Life had hit rock-bottom for Dagara Ranjith Kumar. A TikToker with over 4 lakh followers from Telangana’s Warangal district, Ranjith had been gazing destitution simply months in the past after his job at an agriculture agency stopped paying due to the pandemic. Covid-19 had already claimed his father, a lawyer who devoted his life to offering for the household. Most individuals would slip into despair within the face of such adversity however the 30-year-old, as an alternative, gave in to wanderlust and a few introspection.
At present, Ranjith has discovered his calling in travelling and has cycled over 8,000 km masking many of the nation over two journeys in nearly six months. On September 10, he returned to Hyderabad after a visit to Leh, Ladakh on his cycle. What began as a tribute to his father has now gifted him a bunch of life-changing recollections and experiences.
“I had seen my father’s struggles. He spent his entire life for the household. He appreciated touring however may by no means go wherever. When he handed away in July 2020, I knew I had nothing extra to lose and that I ought to dwell his goals. It was now or by no means,” says Ranjith who’s a pharmacist by schooling and an professional on natural farming by occupation.
In April 2021, he shared a narrative on Instagram expressing a need to pedal his option to varied locations. A bike journey was not solely costly however he felt that it wouldn’t assist join with nature or the folks alongside the journey.
With zero expertise in touring or using professionally, Ranjith purchased a cycle with assist from just a few buddies. “As kids all of us used to journey cycles however I didn’t know biking was an costly affair. I discovered to make use of the gears on the 18-km journey again house after buying the cycle. On day 5, I used to be off to Kanyakumari. Thirty-eight days later I returned, having clocked round 3,000 km,” he says.
His funding for the journey was about Rs 1.5 lakh and included a cycle, equipment together with carriers and spares, a GoPro digicam, reminiscence playing cards and laborious disks, a conveyable photo voltaic panel and batteries, tenting gear, mountaineering gear and a brand new cellphone to edit movies for social media.
“I began my journey with Rs 5,000 in hand. The remaining is a mortgage, however throughout this journey my followers on YouTube went as much as 24,000. My channel ‘RanjithonWheels’ is doing properly,” he provides. The channel has to this point uploaded 110 movies and has 69,200 subscribers. His Instagram deal with by the identical identify has 82,300 followers.
Ranjith says his journey to Kanyakumari was fairly inspiring, barring an incident close to the Goa-Karnataka border when three kids fled together with his cycle and belongings. “I used to be on a abandoned forest stretch with a flat tyre. Three boys in a van supplied to assist and tricked me into believing them. That evening was memorable as a result of on the police station, the cops refused to imagine that I used to be touring on a cycle in Might 2021 when the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak. My YouTube movies turned out to be documentary proof and, earlier than daybreak, all three boys had been dropped at the police station and my belongings returned,” he remembers.
The episode didn’t cease him from setting out on his subsequent journey to Ladakh, craving as he was to expertise far more. After shopping for a brand new touring cycle, which price him a lakh, Ranjith began from Manali on July 20. What adopted was a near-death expertise when he bought caught in a landslide close to Baralacha Go in Himachal Pradesh.
He had been using a 13-kg cycle up a steep slope with almost 40 kg of bags the whole day when it occurred. “By the point the particles was cleared, it was 7.30 pm and the closest village was 4 kilometres uphill. Exhausted, I made a decision to erect my tent proper there. It was pitch darkish with not a single human round. The temperature had dropped to minus two levels and the rain saved pouring, triggering one other landslide on the identical spot at 2 am. With no assist anticipated until morning, I shot a video testimony of my final phrases at 3 am. I used to be positive I might not survive,” he remembers. With warmth from a gasoline range and heat water from a kettle, Ranjith had no choice however to attend it out.
Ranjith additionally remembers with gratitude the bikers who helped him when his fingers and face went numb within the winter chilly, supplied meals and water at completely different factors and offered medical support when his nostril began bleeding because of the dryness.
His most memorable expertise, maybe, is when a household in Ladakh’s Nimmu village cared for him like a son. “I went right into a lodge as a buyer however by the point I left the subsequent day, I used to be their son. All of us had been in tears. That they had launched me to all of the members of the family and I even set to work at their farm. They didn’t take a rupee from me and, as an alternative, packed dry fruits from their farm for my journey. All of this, throughout a pandemic when folks had been making an attempt to keep away from strangers,” he sighs. He had extra such heat experiences all through the journey at Bhatinda, Jodhpur, Lonavla, and smaller villages en route.
The cherry on prime of the cake was the assembly together with his idol Sonu Sood on the latter’s residence in Mumbai. All through his journey, Ranjith had carried a placard with the actor-activist’s photograph on the rear of his cycle as a tribute. “When my father was within the hospital for Covid therapy, I felt helpless. It was inspiring to see how Sood was on the market to assist everybody attainable. One of many followers had tagged him on Twitter with the photograph from my journey. It was a particular second when he met me for half an hour,” says Ranjith whose mom resides in Warangal together with his sister.
The journey from Manali to Hyderabad by way of Ladakh and western Indian states price him simply over Rs 60,000 on meals, lodging and varied bills.
After 53 days, he’s again house in Hyderabad together with his pharmacist spouse and has already set his eyes on a biking expedition to Nepal masking jap and northeastern states. This time, he has additionally organized for a trailer to be hooked up to the cycle so he can carry his new pet canine alongside.
“I’ve a mortgage of Rs 2.3 lakh to repay although I’ve earned about 800 {dollars} from YouTube. If I keep right here till I clear all commitments, I’ll lose the that means of life. I simply need to dwell the second with out worrying about tomorrow,” he says. Since he already has the touring gear, Ranjith isn’t too anxious. “There’s nothing that may substitute the sensation of accomplishment after using 50 km uphill to search out one other 100 km extra to go and a mild breeze hitting your face.”