How Bikes And Hikes Defined Ambareesh Murty's Life Beyond Pepperfry

The news of Pepperfry Co-founder and CEO Ambareesh Murty’s demise came as a shock on Tuesday. The firm’s other co-founder Ashish Shah informed the world that Murty had died due to a cardiac arrest in Leh while he was on a bike trip. Condolences poured in for the man who founded one of the most popular marketplaces for furniture.  

Just a few days before his demise, Murty had taken to Instagram to post a video of Leh which he shot from his bike. Several of his posts, which he titled “motorcycle diaries”, in the last one week were about his road trip to the valley of Ladakh  

In a conversation with Outlook Business last year, the 51-year-old had talked about how his fascination with road trips and bikes started during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the first lockdown, he used to cycle on the roads of Mumbai which is when he developed a fitness habit. Yearning for more, the co-founder of Pepperfry wondered what else he could do. “I decided that the one thing I had not done enough of in life was biking,” he said. 

To explore his newfound interest, Murty bought a Royal Enfield Himalayan and named it Rosie, taking inspiration from the name of Don Quixote’s horse Rocinante. Combining his love for history and mountains, Murty set off on his first road trip to Ladakh from Mumbai in which he touched all the Indus valley civilisation spots between the two places. During his road trips, the company’s CEO made sure that he also met Pepperfry’s teams en route to his destination. 
 

His love for bike trips was so profound that Murty would get withdrawal symptoms if he did not go out every three to four months. “I am told by everybody around me that I am a much better person after I come back from my bike trips. Therefore, I am also doing it for the greater good,” Murty had said on a lighter note.  

As people condole the demise of Murty, his loved ones would fondly remember his affection for the road trips on his bike. In what is now his final post on Instagram, Murty had signed off with the words, “I ride, therefore I am”.