India in 51 Stories

At the threshold of the digital transformation in the travel space, I took to the outdoors, aiming more to learn than to enjoy or to share. The idea was objective: Would I believe the world to be the place as anybody else had seen and experienced it, or would I trust myself?

The aim of penning this book down was to share what it means to travel through the heart and mind of a person who always romanticized traveling and later found a way of life in it. I can't say which one was better, but while the grass is always greener on the other side, it's the one at your side that keeps you running.

You may peep into my side of the story here. I do try to facilitate you at most places-with visuals. All the photographs belong to me, and barring a few stories, most of the narratives are supported by visuals from those journeys.

So, here are my journals from different parts of India, traveled by public transport, to all places where I have stayed for less than Rs. 1500 a night, and on an average of Rs. 700 per night. Here are the conversations that I had with the commoners as a commoner myself.

You might call it ethnographic research if you please, but it's just the stories I haven't told anyone and now I share them openly.