I’m Sailesh Ramakrishnan, a professional structural engineer and entrepreneur by passion. I was born and brought up in Bangalore. At the age of 5 months, I was diagnosed with spina bifida. And from then on, I was not able to use my legs. Until the age of 16, I could only travel with crutches.
I got my first two-wheeler when I was 17 years old, which made me discover the traveller in me. I want to cherish the first moment I had with the bike when my friend Vishu travelled to a nearby hill with a scooty bike. This was when I discovered my passion for travelling.
Travelling is not only my passion, but it’s my life. When I sit in my car and hold the steering wheel in my hand, it’s like I’m at the top of the world. It has given me a sense of liberation that is unfamiliar to a man with a disability.
We live in a society where a person with a disability has to live with lots of restraints, but driving has made me feel the freedom that I have never felt before.
My car has been modified so that I can handle both the break and acceleration with my hands. These modifications have helped me build an inclusive vehicle for myself. So today, I have a couple of cars that are modified for me and with driving experience of more than two lakh kilometres from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. It was all possible by my friends and family, who encouraged me despite my disability.
I intended to start a YouTube channel for a very long time, but I didn’t dwell much upon it. I recently had a calling from deep inside me that told me that now is the right time to work on the thing you love so deeply. I went on my first solo trip to Mangalore, The West Coast of India.
I had the most beautiful time in the valley because I had the same enthusiasm as when I was driving my car for the first time. This trip has been recorded on my GoPro, and it will soon be uploaded on my YouTube Channel.
The main reason behind my YouTube channel is that I want to inspire physically challenged people to travel. It is a stereotype that specially-abled people cannot travel, so I want to change that perspective and want everyone to explore nature and enjoy travelling.