M
ukesh Kumar from Chiiz gets in talks with MR. JOHN
EDWARDS about his journey and what he found out on his
journey to capture the smiles that behold a whole little world for some
people and are quickly disappearing behind the virtual screens.
So John, the project Smiles 5000 Miles. We all can figure out the
reason behind it but would you like to elaborate?
Yes. As I live in a metropolis and my work involves a lot of travel, I
have observed that in most of the places people are too busy to smile.
They are always running after something or the other, worried and
often tensed. It has become a rare sight to see people smile and laugh,
especially in metro cities. It is almost impossible to see a true smile that
comes straight from the heart. Whenever I go for a corporate shoot, it
becomes a difficult task to make people pose with a natural smile. The
higher they climb on the so called success ladder, the tougher it gets
for them to smile spontaneously. It is time to realize that we humans
are the only ones blessed with the gift of a smile on this planet.
Like they say, 'journey is the real destination', how was your
journey?
I like to be called a traveler than a tourist. And this is one of life’s
simplest hacks that I follow. I approach life as a traveler, with no serious
itineraries and no “do or die” goal settings. It is not the destination
which is important but the process of journey which brings more
meaning, joy, surprises and sometimes pain too. If you believe that
life’s final destination is death, then don’t focus on the destination but
enjoy the journey called Life. During this road trip, I have realized that
life exactly resembles the roads. A smooth six lane highway suddenly
narrows down to a single lane two way rural road or a mud road or
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no road at all. If you are a tourist and are more focused in reaching
your destination by following your itinerary, then these elements
will bother you and take away your peace of mind but for a traveler
it is an experience. This journey has taught me a lot. I overcame my
fear of dogs which I was nurturing since childhood. Four people who
provided me with shelter on my journey were hardcore dog lovers and
had huge dogs at their homes. They taught me everything about dogs
and took my fear away. They are now my friends and in turn I learnt
to befriend dogs!
When you get out on the road, what are the important things you
should keep in mind?
Don’t carry even an extra feather if it is not essential. This was my first
bike trip and I had never ridden my bike for more than 50 kms at a
stretch before. I had no biker friends nor did I belong to any biker club.
When I was packing my bags, with a typical security driven middle
class mindset, I made a long list of things to carry and eventually ended
up loading a huge sack on my pillion. The person who hosted me in
Ahmedabad happened to be an automobile designer and an avid biker.
He first laughed at my bag and taught me how to travel minimalistic. I
promised him that by the time I complete my journey I will hold only
twenty percent of what I have started with and eventually I stood by
my words. Most of us carry a huge amount of unnecessary luggage
and dead weights with us in our lives. Once you became conscious and
aware of its relevance and importance then it is very easy to shed them
off. There life becomes easy.
Any upcoming projects from you on the same topic? Where we can
see the result of this project or the collection of smiles?