It had only been a day  that I quit my job. The next night I decided to leave for Mumbai. Yes, Mumbai famously known as "Sapno Ka Shehar"  (translated 'The  City Of Dreams') . Which other city could be more apt to start my journey , to start living my dreams ? Every day thousands of people come to this city to turn their dreams into reality but only a few succeed. The rest give up and just live here trying to survive . There are few more still struggling to change their lives and chasing their dreams, waiting for the day when the dreams will turn into reality.



I booked a bus ticket to Mumbai from Bangalore; the bus was bound to leave in the afternoon on the next day. I couldn't sleep the whole night because I was too excited and a little scared . I hardly slept . I boarded the bus from Anand Rao Circle , Bangalore and got down at Andheri, Mumbai  at around 8:00 am in the morning.



I quickly checked how far was the hostel that I planned to stay at and it was around 2.3km away from the place where I had got down.  So, I decided to walk to the hostel using Google Maps. After around 10-15 minutes of walking, I reached the Backpacker Panda Hostel next to Chakala Metro Station.




I checked into the Hostel and got my bunk , everything was pretty smooth. The Dorm was quite dark since the fellow backpackers were sleeping and respecting that I didn't switch on the lights. Well, I was just settling down and I see one more guy walks into the dorm and we introduce each other realizing that we knew each other already. Yeah, he was from Bangalore too and was a friend. Without wasting anytime I quickly got freshened up and packed my bag , got out of the dorm and my grin faded upon the sight of rain . It was  raining cats and dogs and Mumbai rains and traffic are pretty bad. A tough  start to my Day 1 at Mumbai.


The rain stopped after an hour and I left the hostel to explore the city since I didn't want to waste any more time. I was damn confused about the ways and about how to reach to the places so I took some help from the localites and got into a metro from Chakala Metro Station to Andheri. From there I took a local train to Church Gate.




Believe me or not Mumbai local trains are very crowded. I have no idea how I entered the train and when I reached the other side of the entrance. It took me 5-10 mins to reach Church Gate and I was automatically out of the train , thanks to the crowd. I got out of the station and asked people for directions to The Gateway of India. One good man whom I asked for directions gave me a lift till Gateway of India.

The Gateway of India is a monument built during the 20th Century.  It is located on the waterfront in the Apollo Bunder area in South Mumbai and overlooks the Arabian Sea.

Well, this beauty is a marvelous piece of creation.



Next I went to The Taj Mahal Hotel , the exact same place where the 26/11 bomb blast terror happened and left whole country in shock. This hotel was really a lavishly luxurious place. Since I was on a budget hitch hike trip I dint plan on blowing my money there so I got in asked for a glass of water and walked out like a cool boy trying to be funny(was quite embarrassing though).



Later I went on exploring the streets of Colaba asked for directions and walked my way to Marine Drive the Queens Necklace was never ending after walking for 20 mins I reached the place. The whole place is just a slab by the sea shore where people come and sit and chill around enjoying the sunset. I sat their for a while alone in between millions of couples thinking about life staring at that magnificent view. I was lost for a while I didn't even realize but I sat there for more than 3-4 hours just thinking and wondering about life.







After the sunset I walked back towards Church Gate railway station but on the way I took a diversion and went to Colaba Causeway.

This place you can find the most beautiful antique pieces if you try your luck a bit hard. Everything was quoted so expensive but if you know how to bargain then you are the boss.



 Anyway after spending some time at the causeway I walked back to the station borded a train and got down at Dadar station where the most famous the ' Chor Bazaar' (thief's market) was situated. The actual name of this place is 'Shor Bazaar' ( Noisy Market) which was pronounced wrong as Chor by one of the British colonial in the past. Getting famous with that name the thieves kept the name by selling all theft items. They literally had IPhones to Nikes. One guy was selling Adidas Superstars for just 700 bucks and iPhone 7 was just 28000. One guy was even selling laptops which clearly looked used and old. I was laughing out loud all this while I couldn't control my laugh and of course few of the products were fake and the other few which were original were robbed. (Couldn't capture anything since my phone got switched off. )


It was getting dark so I just went back to the station and went to bandra where I went to Banstand. It's just like a small rock beach with lot of rocks instead of sand. But , these rocks were slippery, so slippery that walking on them was almost impossible. I even slipped twice or thrice and almost fell. No wonder it's called " Ban-Stand". I was a bit tired so I just sat at the shore and relaxed for a while enjoying the cool breeze. It was very peaceful, all my tiredness went off in a while and now I had to head back to the hostel since it was already 9pm and I had not eaten my dinner. So I got into the train to Andheri East and took metro and got back to Chakkala and eventually lost my way back to hostel on the streets , everything looked pretty much the same and after struggling a bit I somehow reached.


Hostel life is really great , you get to meet fellow backpackers from all over the world who have been traveling the world. Many of them even quit their jobs to do this which was a bit similar to my case. In the night we all sat in the common area and chilled with a beer and dinner . Everyone  shared their experiences and moments and got along so well and became good friends in such short span of time. It was 2am in the night and we all were tired and quite sleepy so we went to bed to sleep.




Websites and apps used :

Bus : https://m.redbus.in
Hostel : www.agoda.com , www.hostelworld.com , www.goibibo.com

Expenditures for Day 0 & Day 1 (in INR) :

Day 0 Bangalore to Mumbai 

First day was pretty productive and I was suprised after I realized that I visited so many places in a day even though I wasn't rushing at all and had my moments everywhere.


Where was I going ? I don't know !
What was I doing? I don't know !
All I knew was I was living in the moment trying to find myself.
Did I find myself? I don't know !
Do I wanna stop ? No.

Until next time.
Go solo and try finding yourself!
-Srikanth Dannana

It's been 7 months since I joined HP and I quit. Yes, I QUIT MY JOB and I never felt this good about making a decision like this. It can change my life abruptly may be in a good or a bad way but I have no regrets!




I was never a desk job person and I realized how trapped I was in that cubical with a sugar loaded candy that kept me away from my dreams , social life and the outer world.

I literally had no time other than a few weekends off where I could hardly do anything because my job kept me cut off from everything. You wouldn't believe but I hardly spoke to my parents.
It's been 7  months and I haven't traveled anywhere. I was so frustrated and out of my mind because I wasn't   doing anything that made me happy , away from people and things that made me feel all and most importantly away from traveling to places which completes me!

This was killing me until one fine day, when I decided to quit my job and cut off from this corporate 9-5 world where I never belonged and was never satisfied ,stuck between those four walls of work pressure and responsibilities.




Whoever said "QUIT YOUR JOB AND TRAVEL!" , do not listen to them because it does not work  that way ,  unless you have a money minting machine . Even though I want and wish to travel aimlessly  but staying in reality ,I would never do that. What sounds like kittens and rainbows will be soon  out busted once life catches up to you .

"WE ARE ALWAYS STUCK IN A THIN LINE BETWEEN OUR DREAMS AND RESPONSIBILITIES!"


You can not just leave both and run away from reality. I wish we could but the truth is we just can not. Remember how easy life used to be when we were kids , without any anticipation of future and with no burden of responsibilities on our shoulders. We just use to dream big and live like there is no tomorrow. I still remember I wanted to be an Astronaut and wanted to see the outer space and settle on the moon. I wanted "POKEMON" to be real , wished to turn into a "SUPER SAIYAN" just like the character "GOKU" from the television cartoon series "DRAGON BALL Z".



But time changes and we grew up and realized that none of that was reality and could never be possible. One thing that I have learnt from life is we attract everything that we see and feel in our lives. Every positive and negative thing in our life that existed was because we felt that way towards it. We make our decisions in life and live through it struggling , failing, stumbling , falling apart and rising strong again each and every time without giving up because we want it that badly. Life is never gonna be same and easy,  It's gonna test you and your patience for something big and good that is gonna happen to you and will change your life completely.

I took a risk and quit my job that probably most of them crave for to have in life to be (the so called term ) Settled! I feel there is nothing called settled , you can never be settled in life running away from your dreams , especially reality.

Yesterday was my last day I do miss the place and what I miss the most are the people there , so many good connections that I made at HP. I still remember that mixed feelings moment that I had while I was walking out of that place but I knew that it was the right thing to do. Now I have 12 days before I start working at Decathlon (I wish I never had to go back to work and I could just travel all my life) .
So, I decided to go on my first ever "SOLO BACKPACKING TRIP" .

Where am i going? I don't know.
How am i going? I don't know.
All I know is I AM FREE.







 All I know is that I am leaving my house and  just setting out to free my mind from all the frustration that I had since last few months. I am pretty excited and a bit scared too but I'm just gonna go wherever this road leads me to. This is my first step towards living my dream and this is just the beginning.




THE STORY OF A LOST BOY  has just begun and watch this space for further updates and come be a part of my journey.


Until next time.
Repeat after me: I AM FREE.
-Srikanth Dannana

We all have that one side of ours which we have left unexplored,  "The Other Side".

Most of us chose to stick to our comfort zone and live a life which is easy and avoid to opt for what's difficult .
Why?
Why do we have to run from the truth ? Why do we have to settle for something that comes easy?
Why not take a risk?
Why settle to what we have been shown and told?

They 'll tell you a million stories about the other side!
But,
How do you know what's on the other side ?
What would you see ?
How does it feel to be there , in and out fully experiencing the moment ?
How do you know that what they told you is true?
A million questions, but answers ?
None.
How about you think different ?
& don't believe what they tell you !





Recently, I had been to the Gokarna, Karnataka . After long hours of plain admiring the view I saw a beautiful cliff just behind the Gokarna Temple. I couldn't stop my urge of being there . After enquiring  the local crowd  I was told that nobody goes to that place and it's untouched. I was also told that the cliff was too steep and dangerous, listening to them my friend asked me to drop the plan. But , I couldn't accept and did not want to believe what they told me moreover this fact fueled my urge even more .




I gradually made my way behind the Temple and started to walk towards that cliff! After following few old trails I managed to reach the other side of the cliff .

You would not believe it but the view was just magnificent ! It was one of the best piece of nature's beauty in the world that I have ever seen!




After walking for a while I saw an Old man ( who was from Italy) sitting right on the edge of the cliff and reading one of  his novels. I was taken aback since I was told ,that place was untouched and nobody goes there. That old man comes there every sunset to spend some time . He finds his peace in that beautiful unseen masterpiece of the nature!






I didn't want to  disturb him and so I started to explore the place and after around 5 minutes of trek I reached to the top of the cliff and I saw a couple ( they weren't Indians) sitting right at the top of the cliff and meditating! Apparently, even they come there every evening during sunset!
Soon, I realized that the place wasn't totally untouched and completely unseen!

That day I learnt that we can never believe anyone for what they tell you untill and unless we take a chance and choose to find out the truth by ourselves !

Only if I didn't choose to believe the locals who told me that nobody goes there and settle for it, I wouldn't have seen that amazing view and met those foreigners and come to know what I experienced there .

I sat right there to relax for a while , believe me it was the most serene place ever in this world that I have ever been to. I could  hear few birds chirping in their beautiful voice , the waves hitting the edges of the cliffs and the soothing breeze that would make you feel really calm and forget all the tensions that you ever had !






Life is too short to sit at a place within the four walls wondering what lies on the other side, believing their stories without seeing the truth with your own naked eyes!

Move out of your comfort zone , listen to your heart and feel your emotions,
take chances , challenge yourself , look forward , keep moving , explore , don't listen to anybody just do it and never stop !
One day you 'll reach the other side.
And,
You 'll have your own story to tell!

Believing you or not is up to the listeners,
but eventually you 'll find all your answers!





Until next time.
Take a risk & explore yourself!
-Srikanth Dannana

Happiness .
What is happiness ? Where do you find it ? How do you get it ? What does it feel like ?
Is everyone actually happy or are they just pretending to be happy ? Are you happy ? Do you have an answer ?
Yes , no , maybe ?

We all ask this to ourselves at least once in our lives.

We see a million faces every day , most of them look happy but they aren't!

Look at this old woman who's seen each and everything, gone through ups and downs in her life and lived right through them but still seems happy , literally happy ! She's my Godmother! She taught me how to keep that smile up on my face throughout the worst times of my life!








This small boy who still doesn't know anything about life, who doesn't know what this world has set for him , what he has to go through but still has that innocent smile on his face.  He craves for more and more , living , learning and experiencing something new with each stage of his life and is never satisfied.





Happiness is neither defined nor limited . It differs from person to person ,place to place , from dreams to dreams but at the end of the day it's all meant to make you happy , to make you feel all , to make you feel complete, to make you feel free!

Remember that , irrelevant of everything that happens in your life you can be happy only if you learn to accept the truth and don't settle for it .

Always ask yourself why and how ? Work towards it as we always want more and more and we'll never be satisfied  .
Find your happiness in the things that you have and work for the things that you want.


Yes , its Okay because there's a right time for everything and your time 'll come . May be not today nor tomorrow it might take months, years but you 'll reach there when you have to .
Just don't stop!


Happiness has a meaning to it and can be felt right, only when we share it.
Always remember , Happiness is real only when shared!

I recently found my happiness in traveling . I am a gallivanter, a backpacker ! I love to travel , I love to see places and meet new people and love listening to their stories and adventures! It's something that ticks me , completes me and makes me feel all! It is the true Freedom for me!

So,
I set out and got lost in order to find myself in my own dream to create and rewrite my own Story!
You too will very soon create your own dream or maybe you already have.
Just don't give up.

Be determined on what you want for yourself in life.
And yes be selfish, well it's always okay to be a little selfish isn't it!

I always tell this to people ,

" Don't ask for it,  just wait for it ! 
Because If you can't take it , you'll never make it ! "
- Srikanth Dannana