“The fastest country travel record holder, Benny, is a musician and cafe owner and also counsels college students for their mental health. After a turbulent childhood, he found solace in music and spirituality. He feels that success isn't defined by grades or material things but by living a content life.”

Benny Prasad is a musician and motivational speaker. He also runs a unique cafe by the name of Chai 3:16, which is a non-commercial cafe.

Benny was born and brought up in Bangalore. Having traveled across the continents, he broke the world record and became the fastest country traveler in the shortest period of time in 2010. He traveled to 245 countries, including Antarctica, in six years, six months, and twenty-two days. He designed his guitar for the Olympic Games. He performs instrumental music where his wife sings and he plays the guitar. They both travel and perform together.

Benny runs a cafe called Chai 3:16, where they only serve tea, and the price of the product is decided by the customer itself. They also work towards counseling college students for their mental health who are suicidal, depressed, or lonely. They work with an interesting goal of 80% listening and 20% talking.

Talking about his childhood, Benny recalls that it was turbulent for him. His father was an aerospace scientist, and his mother worked as the assistant director at Feba Radio, a Christian radio station. From an early age, it was always expected of Benny to become the next scientist in the family, but his interests were different. He always struggled to study or find his place in society. He was a very inquisitive kid. But as he was subdued upon asking a lot of questions and had low academic interests, he failed many classes and was even ousted from his school in the 10th grade. Along with all these things, he was also facing medical challenges like asthma and arthritis at a young age. Hence, when Benny was sixteen, he hit rock bottom in his life, and that’s when he heard the voice of Jesus Christ. Slowly and steadily, things started to change for the better.

Benny strongly believes that your mark sheets and your grades don’t define your future, and he challenges the conventional education system. He believes that every child is born with an innate talent, and we need to realize it and work on it. He has come to the realization that the true meaning of success is to be content and satisfied with life.

At the age of nineteen, Benny picked up an old, broken guitar, mended it, and started to learn to play it. He would practice seven hours a day, and within two months he could perform for the first time at a talent show organized at his college. Later, his college principal approached him and lauded him for his performance. Since then, Benny has kept learning and improving his guitar skills and has realized that instrumental music is something he wants to pursue.

In 2004, Benny was invited to perform at the cultural stages of the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece. He was also invited to perform for a delegation of South African athletes.

Sharing his pandemic experience, Benny says that it affected his travel adversely. He used to travel to other countries to perform, but owing to the pandemic and ensuing travel restrictions, he couldn’t travel for his scheduled performances. But now, instead of complaining, Benny has started to take things as they are and focus on the positive aspects of them. During the pandemic, he started creating short video blogs of his past travels and sharing them with people.

Talking about role models, Benny has looked up to people like Karen Lafferty, an American musician who mentored him for fifteen years. Besides, his college principal has also been a great source of inspiration to him, as has Tommy Coomes, a musician who gifted him a Rs 1.5 lakh Taylor guitar.

Benny talks about his mission to share his music with as many people as possible. He doesn’t charge for his performances but performs at places across the globe indiscriminately. He sustains himself through the sales of his CDs. He shares that musicians like Tommy Coomes and Phil Keaggy, an American guitarist, have been a source of great inspiration to him. They helped Benny pave the path for his journey as an instrumental artist.

If Benny could go back in time using a time machine, he would want to record and capture photos of some of the good moments of all his travels.

“But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” This verse from the Bible has always motivated Benny and helped him lead a successful life. He says that he would rather focus on building personal relationships than on money or fan following.

Advising the artists in his field, Benny gives a message to never chase money or materialistic things. He feels success is not defined by the money or fame you have. He urges us to follow where our hearts lie and what we are passionate about.

Benny believes that instead of being a dropout of school, he has led a successful career, traveled with people, communicated with people from various strata, and learned different languages too. Hence, education alone is not the deciding factor in success. He adds that your education is only practical so long as it equips you to fulfill your dreams; otherwise, it’s just a degree and serves no purpose. Nowadays, many careers depend on your passion, potential, and experience, so educate yourself about what you love doing.