A Legacy of grit and guardianship
When you turn the pages of the new coffee table book, ‘The Great Indian Coastal Cyclothon,’ you do not just see miles of road — you see the soul of a country. What started on March 7, 2025 at the Rajaditya Cholan Recruit Training Centre in Thakkolam was far more than a 6,553 km ride to mark the CISF’s 56th Raising Day. It was a 25-day mission to build a bridge between those in uniform and the people who live where the land meets the sea.
Watching 125 CISF riders grind through the heat of nine different states across both coasts was a lesson in pure grit. But the real magic happened when they stopped. By sitting down with 58 fishing communities, these officers turned dry security terms like ‘smuggling’ or ‘infiltration’ into real, human conversations.
When you see over 1,200 local bikers jumping in to pedal alongside the force, and nearly 30 lakh people lining the streets to cheer them on, you realize this was never just a government program. The goal of ‘Surakshit Tat, Samriddh Bharat’ turned into a personal promise kept by everyone involved. It turned regular citizens into ‘Tat Rakshaks’ — the true eyes and ears of our shores. This book captures those sweat-soaked shirts and genuine smiles that you cannot fake. It proves that the CISF is not just a wall of security at our airports or metros; they are neighbors who truly care. It is a stunning tribute to the fact that our nation is safest when we all look out for one another.
