‘It’s about joy and human connection’ … Mina Dale and Chirag Lobo in The Cycle of Love. Photograph: Everett/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen ‘It’s about joy and human connection’ … Mina Dale and Chirag Lobo in The Cycle of Love. Photograph: Everett/Shutterstock Film ‘When you tell people the story, it’s almost too good to be true’: the incredible journey behind The Cycle of Love Documentary director Orlando von Einsiedel on how the real life tale of a man who cycles 6,000 miles from India to Sweden to find his true love will warm your heart
Prefer the Guardian on Google N ew Delhi, December 1975. It was love at first sight when a Swedish hippy called Lotta von Schedvin sat down to be sketched by an Indian street artist, Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia, known to everyone as PK. In the 10 minutes it took PK to complete her portrait, everything clicked into place for the pair. They were swept headlong in a whirlwind romance, and PK took Lotta to his village in the east of India to meet his family. But soon after, the time came for Lotta to pack up her VW campervan and head back home with her friends.
Heart-stricken PK promised to follow, but a plane ticket to Sweden was an impossible dream. Determined not to lose the love of his life, PK bought a secondhand Raleigh bike, and with $80 sewn into the waistband of his trousers, set off to cycle 6,000 miles to Lotta . He knew the sun set in the west, so that was the direction he took. His plan was to follow the hippy trail, cycling through India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, crossing Europe, finally arriving in Sweden.
Actually, he was heading to Switzerland until a fellow backpacker pointed out that Switzerland and Sweden were two different countries. In a new Netflix documentary, The Cycle of Love, PK jokes that his strength was his fuzzy grasp of European geography. Watching the film, you wonder if his superpower might have been his smile – warm and joyous, it lights the room. Either way, he made it to Sweden. The journey took 123 days, and ended up involving a flight or two, and a couple of trains. In May 1977, PK knocked on Lotta’s door in Borås, Sweden. They have been together ever since.
Documentary-maker Orlando von Einsiedel first heard about the story when he gave a talk in Sweden. “At the end, two young people came up and handed me a book,” he says. “They said: ‘This is about our parents’ story. We know your work. Would you be interested in this as a film?’” The book was The Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled from India to Europe for Love by Swedish journalist Per J Andersson.
View image in fullscreen ‘A tale of fate and destiny’ … The Cycle of Love. Photograph: Everett/Shutterstock The two young people were PK and Lotta’s grownup kids Emilie and Karl. Von Einsiedel politely took the book but didn’t think too much about it. “Normally in my experience, when somebody approaches you and says ‘I’ve got a brilliant story’, it doesn’t work out.”
A couple of months later, Von Einsiedel picked up the book as a holiday read, opening it on the flight out of London. “The moment I started I thought, ‘Oh my God, you idiot Orlando! This is extraordinary.’” It wasn’t just the against-all-odds, 6,000-mile cycle ride, PK’s story was a tale of fate and destiny. When he was born, the astrologer in his village made four predictions about his future wife: she would be a Taurus, born outside India, musical and own a jungle. So naturally the first question he asked Lotta was: “Are you a T…