‘Matru Seva Sankalpa Yatra’! Mother & Son back in Karnataka, and in few days they will reach their hometown-Mysuru after 56,200 km Pan-India Temple Run on a 19-year-old Scooter ‘Bajaj Chetak Scooter (KA-09 X-6143).Presently they are spending some time at Ramakrishna Ashram in Teggihalli village in Madhugiri Taluk-Bijapur. Team Mangalorean had done an exclusive interview with the duo during their pit stop at Ramakrishna Mission, Mangaluru on 29 November 2018. (Ref: To Mom With Love! Son takes Mother on a 28K Km ‘Mathru Seva Sankalpa Yatra’ on Scooter )
Mangaluru: After nearly two years and four months after travelling nearly 56,200 km through four countries, including Nepal, with his 71-year-old mother, Ms Choodarathna, Mysurean Dakshina Murthy Krishna Kumar has returned to Karnataka- and is only 150 km away from his hometown, Mysuru. Presently they are spending some time at Ramakrishna Ashram in Teggihalli village in Madhugiri Taluk-Bijapur. The Mother and Son duo started their journey from Mysuru on 16 November 2018. Yours Truly of Team Mangalrean had an exclusive interview with both of them, when they had stayed at Ramakrishna Mission, Mangaluru on 29 November 2018. On Monday, 25 May 2020, Krishna Kumar spoke to me over the phone, giving an elaborate details of his long journey, and he said, “Even though we are close to our hometown, Mysuru, I decided to engage myself in spirituality. In this Ramakrishna Ashram, I have found a place to engage in reading, to serve my mother and practice spirituality. Me and my mother will spend a few days here before we head back home sometime next month”.
This is how Krishna Kumar looked, clean shaven before he left his house in Mysuru on the yatra on 16 January 2018. He had planned to grow his beard and shave it once he reaches back after the Yatra
This is how Krishna Kumar looks in May 2020, with a long beard grown during his 2 year plus Yatra, and he will shave it when he reaches his hometown, Mysuru in few days
This is what you call a love from a Son to a Mother! Quoting Washington Irving “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” – and for that matter here is a son who had shown his great love towards his mother, by taking her on a long trip to places she hasn’t seen since her birth, and now this Son has made a History, proving that Son’s love towards a Mother is what “Men are what their mothers made them”!
Not many who so deeply love their mothers would dare do what Krishna Kumar did for his 71-year-old mother Choodarathna sitting pillion on a pilgrimage covering almost all the holy places across all States south of the Vindhyas.. Krishna calls his sojourn as ‘Mathru Seva Sankalpa Yatra’, and they have visited all possible holy places in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Nepal, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.
During my interaction with Krishna two years ago in Mangaluru, he had narrated his history, and recalling it, he had said that he was happy earning a good salary and working as a corporate team leader in a private company in Bengaluru, until he decided to quit his job and take his mother on a pilgrimage, covering the whole of India. “In 2015, when my father passed away, my mother was living a very lonely life. One day, I visited my mother in Mysuru, she expressed her desire to visit Hampi and Belur-Halebeedu temple. I felt terrible when she said that having traveled across Karnataka due to my profession, I felt guilty for not being able to accommodate such small request of my mother. I took her there in my scooter. From there on, every weekend we used to visit some holy place or the other,” said Krishna.
For this ‘Matru Seva Sankalpa Yatra’ , he first customized his 2000 model Bajaj Chetak Scooter and made his elderly mother sit pillion in a manner to immunize her from travel fatigue. “In the joint family system, my mother’s role was confined to the kitchen until the death of my father. I decided that my mother deserves not only quality time from her only son, but also a dignified life for all the sacrifices she has made,” he explained. Choodarathna had spent almost her entire life within the four walls of the 10-member joint family home in Mysuru, without any friends or social life of her own, Kumar said. Though she is qualified as a Hindi teacher, she did not take up a job, and instead decided to dedicate herself to her family.
Photos taken at Ramakrishna Mission, Mangaluru during their stay there in 2018
On why he opted for a two-wheeler, he said that the simple mode of transport ensured door-to-door travel. “My father gifted me the scooter in 2001. I am very emotionally attached to this Bajaj Chetak. I feel that my father is along with me and I am only like a charioteer taking both my parents for the place of their liking,” he said.“We never stayed in any hotels or lodges, instead sought out Maths to rest our aching bodies. Not once did my scooter broke down. I only had to fix a puncture after having covered over 16,000 kms,” he had said.
“We are never in a hurry, depending on our interest we move from one place to another, therefore we cannot exactly say how much time we will take to complete our journey and destination,” he revealed and added that they usually consume fruits and prepare curries out of vegetables that are available to them. And they never faced any health issues. “I worked for 13 years and all my hard-earned money is kept in my mother’s account. Every month, we withdraw the interest and use it to travel. Many people offered us money but in this Yatra, we shall not accept gifts or money. We will take love, and shelter for night halts.” His mother said that she was proud to have such a son. “It’s very hard to get a son like him nowadays. I am very lucky to have him. He is showing me temples, towns and villages. I have even met many of my old friends with whom I had lost contact. He cares a lot about my health. People have really helped us a lot, and even invited us for food and shelter,” she said.
And that was bit of the Mother & Son story revealed to Team Mangalorean two years ago by Krishna Kumar. For more of that story you can click on this link : To Mom With Love! Son takes Mother on a 28K Km ‘Mathru Seva Sankalpa Yatra’ on Scooter . It was kind of a surprise at 10 pm Monday night (25 May), to hear the voice of a person who had spoken to me long ago, and it was Krishna Kumar giving me good news of his successful yatra of 2 plus years, and said he was happy to be back in Karnataka, and near to his hometown, Mysuru. Speaking on his journey, he said, ” “In my journey for over two years, I didn’t face any problem anywhere. We didn’t have to sleep on an empty stomach anywhere, throughout our journey. The people gave us such a wonderful reception, in every town we reached. Even in Nepal and Bhutan, we received the best hospitality. I even learnt a few important life lessons. ” he said.
Team Mangalorean interacting with the Duo on 29 November 2018
With her short and sweet words, Krishna’s mother Chudarathna said it was her luck to give birth to a son like Krishna Kumar. “I didn’t know anything beyond the four walls of the kitchen, but today my son took me to every nook and corner of Bharatha Khanda. I am really happy. It was a great pilgrimage. Major places visited include Shakti Peethas, Char Dham, Parshuram Khund, Varanasi, Haridwar, Bhadrachalam, Kalighat, Kamakhya Temple, various monasteries in Arunachal Pradesh. I had a special feeling when we entered our state. I feel great. For the time-being, we have decided to stay in this ashram for few days, since it is a very spiritual place ” she said.
Recalling yet another past story : When the incredible story of Dakshinamurthy Krishna Kumar was shared by Manoj Kumar, CEO of Naandi Foundation, on Twitter last year, Bizman Anand Mahindra wanted to gift a car to Krishna Kumar and his for smooth travel. “A beautiful story… About the love for a mother but also about the love for a country…” wrote Anand Mahindra. “If you can connect him to me, I’d like to personally gift him a Mahindra KUV 100 NXT so he can drive his mother in a car on their next journey.” (Ref: Anand Mahindra Gifts SUV to Krishna Kumar for taking his Mom on Nation Wide Pilgrimage Tour by Scooter ). Manoj Kumar’s post had created quite a stir among people, which gathered more than 10 lakh plus views — It had also amassed more than 20,000 likes and about 10,000 retweets.
Krishna Kumar is still a bachelor, and has dedicated his life to serving his mother. I end this column with some of his words during my interview with him two years ago- where he said “Home is where your mom is, No matter your age, you always need your mom. I do what I want, when I want, where I want… if my mom says it’s Okay. I believe in love at first sight because I loved my mom since I opened my eyes. The worst sight in the world is seeing your mom cry. Happiness is seeing your mother smile. I love my mom because she gave me everything: she gave me love, she gave me her soul, and she gave me her time. Ain’t a woman alive who could take my mother’s place. First my mother, forever my friend. My mother is my best critic, and yet my strongest supporter. I couldn’t ask for a better mom. Even in your flaws, I saw perfection. And I wanted to make her happy through this Yatra, where she could see almost every Holy places in South India”
“But these days it’s sad to note that children neglect their parents nor show any love towards them. I feel sad when I see lonesome parents alone by themselves at home, while their children are abroad or live away from them. My humble request for the present generation is that take care and love your parents, because they are the ones who brought you up, gave you education and everything. Let my son’s example motivate you all to become true and loving sons to your mother or father”.
And finally, this is what Krishna Kumar had to say about his Mother, “To the world, you are a mother. To a family, you are the world. Mom, because of you, I am what I am today. Thank you. Moms are people who know us the best and love us the most. I look to my mom for advice, inspiration, and love. That’s the way it should be. I hope other children also show their love, care and respect to their parents”.