very basic just because they are girls, “she added.

She was in Class 12 when she crossed the English Channel in July 2006. This was followed by the Lake Zurich Marathon Swim in 2007, the Gulf of Mexico and then the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

Next adventure – part of an awareness drive

Her next swim is a world-record attempt in the coldest ocean of the world – the Antarctic Ocean! She is attempting this record for a noble cause – to spread education awareness across the nation.

“The successful completion of the swim will be a new world record. So the message of education awareness will not be just spread in a city or town but in the entire nation. Also I have planned a crowd funding event where in I am personally making an appeal to the people to make a difference and spread awareness. Parts of the fund (if I don't get sponsors) raised would be given to the NGO ‘Educate Girls’ to help them expand their task force and area of operations,” she says.

Bhakti will become the youngest swimmer in the world to swim in all the five oceans if she achieves this task. She is aiming to swim a distance of 2.5 kilometres in the Antarctic Ocean.

She spoke at a TEDx event in SIBM Bangalore about her journey so far.

Bhakti also shared her experiences about swimming in difficult conditions to a gathering at IIT Kanpur on “Lessons learnt from the seven seas”.

The challenges she faces

– Figuring out the logistics of the swim.

– To survive in temperatures as low as 0-1 degree centigrade.

– Risk of hypothermia and cardiac arrest (heart attack) due to cold water.

– Getting financial support for the actual swim.

The objective of the swim

The sole purpose of the swim is to spread awareness about open water swimming and also the importance of girl child education in India.

For what will the funds be used?

– To arrange the swim logistics – ship tickets from Ushuaia to Antarctica, air tickets to Argentina for a team of 5 including a doctor and his/her fees.

– To practise in colder environments in India.

How you can help

You can help Bhakti in achieving this rare feat in a number of ways.

Visit her website www.bhaktisharma.in to know all about her. To contribute to her cause, you can visit the page set up especially for the purpose here; just click on the ‘Contribute Now’ tab.

You can also keep updated about the event by following her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/bhaktisharmathepage

Bhakti is aiming to collect Rs. 25 lakh that would enable her in achieving this world record. You can help her by contributing your bit and spread the word across to your friends and family members. Do share this on your Facebook walls and convey this message via email as well.

Reach as many people as you can with this wonderful thought that can change the lives of many girls by helping them get education.

Let there be a new literacy ‘wave’ in India!