1 Dream, 2 Wheels, 93,000 KM: Mom-Son Duo's South Asia Pilgrimage On Scooter

In India, children are often told to take responsibility for their parents in old age and look after them just like they raised us. Our parents make a lot of sacrifices for us, and it becomes our duty to give them a fulfilling life.  When it comes to serving and looking after your parents, you don't need to have the best equipment. You can give them the joys of life with your will and determination by using the available resources. This is what this 45-year-old man from Mysuru is proving as he travels the pilgrimages in South Asia along with his mother on a scooter.

Dakshinamurthy Krishna Kumar and his 74-year-old mother, Choodarathna, have covered about 92,822 kilometres on their 2001 model Bajaj Chetak that his late father bought for him. Starting their journey in 2018, they have travelled to various destinations in India as well as other countries like Nepal, Myanmar, and Bhutan on their humble two-wheeler.

Pilgrimage On Scooter

Dakshinamurthy Krishna Kumar worked as a software engineer for 13 years, but in 2018, he quit his corporate job to fulfil his mother's wish to visit pilgrimages in India. Reportedly, he took the life-changing decision because he had seen her mother dedicating 60 years of her life to the family and hardly leaving home. He lost his father in 2015, and that's when his mother became lonelier.

That's when Krishna Kumar decided to take her mother on the journey, which he has named Matru Seva Sankalp Yatra, visiting everywhere from Kerala to Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu to Uttar Pradesh and some neighbouring countries. On social media, Krishna Kumar has earned the title 'Modern-day Shravan Kumar,' after the mythological character who carried his blind parents on his shoulders on a pilgrimage.

Back in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, the mother-son duo were stuck at the Bhutan border for around 50 days. That year, their dedication even caught the attention of Indian business magnate Anand Mahindra, who gifted them a car, a Mahindra KUV 100 NXT, worth ₹9 lakh, according to reports. They halted their journey for a while and restarted it in 2022.

Kumar bears the entire expense of the travel on his own and doesn't take donations or monetary help. However, some people invite him to stay over at their place when he can't find ashrams to stay at during any pilgrimage. On March 10, 2025, the duo arrived at Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, according to The Hindu.