Twenty three-year-old Chennai lad, Sivaraman, is ruling YouTube now, with his new hitch-hiking vlogs on his journey from Guwahati to Chennai, a distance of about 2,600 km, without spending a rupee! Sounds impossible, right? But, not for Siva.
When he was on his way back from Bhutan, a random thought occurred to him and he put it up as an interactive vlog on his YouTube channel ‘S!VAPURANAM’. In the vlog, he presented two choices to the viewers on what he should do about his return: Hitch-hike from Guwahati or explore Meghalaya in and out — and the audience chose the former!
It didn’t take Siva much planning to execute his hitch-hiking trip. “Google Maps is my guide and my day starts at 7 am. Every day, I plan to cover a few hundred kilometres. I figure out my night stay before 9 pm so that I get to edit the visuals I took during the day. It takes nearly five hours to compile the footage. It’s a tiresome, but an enriching experience,” says Siva, who is now on his way to Bhuvaneshwar.
The motive behind this trip is simple — to explore different cultures and delve deep into the lives of people. “There are days when I had to cover several kilometres on foot. I get help from random people and they are all courteous enough to understand my need. There has never been a day without people helping me out. This shows that humanity still prevails in the hearts of people. This trip has made me stay positive,” he shares, adding, “I’m equipped with my smart phone, Go Pro camera, laptop and a power bank. My parents were initially scared, but were convinced later.”
(Photo: Suceendran)
He continues to talk about his journey and elaborates on several emotional moments — “On my second day, I travelled with a lorry driver and he took care of me like I was his child. For two consecutive days, I just held a placard asking people if I could get a place to say. Two families came forward and I am grateful to them for life.”
However, he is not new on the YouTube scene. “Along with my friends, I started ‘Paracetamol Paniyaram’, which was a raging hit among youngsters. This channel caters to a particular audience and we do comedy, adult-content videos. I don’t want to limit myself to it, that’s why I started my own channel, where one can see my short films, poetry, interactive vlogs and travel diaries. I am planning a ‘No Wallet’ trip next and I am on the lookout for sponsors.”
Sivaraman signs off saying that people should often travel to understand what life is.
