CURRENT MISSION

To explore the unexplored

ABOUT ME

All the people in the world can be divided into two types - those who bite ice creams and those who lick ice creams. I have found that those who bite ice creams tend to be less patient and are in a great hurry to do things, and often find it difficult to just relax and do nothing. I am a biter of ice creams, and I find it very difficult to do nothing.

PHILOSOPHY

I think having an interesting life filled with memorable experiences is the main thing. Like Sartre says, our life is like a painting, and our purpose is to make it the most rich and detailed and beautiful painting ever.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I enjoy staying at peoples houses every city I go to. I study at St. Stephens college in Delhi, which has students from all over India. Every holiday, I try going to one of their houses.

In Assam, I went to a friends house whose father owns a tea plantation. She had told me earlier that tea plantation requires a lot of labor, and they are often paid poorly, so I undertook an entire study of their living conditions at that time.

While staying with my friend in Lucknow, I observed how the entire city was divided into a Hindu part and Muslim part, with Hindu neighbours even informing parents if they happen to see someones son in the Muslim part of the city.

Interests

I would want the epitaph on my grave to read -

'Tried to live all sides of the diamond.'

Life is like a diamond, with many different facets to it. Due to how we are brought up, we can explore only a few facets. My interest in life is to try and explore all the different facets of life, which is why try to meet as many people as possible and get into as many weird situations as possible. This is why I stayed with homeless people for 3 hours during a trip to Lucknow, since we never normally get to experience that side of the 'diamond'.

• culture
• traveling
• cars
• painting
• magic
• hinduism

Music, Movies, and Books

I think the purpose of movies and books is not just fun, but to also unsettle you and make you think. I enjoy movies like Requiem For A Dream or those involving moral dilemnas, like A Seperation or The Lives Of Others.

I also attended a 32 hour film appreciation course, where I learnt to analyze films and see how directors use color and close or far shots to create atmosphere.

My favorite book is The Idiot by Dostoevsky.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Getting a cover story written on me in Bangalore Mirror when I was travelling there for 3 days.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/cover-story/Feigned-faint-and-city-shows-it-has-a-heart/articleshow/27038737.cms

Teach, Learn, Share

I have found three guidelines to be useful to a person travelling to understand the culture of a place;

1. Always have a fixed goal in mind, or a particular aspect of a region which which you wish to explore or know more about. For example, on a trip to Mayong (known as the Land of Black Magic) we studied whether the practice of black magic still exists or not. This proves to be a great conversation starter with locals of the region.

2. Only use public transport, never autos or cars

3. Stay at locals houses as far as possible (needless advice to give here).