Darshan around the world
When we sat down with Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaya to talk about top lane Pantheon, bringing back Zionspartan, and going 2-0 with Counter Logic Gaming this weekend, we didn’t expect the conversation to evolve into a meaningful discussion about life, love, art, and travel.
Darshan is no stranger to the LCS stage. He’s been in the pro scene for four years now, dominating the top lane and pulling off some pretty slick backdoors. He’s experienced the highs and lows of competitive play -- from being relegated on Team Coast to winning the North American LCS at Madison Square Garden. Sometimes, he looks back on the day he made the decision to go pro and wonders what life would have been like had he taken a more traditional route, like going to college.
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“Decisions like that -- it’s really hard, it’s not black or white. It’s all these shades of grey. You’re just going to have to be happy with whatever decision you choose. I was really happy that I decided to choose [the LCS] because I’ve had life-changing experiences and improved so much as person, and I’m really grateful for it.”
According to Darshan, life as a professional gamer doesn’t involve long-term thinking beyond “who are my opponents this weekend?” Being in the LCS can be a grind where you’re constantly working hard and pushing yourself to be a better player. So what, hypothetically speaking, would Darshan’s life be like if he woke up tomorrow and the LCS ceased to exist?
“I’d like to travel the world. I love singing. I love music. I’m an explorer at heart who loves life and meeting new people. Traveling is all about that. I’ve lived in America for most of my life and I haven’t seen much of what the world has to offer. It’s so much bigger than what I’ve seen, and I really want to open my eyes to other cultures.”
“I’d really love to turn over a new leaf and live a completely different life for a while.”
As to where Darshan would visit on his adventure, I had to work pretty hard to convince him that “everywhere” wasn’t a feasible option -- at least not for now. But that didn’t seem to dampen the spirit of adventure that poured out of him as he talked about it. After a lengthy discussion, we managed to whittle it down to three places.
New Zealand
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Photo via Lawrence Murray
As the home of rugby, Hobbits, and Flight of the Conchords, New Zealand happens to be one of the most spectacular places on the planet. Though, there was something else that attracted Darshan to it, beyond its natural beauty. It involves jumping out of a plane at 12,000 feet (the ultimate Pantheon mandrop).
“I was looking up great places to go skydiving and New Zealand came up as one of the best places to do it. I’ve seen a lot of movies that use New Zealand as the backdrop and the views are breathtaking. It would be something else,” Darshan says.
Thailand
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Photo via Nicolas Vollmer
The gateway to Southeast Asia and The Land of Smiles, Thailand has long been one of the top tourist destinations in the world with great food, beautiful beaches, and amazing culture.
“Thailand came up as one of the prime locations for rock climbing,” Darshan says, explaining how rock climbing is something he's recently become interested in. “It just seems like a really intriguing place. It’s cheap, which helps, and it has plenty of places you can go and do karaoke too, which is great.”
The thought of Darshan thumping out karaoke in a bar somewhere in Thailand is kinda awesome.
Spain
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Photo via Graham McLellan
One of the cultural capitals of Europe, anyone shooting across the Atlantic should do themselves a favor and check out this beautiful country, particularly if you’ve ever dreamed about blasting thousands of random strangers with tomatoes.
“Spain is one of those places that I’ve always wanted to go to," says Darshan. "I’d go to an amazing beach somewhere and soak up the Spanish culture. The food, the people -- it all sounds great.”
For Darshan it’s all about opening his eyes to another world, one that he’s never seen before. Something which is hard to do in the LCS.
“Living in esports, you’re dealing with the same people every day, the same situations -- I’m still learning a lot and going through a lot of different things. But there is nothing more eye opening then putting yourself on the other side of the planet. Boom. I’m in Spain, I’m in Thailand. You don’t have any worries. You don’t have anything you have to do. You can just enjoy it and be present. Your goal is to enjoy the moment.”
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So where does this passion for travel come from? According to Darshan, it has always been bubbling beneath the surface. Though, if there was one moment he could pinpoint that really solidified it for himself, it would have been in Korea back during CLG’s bootcamp for Worlds 2015.
“The one day of the three-week boot camp that I got to go out for like an hour or two, I went down to the Han River and saw this Korean street singer. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever heard. I had to ask him if he could sing a song for me in English and he sang Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. Even though he didn’t phonetically pronounce every word right, he captured the soul of the song and it sounded so beautiful.”
“This guy was probably one of the best singers I’d ever heard in my life. I asked him why he was just singing out on the street when he could be doing something big. He told me that he sang for the love of singing, and making other people’s lives better through singing. He didn’t care about the fame or anything like that. When I heard that it really blew me away.”
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Just the experience of speaking to this guy in Korea was enough to inspire Darshan not only to think about singing in a completely different way, but also to seek out new people and experiences just like that one to change his perspective on the world.
It’s unlikely that we’ll see Darshan hit the road anytime soon. After all, he’s currently one of the best top laners in North America, and the NA LCS would be much worse off without his Pantheon picks. Still, it’s great to hear his plans for the future -- however far off they may be. Just speaking to him about traveling makes you want to pack your bags. As to what he hopes people will take away from the article, he left us with this message.
“I hope they get a sense of adventure. There is so much in life to be grateful for. If you just get up and get out there, there is so much you can do and you’ll be amazed at just how amazing life can be.”
Whether you want to see Darshan jumping out of a plane in New Zealand or wrecking in the top lane, share your favorite Darshan memory below, hit him up on Twitter, and keep up with his stream.
Paul Marshall is a web content coordinator at Riot Games and guess what? You can follow him on Twitter.
All photos licensed under Creative Commons Attribution
