Rohit Kumar Singh popularly known as Yatra charsi is a travel vlogger tracing the path of lord Ram from Ayodhya to Srilanka on foot. 4 months into his journey and he has already covered 3 states on foot. While traveling he also got to meet the mayor of Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh. Danik Bhaskar Chhattisgarh also published a story on him back in January. Personalities like MBA Chaiwala have also recognized him and his journey and have supported him. His youtube channel, Yatra Charsi, has over 14k subscribers and nearly 50 thousand people on Instagram follow him.
Speaking to the STMN news from Turtuiya, a ceremonial place located 84km away from the capital city of Raipur, via an online call Rohit talked about his experience so far, how he started it in the first place and what are his plans ahead in the journey.
“I used to watch Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan back when I was a young boy and I used to enjoy and love the portrayal of each character, during the lockdown when Ramayan was being telecasted again on DD shortly after that I decided to retrace the steps of lord Ram and tell people about my journey through social media platforms like Youtube,” he told STMN, adding that he was aware of the fact that it would take him more than a year and a half to complete the whole journey, he was also afraid of somethings like if he would have a roof over his head to sleep, food to eat and clean water to drink, for this he started preparing and planning two months prior to his journey.
Rohit has completed his diploma in mechanical engineering and has worked in companies like Ashok Leyland, Subros, and Bajaj automobile. During the lockdown when he saw that “the company is laying off people he decided to leave the company himself and go on this journey that he had in his mind ever since the lockdown was first announced. He started his journey in November last year and now four months into his journey he has arrived in Turtuiya which according to the Ramayan is the birthplace of Luv and Kush.
“The dog was like a miracle that god sent for me”
“During the course of this journey, I had to travel through a lot of dense forests and one such forest was in Ramgarh of the Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh, it was very late at night, and at this point, I knew that I was lost, and started to pray to lord ram and after walking a few hundred meters I see a dog,” he said when I asked him about any unique experience in his journey, “I started following this dog and after following him for some time I realized that he has guided me out to the ring road, I looked around to see if I could pet it but he was already gone, it was like the dog was a miracle sent by my lord Ram to show me the right path,” he added.
He also shared many stories related to the selflessness of people throughout his journey, he said that there were many instances when people who were not well off by themselves gave him shelter and food for the day.
“It is not certain but on a good day I might cover 30km”
“I have been traveling for over 4 months now and I have covered 3 states so far, through the course of this journey I will be traveling to 7 more states which makes a total of 10 states,” he said about his journey, “ although it is not certain I travel anywhere between 20 to 25 kilometer in a single day but on a good day probably that number might be 30.
“Since I am traveling through the forest I make sure that I carry a big stick with me and while walking I tend to slam it on the ground to make sure that no wild animal attacks me during my journey, apart from that I also carry a water bottle, some chickpeas, biscuits, and jaggery in case I get hungry”
“In today’s time, people tend to misuse the name of god”
“While I was traveling I came across the Ramnami community, I found their story to be really inspiring, It all started when Parshuram who belonged to the Chamar caste started reading Ramayan in his house and when people from the upper caste came to know about this they filed a police complaint against him and took the book of Ramayan from his house, he then decided to inscribe the name of lord Ram on his entire body, he also took the vow to never consume alcohol, meat or any kind of intoxicating substance and he then established the Ramnami Samaj which till date follows the ideals of lord Ram,” he said about the Ramnami Samaj. “These people come from a lower caste and have been exploited many times during the course of history but their belief in their god and his ideals never was never lost,” he added.
He also added “everyone is equal instead karma..no caste discrimination”
“I shoot, edit and upload with the same device”
“I use my mobile to shoot videos during the day and once I am done during the breaks that I take in between my journey I sit and edit videos and upload them on my youtube channel when I have good connectivity,” he said when asked about how he shoots and edit his videos. It takes anywhere between an hour and a half to two hours to edit my videos and I don’t do this in one sitting, I go through my videos many times before uploading to make sure that I don’t post anything that might offend or hurt people in any way,” he added.
This journey, so far, had impacted him on many different levels but the one that he loved the most was the people that he met through the course of it. He was really touched by how hospitable people are in this country, even if they are not very well off they will still help out a person in need. “I would take back a bucket load of memories with me to cherish forever, I would love to relive the experience that I had with the people of Chhattisgarh,” he said. Something that he wants to achieve through this journey is to spread his message that “Everyone is equal and there should be no discrimination against people on the basis of caste, creed or religion.”
We were so inspired by our interview with Rohit singh also known as Yatra Charsi and the amazing work he is doing. If you’re as inspired as we were and would like to help support his mission, we encourage you to consider making a donation. Every little bit counts, and your contribution could make a big difference in the lives of those they serve. To donate please follow the the UPI ID : Yatracharsi@okicici