When he first arrived in Manali a few years ago, Sanjay was without a wallet (robbed off all his cash and cards in Delhi), and with the last bit of money left in his PayTM e-wallet dwindling faster than he thought it would. To add to his misery, the hostel that he was to volunteer at couldn’t accommodate him. A quick round of research later, he was sitting in the dormitory of the cheapest hostel he could find in Manali, utterly oblivious to what lay ahead of him. All he knew then was, he needed to find a source of income, very (very) soon. Luckily for him, as he walked down the road of Hidimba Devi temple, he met a retailer of paintings who surprisingly asked him to help sell paintings. So, for the next three weeks, Sanjay sold paintings for one square meal and Rs. 100-200/day. A humble beginning to a journey from which there was, in fact, going to be no turning back, as he realises much later. He sustained himself through odd jobs and volunteering at hostels. On one such day, as he was going about his chores as usual, he met a woman hoping to buy a house for herself in Manali and he decided to help her out. It was during this house hunt that he chanced upon a wooden house perched atop a hillock amidst apple and coniferous trees. Built in 1981 by a German, it had one of the most spectacular views of the mountains. It was occupied then by about 20 workers, living in utter ruins and with no electricity or toilet. Thanks to this unexpected trip though, this very same house is today, C6 – a beautiful travellers’ abode run by Sanjay himself.
(Photo Credit: Vazim Muhammed)
“It was love at first sight”, he says while describing his first trip to the house, “but what I hadn’t anticipated then was that I would end up leasing the place so soon. The very first thing I did that day, as soon as I left from there, was to call up a few friends and bounce off the idea of starting a community hostel. They loved it, offered to help and there was no stopping me. Thanks to some of my dearest friends, in no time, I talked the owners into leasing out the place to me, finances were sorted out, and a few friends came over to help me put the place in shambles back in shape again.”
Today, Sanjay hosts travellers from all over the world at C6.
(Photo Credit: Vazim Muhammed)
So when did the travel bug bite Sanjay? During his first trip to China as part of an exchange program from college, he fell in love with the idea of meeting new people from around the globe. His second trip to South Korea for a college project introduced him to the concepts of hitch-hiking and couchsurfing. On his way back from South Korea, he spent a week in Hong Kong all alone – marking the start to his solo expeditions. He has since then explored Europe, parts of Asia, Western India and some of North India. Through all these trips, he has made numerous friends, learnt how to build sustainable houses, pitched tents at some of the most unimaginable places, worked at petrol stations, gone for days with only one meal, gotten robbed, left stranded at a highway outside Budapest and much more.
C6 is full of such stories – of Sanjay’s and the numerous travellers who have made their way to his abode at some time or the other. He dreams of making C6 a place that would host passionate dreamers just like him. So, the next time you are in Manali, don’t forget to visit Sanjay Das at C6 and maybe stay with him.
(With Sanjay and Elo)
P.S: My visit to C6 and meeting Sanjay was equally serendipitous. For someone who had completed disregarded the idea of couchsurfing, travelling to Manali and actually deciding to couchsurf took quite a bit of convincing by my fellow traveller, Elo – a Mexican who had been on the road for over a year by then, having travelled to six different countries. Thanks to the decision, I experienced one of the most blissful mornings I ever had in a very long time – a cup of hot chai in hand, the cold breeze blowing over me and the view of snow-clad mountains – just perfect! From the fantastic chicken dish that Sanjay prepared to exploring Vashisht and Old Manali on foot, I had a great time in Manali. So, until next time…
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