‘Doctors gave me 6 months to live, today I’ve visited 257 countries’: Benny Prasad | Trending News

Prasad recently went viral after revealing that he has travelled to 257 countries and territories, carrying 16 Indian passports filled with visas and immigration stamps. But the numbers tell only part of his story. In 2010, he set a world record by becoming the fastest person to visit every sovereign and dependent country in the world, completing the feat in six years, six months and 22 days, a record he still holds.

His journey, however, began long before the passport stamps. It began with illness, rejection, and despair.

Born with severe asthma, Prasad spent much of his childhood on high doses of cortisone steroids, which he says permanently damaged 60 per cent of his lungs and led to rheumatoid arthritis. Academically, he struggled. Constantly labelled a failure and “good for nothing”, he lost interest in school and, at 16, slipped into deep depression.

“Doctors gave me six months to live. I had been thrown out of school and felt I had no future. I even contemplated suicide because I believed there was no purpose to my life,” he recalls.

The turning point came at a Christian youth camp. “I heard the voice of Jesus Christ. That changed everything for me,” says Prasad, who picked up the guitar at 19. Soon afterwards, he received an invitation to perform in Sri Lanka in 1998—the first time he ever boarded an aircraft.

“My father was an aerospace scientist, so I grew up watching planes take off every day. But despite living so close to an airport, I didn’t fly until August 15, 1998,” he says.

Three years later, he says he felt what he describes as a divine calling—to travel to every country in the world while sharing his music and message of hope. That dream eventually turned into a world record, although Prasad insists that recognition was never the goal. “It was never about setting records or becoming famous,” he says. “When I started travelling, there were no influencers or social media careers. I travelled because I wanted to experience cultures, share my music and tell my story.”

In fact, he only realised there was a record to chase in 2009, when he had already covered almost every country. “It took me six years, six months and 22 days to complete the record in 2010. Since then, I’ve continued travelling, and today I’ve visited 257 countries and territories. South Sudan was my last.”

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Despite travelling farther than almost anyone else, Prasad says the greatest lessons he learnt had little to do with geography. “Travel is something people should never compromise on,” he says. “Take time and invest in it. But don’t just travel on packaged tours. Explore the culture, the food, the people and the reality of a place.” Those experiences, he says, changed his perspective on both the world and his own country.

“I became more content with what I have. More importantly, I became prouder of being Indian.”

Prasad says he had opportunities to settle abroad, including in the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, and Singapore, but chose to remain in India.

“My travels made me appreciate India’s incredible diversity even more. Every state feels different, from the languages we speak to the food we eat and the cultures we celebrate. It’s like travelling across a continent within one country,” he says.

That admiration, however, comes with honest criticism.

“The one thing I wish India would learn from other countries is civic sense,” he says. “Whether it’s following traffic rules, standing in queues or respecting public spaces, many countries—even smaller ones like Sri Lanka—do it better.” He also hopes to see greater efficiency and transparency in government services. “There is still too much delay and corruption in documentation and public offices. I wish India could become corruption-free,” he adds.

Yet his conclusion remains unchanged. “I’ve had a wonderful journey around the world, but I love my country. I want to continue living here.”

Travelling on an Indian passport, however, has not always been easy. Prasad recalls visa complications involving countries such as Russia, Uruguay and Venezuela, along with logistical nightmares that tested his determination. “Sometimes the challenge wasn’t the visa—it was simply getting there.”

One of his biggest setbacks came while trying to reach Tuvalu in the South Pacific. “There’s only one flight, and it got cancelled. I had to wait another year before I could go.” On another occasion, Air Senegal ceased operations while he was travelling through West Africa, forcing him to rethink his entire route.

“When you’re passionate about something, you don’t let obstacles stop you. You simply find another way,” he says.

Perhaps the biggest misconception about travel, according to Prasad, is that it requires enormous wealth.

“I learnt that planning matters far more than money,” he says. “There were countries where I didn’t know a single person. I’d message strangers on Facebook, explain my journey, and many welcomed me into their homes. Those experiences became some of the most memorable parts of my travels.”

Living with local families also challenged many stereotypes he had grown up with. “People often think of certain countries as dangerous or unwelcoming because that’s what they’ve heard. But travelling teaches you to see people as individuals rather than through stereotypes,” he says.

One encounter that has stayed with him happened in St John’s, Canada, where he was hosted by a local family. “A little girl, probably five or six years old, looked at me and excitedly said, ‘Dad, he has the same hairstyle as me!’ She didn’t notice my skin colour. She noticed what we had in common. That moment stayed with me.”

Music, meanwhile, has remained the thread connecting every chapter of his journey. Because his performances are largely instrumental, Prasad believes they transcend language barriers. “People don’t need to understand my language to connect with my music. That’s the beauty of instrumental music,” he says.

His life story is also chronicled in his book, Unthinkable, where he writes candidly about his childhood, depression and suicidal thoughts. Asked whether revisiting those memories was emotionally difficult, Prasad says vulnerability has always been central to his work.

“I’ve been sharing my story during concerts since I was 19. Being vulnerable encouraged other people to speak about their own struggles. Writing it in a book wasn’t about presenting myself as a perfect person—it was about being honest,” he says.

After travelling to every corner of the globe, overcoming illness and rejection, and inspiring audiences through music, Prasad’s greatest wish remains remarkably simple.

Asked how he hopes people will feel when they listen to his music years from now, he pauses before answering in just three words: “I want them to find peace.”