For meeting Chandrashekar, you must be ready for an adventurous ride as this 56-year-old Karnataka man lives not close to a human settlement but to wild creatures. The quinquagenarian has made a deep forest as his fortress and his favourite car has been his favourite home. He has been living this solitary lifestyle for 17 years and his ambassador car and an FM radio give him good company, canopied by nature. Why Chandrashekar has chosen this lifestyle and how he is leading his life in the middle of the woods? Let's travel to his story.

After unfriending with the human race, Chandrashekar had befriended the wild creatures and reptiles but either of them won't harm the other. The dense forest area between the villages Adthale and Nekkare near Aranthodu of Sullia taluk in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka is the home to Chandrashekar. For meeting him, you must walk 3 to 4 kilometres inside the jungle and after getting greeted by several wild animals, you can share your greetings with Chandrashekar.

In what resembled a permanent lifestyle, Chandrashekar's wilderness could be dreadful, but he has a reason why he ended up being a long-term tenant of the jungle. After crossing 3 to 4 kilometres deep into the jungle, Chandrashekar's border will catch your eyes. One can see an old white ambassador under a plastic sheet rests on bamboo poles. Chandrashekar has been living in this forest for 17 years and his face would show he began to hate haircutting and shaving and he has two pieces of clothes and a pair of rubber slippers. Along with his car, he also owns an old cycle, which he uses whenever he wants to come out of the forest. 

Behind his life in the woods is a story that made him move to the woods. Chandrashekhar had owned 1.5 acres of farm in Nekral Kemraje village where he grew areca nut. He was living a happy life and in 2003, he had acquired a loan of Rs 40,000 from a cooperative bank. However, despite his efforts to repay, he couldn't able to pay the loan and like a bolt from the blue moment, the bank had auctioned his farm for his loan amount following which he was left with nothing. 

After losing the farm, Chandrashekar had gone to his sister's house in Adthale in Dakshin Kannada district of Karnataka in his ambassador car. However, he had a tussle with his sister's family within few days of his stay and he had then decided to live alone, out of the human settlement. Without having a second thought, he straightly drove to the deep forest in 2003 and turned the jungle into his new home. He parked his car and canopied it with a plastic sheet to protect his car-turned-home from rain and sun. 

Where he drove 17 years ago has still been his residential address as he has been living in the car. He had got used to the greeny and creepy jungle and so were the trees and wild animals over his presence. He takes bath in the river inside the forest and to have a little interaction with the humans and to win bread, Chandrashekar weaves baskets using dried creepers and sells them at a shop in Adthale village and takes the rice, sugar, and other groceries in return. 

A few years ago, District Collector AB Ibrahim had visited Chandrashekar in the forest and promised to get him a proper house to live in. However, Chandrashekar had refused the offer and said he is not ready to live in the house built by the local administration. The jungle man would be greeted by wild animals like leopard, bison, wild boar, and antelopes while snakes are regular visitors to his car. Despite these threats, he had refused to leave the place and the forest department had said it has no problem with him staying here as he has never harmed or looted resources from the forest. 

According to reports, Chandrashekar doesn't have Aadhaar Card but Aranthod Gram Panchayat had visited him and administered him the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Living in the woods doesn't mean that one has to bury the desires and Chandrashekar too has a desire. His only wish in life is that he wants his farm back and he has safeguarded all the papers and documents related to his farm and continues to live around the wild animals with the hope of winning his land back.