CURRENT MISSION

To document the world through my travels. I run one of India’s leading Travel, Culture and History podcasts - Postcards from Nowhere.

To explore uninhibited. And for this, I had taken a 3 month sabbatical from work and I am travelling across Bosnia and Herzegovina for a month, followed by spending two months in the Indian Himalayas.

I usually travel one country at a time, spending close to a month there, to get a proper feel of the place.

ABOUT ME

I am an easy going person, who believes in making most of any experience that I come across. I enjoy exploring cultures, travelling and food! Having lived in 3 countries , I feel I have some unique insights about people and how they behave. I am paid to understand human behaviour, and I love to have conversations which inform, enlighten and entertain at the same time! And I love to talk about my country (India), for the bundle of contradictions that it is.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host interesting people, which ensures that everyone has a memorable experience!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted over 40 people on Couchsurfing in my homes in India and China.

I've never been a guest, but would love to be one someday.

Interests

Travelling and Food.

I consider myself as an amateur airfare hacker, a skill which becomes a necessity when my home currency is weak and taking a 1 week trip abroad seems like an uphill climb.

So I subscribe to airline emailers, travel aggregators, couponing websites and in the process of being a part of all the airlines subscription lists that have departures out of India. I am looking to explore ideas like Hidden city ticketing next especially for domestic travel. I will shamelessly spend hours on Kayak, Skyscanner and Momondo to look at airfares of places I don't even intend to go. I use features like Kayak Explore to find the cheapest fare to a destination anytime in 2018.

So yup, I will go to any length to get cheap tickets!

And Food. I cook. And I am willing to experiment with exotic food (Tried eating a Tarantula in Cambodia, did not turn out that well :P )

• arts
• dining
• cooking
• drinking
• movies
• traveling
• couponing
• kayaking

Music, Movies, and Books

Cinema - Thanks to my education, have been exposed to Cinema from all over the world. Personal favorites are Iranian and Japanese Cinema

Areas of Interest would include Conflict & Terrorism, World History of the 20th Century, Behavioural Sciences, Mathematics, Political Science and Foreign policy etc

Selected Fiction: Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children - His best work to date

Amitav Ghosh, Milan Kundera, Rohinton Mistry, Khaled Hosseini, Orhan Pamuk,Haruki Murakami, Gabriel Garcia Marquez etc

My greatest interest lies in understanding the past, World history and its implications today.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Though this may sound geeky,but my master's thesis was titled

"The impact of Khmer Rouge atrocities on Cambodian Anti War Art"

During my travel to Cambodia, a few intense experiences led me to choose this as my thesis topic. I travelled through Cambodia and analysed paintings which emerged post the Khmer Rouge regime, which depicted various aspects of people's lives during those brutal years.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My experiences growing up in a developing country, having been a part of the change we are going through. My interest in understanding human behaviour, which has led me to Africa, China and now Bosnia and Herzegovina! My love for food and all art forms.

And when all of this is happening, happy to share a drink with fellow travellers!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, India, Singapore