When people find no time to spend with their aged parents, here is a man who left his marketing job to help his 70-year-old mother see places of interest across the nation.
Meet D. Krishna Kumar of Mysuru, who, as a part of his ‘Matru Seva Sankalpa Yatra’, is in Kurnool after having travelled more that 32,000 km, covering seven States.
And the mode of transport the 40-year-old has chosen for the journey is a scooter that has been running for 20 years!
But why did he choose the two-wheeler?
“That is the vehicle gifted to me by my father. Wherever I go by it, I feel like my father is accompanying me,” he says. But what has compelled Mr. Kumar embark on this arduous journey?
“Well, it all started in 2015 after the demise of my father. I asked my mother Chuda Rathna if she had visited any tourist places. To my surprise, she replied in the negative. Hailing from a joint family of 10 members, she never had the opportunity to go places. She was always doing household chores and had no time to visit even the Belur and Halebid temples located just 130-km from our area,” recalls Mr. Kumar.
“I then started taking her to places of interest located in our vicinity during weekends,” he says.
“On seeing her enthusiasm, I decided to help her visit tourist places. I quit my job and embarked on the yatra on January 16, 2018. So far, we have covered the States of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Goa. In Andhra Pradesh we have seen places such as Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Guntur. From Kurnool, we plan to go to Hyderabad,” he says.
When asked how does he fund his yatra, Mr. Kumar says, “We spend the interest earned on the fixed deposits made in the name of my mother. So far, the trip has cost us approximately ₹2.5 lakh. Many people have offered us money, but we have declined to accept it. We usually take shelter in temples or at houses of people who invite us and even partake food there,” he says.
On who services the two-wheeler, he says, “I do it myself. I clean the spark plug and the carburettor whenever necessary. I even changed the tyres once.”
When asked whether it isn’t tiresome for his mother to undertake such an arduous journey, Mr. Kumar says, “My mother hasn’t fallen sick even once so far.”
Message to youth
And Mr. Kumar has a message for the younger generation. “It is important for children to spend time with their parents in their twilight years, for their very presence gives them immense joy and happiness,” he says.
