Poets, saints, travellers and even mythical rulers across centuries have made the journey mapping the length of this country – people who were in search of adventure, knowledge, spiritual clarity, or perhaps the feeling that comes when you are alone with yourself, confronted by all that you are, all that you fall short of and all that you wish to be.
It seems to be the latter for Vivek Anandan, a techie who recently bicycled 3,200 kilometres alone from Bengaluru to Srinagar as a part of a mission to reclaim his life after quitting alcohol.
Anandan recounts the hurricane raging inside his mind as he traversed cities, forests, and deserts, saying, “I was carrying a lot of resentment inside me, especially towards my family, who had suggested rehab. I could not accept that they did it for my sake, so that I could be a good human being, father, and husband. I was quite emotional. Sometimes I would cry on the road thinking about everything that had happened. The trip was a cathartic experience.”
The catharsis started at a rehab in 2024. Anandan left the centre in October, determined to turn things around. With unwavering support from his family, he returned to his long-time love for bicycling. “Since 2008, I used to cycle to work every day and was a part of riding communities. On weekends, we used to ride over 100km to places like Nanjangud, Nandi Hills and Hoskote. I even did a peninsular ride through major places in South India,” he says.
Things came to a head during the Covid pandemic’s work-from-home shift when he started drinking more. “Alcohol started consuming me,” he smiles.
With time to reset and reboot during rehab, he began to long for the joy of riding again. Once he was out, he started training regularly. “My wife motivated me, reminding me that cycling is my happy medicine. I started cycling every day on scenic roads, sometimes 70 km and sometimes 100 km. My best was 230, much more than my drinking days,” he says, adding that he would end up covering 1,000 to 1,500 km each month.
Having trained for 8 months, Anandan impulsively decided to ride to Kashmir on the morning of May 7. “I didn’t tell my family the destination, just that I’m going for a two-week ride, assembled the bike and a backpack and started off,” he says, adding that it was only from people he met on the road that he heard about escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan and just how dangerous his destination was becoming. “I thought, if the authorities stop me, I’ll come back, but my gut was still saying ‘let’s do it’. Only when I reached the Jammu border did I find out that a ceasefire had been declared,” says Anandan.
He paints a tense picture of Srinagar as he arrived there after 19 long days on the road. He recalls deserted streets and a high military presence, putting him on edge. “There were no tourists, only locals and the Army. Whenever I reached for my pocket, I heard a sound and saw camouflaged army men in the bushes. I was very cautious, didn’t take many pictures, checked the news regularly and asked the locals while travelling through the region,” he recalls.
For him, the long journey through India’s landscape was less about sightseeing and more about a single-minded goal to reach Srinagar. “Controlling my mind was the most challenging part. I was determined not to touch even a beer in the name of unwinding or socialising. This built a lot of mental resilience in me,” he says.
Anandan, who is currently seeking to restart his professional career, says his trip is a message against substance abuse and the stigma around it. “Social support is vital. And that’s lacking here,” he shrugs.
That, however, does not deter him. Anandan’s next mission is to the northeast, and his ultimate dream is to do a world tour. “Chasing the high of life is any day better than booze,” he smiles, giving a thumbs-up.