Falling off the map, into bliss
12 Oct 2012 11:22 PM GMT
For those lured by the ‘limitless’ potential of the unexplored horizons, the confines of urban comforts and boardroom success hold no charm. Apurv is 39 years old and retired from a structured nine to five job and ‘from city life’ as he likes to put it. And no, he doesn’t think he is too young for that. ‘It was the best thing I did for myself. My only regret is that I didn’t do this sooner,’ says Apurv. And the reason is Apurv’s life has more activity, adventure and challenge now than it did when he was running his visual merchandising and architectural design business in Mumbai. Apurv doesn’t spend his days reclining in the verandah and tending his garden. He did do it for a while, only in his case, the garden was a farm, but for the past one year, Apurv has been travelling across the length and breadth of the country, with just his camera and car for company.
‘About four years back I decided to retire and start farming. I’ll farm all my life but I also wanted to travel, to see my country and the world and in October 2011 I started out on my journey,’ says Apurv. In the past one year, Apurv has traversed the whole of coastal and south India and is now travelling through the east, Nepal and Bhutan. After completing India and its neighbouring countries, Apurv plans to travel through Pakistan and Afghanistan to Europe. ‘I am not travelling, I am on a journey and this journey, I feel will continue all my life,’ he says with a laugh. And when it comes to the means of transport, nothing as staid as a train or plane will do for Apurv. His transport of choice is his Toyota Innova. ‘I want to see the world by road. About 60 per cent of the time I sleep in my car. I only check into a hotel if I can get a room for within Rs 300/500 a night,’ he explains.
His savings, and the money that he earns from taking up jobs at the places that he stops at is sustaining him on his journey. ‘I am trained in yoga and Tai Chi and I teach everyone and only charge money from those who have enough to pay me. I have also taken up jobs as a mason or carpenter, both to sustain and enjoy myself. And then, because I have a car, I have ferried tourists to their destinations. Some people who had hopped in for a lift to some place, have continued with me for a part of my journeys,’ he says. At each place that he passes through, he shoots short films, on the landscape, little known or unexplored places, people and the culture. ‘I have some 120 of such short films by now and intend to finish 200 movies in total and various stills. My view of the country is not that of a foreigner travelling through the country or that of a socialist. I am an observer and I plan to create an archive of these films and photographs, so that in future if someone wants to see India in this period in time [2011-2013], they can just check my web site. Ever since independence or even for much of the period before, we never had any single person making a journey which is seamless and covers the entire country without a gap for two years. Nor has there been a documentation of this scale of the country in its totality. To the best of my knowledge it is the only such effort that has been undertaken and if there is anyone like me, she/he belongs to a tribe called the Limitless Tribes,’ he explains. The journey-man is in the process of creating an interactive web site, Limitless India, that will contain his films and photographs and those interested in his journey can track him from their armchairs, as he travels around the world. ‘I want it to be an interactive site, where people can communicate with me or share their own experiences,’ he says.
All has not been comfortable for Apurv in the past one year. He was beaten up in the naxal area in Chhattisgarh, had to escape from Telangana to avoid the political instability there and break his journey into Assam because of the recent riots. But these have not been enough to take away his passion for travelling. ‘Mother earth is good. It’s her kids who are creating trouble,’ he says with a laugh, adding, ‘In terms of natural beauty, we are far ahead of many other parts of the world. It is the dirt that makes it difficult for one to appreciate that beauty in its totality. The people in the villages are also very hospitable.’ He has spent his time discussing spiritualism, that thing that draws so many foreigners to India, with locals and hermits living in ashrams and says those in the cities and those who come seeking it from abroad, often don’t manage to explore its true depths.
Bunking in his car in the heart of virgin India, Apurv has not missed any of the comforts of urban living, definitely not the mobile, that he does not carry.
‘It is not very difficult to get in touch with me. One can always drop me a mail,’ he says, adding, ‘I guess the urge to travel was always there in my blood. Even before I embarked on this journey, I would travel quite a bit. Which is why when I announced my decision, my parents and friends were surprised, but not overmuch so,’ says Apurv.
Poulomi Banerjee is Assistant Editor at Millennium Post.
‘About four years back I decided to retire and start farming. I’ll farm all my life but I also wanted to travel, to see my country and the world and in October 2011 I started out on my journey,’ says Apurv. In the past one year, Apurv has traversed the whole of coastal and south India and is now travelling through the east, Nepal and Bhutan. After completing India and its neighbouring countries, Apurv plans to travel through Pakistan and Afghanistan to Europe. ‘I am not travelling, I am on a journey and this journey, I feel will continue all my life,’ he says with a laugh. And when it comes to the means of transport, nothing as staid as a train or plane will do for Apurv. His transport of choice is his Toyota Innova. ‘I want to see the world by road. About 60 per cent of the time I sleep in my car. I only check into a hotel if I can get a room for within Rs 300/500 a night,’ he explains.
His savings, and the money that he earns from taking up jobs at the places that he stops at is sustaining him on his journey. ‘I am trained in yoga and Tai Chi and I teach everyone and only charge money from those who have enough to pay me. I have also taken up jobs as a mason or carpenter, both to sustain and enjoy myself. And then, because I have a car, I have ferried tourists to their destinations. Some people who had hopped in for a lift to some place, have continued with me for a part of my journeys,’ he says. At each place that he passes through, he shoots short films, on the landscape, little known or unexplored places, people and the culture. ‘I have some 120 of such short films by now and intend to finish 200 movies in total and various stills. My view of the country is not that of a foreigner travelling through the country or that of a socialist. I am an observer and I plan to create an archive of these films and photographs, so that in future if someone wants to see India in this period in time [2011-2013], they can just check my web site. Ever since independence or even for much of the period before, we never had any single person making a journey which is seamless and covers the entire country without a gap for two years. Nor has there been a documentation of this scale of the country in its totality. To the best of my knowledge it is the only such effort that has been undertaken and if there is anyone like me, she/he belongs to a tribe called the Limitless Tribes,’ he explains. The journey-man is in the process of creating an interactive web site, Limitless India, that will contain his films and photographs and those interested in his journey can track him from their armchairs, as he travels around the world. ‘I want it to be an interactive site, where people can communicate with me or share their own experiences,’ he says.
All has not been comfortable for Apurv in the past one year. He was beaten up in the naxal area in Chhattisgarh, had to escape from Telangana to avoid the political instability there and break his journey into Assam because of the recent riots. But these have not been enough to take away his passion for travelling. ‘Mother earth is good. It’s her kids who are creating trouble,’ he says with a laugh, adding, ‘In terms of natural beauty, we are far ahead of many other parts of the world. It is the dirt that makes it difficult for one to appreciate that beauty in its totality. The people in the villages are also very hospitable.’ He has spent his time discussing spiritualism, that thing that draws so many foreigners to India, with locals and hermits living in ashrams and says those in the cities and those who come seeking it from abroad, often don’t manage to explore its true depths.
Bunking in his car in the heart of virgin India, Apurv has not missed any of the comforts of urban living, definitely not the mobile, that he does not carry.
‘It is not very difficult to get in touch with me. One can always drop me a mail,’ he says, adding, ‘I guess the urge to travel was always there in my blood. Even before I embarked on this journey, I would travel quite a bit. Which is why when I announced my decision, my parents and friends were surprised, but not overmuch so,’ says Apurv.
Poulomi Banerjee is Assistant Editor at Millennium Post.
Next Story
