The Story of a Cockroach Under the Sink

Hello Steemians!

My name is Vishnu from a little 10x10 foot room I call my home in The Netherlands. I'm 25-year-old writer turned entrepreneur, on an eternal journey of breaking monotony and stereotypes in my life. I was born in India, home to a billion people living amongst a myriad of cultures, languages, history, and gastronomical tastes. Life there was largely chaotic, with people running a rat race, trying to work things out, a day at a time.

I came from one such family, living in the exploding bourgeois of a happening metropolitan in the southern part of India, home to some delicious food (spicy, of course) and a great music & art scene. Nonetheless, right from my childhood, I was impressed with the idea that I had to study hard to earn money and that ultimately, would keep me happy.

I did what I was told, for a better part of two decades. Studied hard, made it to a good engineering university, got working in a decent corporation after graduation. I was living the 'quintessential Indian dream' of earning in a white collar job.

Until I cracked, one fine summer morning.

You see, I wasn't the type who was interested in engineering or a desk job. I loved to write, to dream, to debate and importantly, to travel. I realized that my life in India was making me comfortable and lazy, and the money I was earning was singing a eulogy to my dreams and aspirations.

And thus, I quit. Quit my job and on a whim, thought of trekking across the legendary Himalayas. So I did just that, with branded hiking shoes and a spotlessly clean backpack. After a month, I came back home with stinky socks, a torn backpack and a devilishly serene grin on my face (my mom threw my socks and backpack out and would have thrown me as well, if I weren't her only son. Would make a great story for another day). I also had clicked some pretty good pictures while I was wandering around in the mountains.

Something in those ranges changed me for good. I realized that there was nothing more dangerous than getting paid a handsome salary, the first week of every month. The city life I had been used to, somehow felt revolting. I decided to move out and thus began the second chapter of my life, a story which kept changing courses faster than a traffic light would.

To be frank, things have been a blur since then. Just a few episodes after the revelation -

• I moved to house just on the brink of lake Como in Northern Italy, with a view to the Swiss Alps
• I founded a preventive healthcare company called Freshrr (www.freshrr.eu) in the Netherlands
• I became a travel writer, traveling to over a dozen countries across Europe
• Started consulting to startups around the world
• Got lost in the woods in Portugal, in the midst of a treacherous fog while trekking alone
• Slept on the pathway in Romania, unable to find my AirBnB and with no local currency

All this in under a year and a half.

Life works in strange ways. There was a time when I used to lie down on my bed, flat on my back, wondering why there wasn't electricity in my house to switch the fan on, as temperatures soared to over 45-degree celsius (113 degree F). To people reacting in horror to the absence of electricity or to the temperature levels - Welcome to South India.

Surprisingly, that wasn't a long time back. Things have changed pretty fast and I intend to keep experimenting with my life a lot more. And if you have gotten this far, you'd probably be interested in what I got to offer after this rant as well. Please watch my space for articles related to travel, sick adventures, tech updates and things that I feel strongly about (hope it catches your breath as well).

So long and thanks for the fish!