Voluntourism in Himachal Pradesh, India

It was a hot summer morning when I mailed Ishita Khanna, the co-founder of Ecosphere, a social enterprise in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. At that point, I was a desperate traveller at my workstation in Mumbai. After an exchange of 42 emails across months of planning, my first solo trip to Spiti was finalised. It was…

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My Seasonal Job in Turiya Villa and Spa, Goa

In April 2014, I moved to Canacona, Goa from Mumbai as a seasonal worker. I stayed and worked there for six months and saw it as an opportunity to travel across Goa and parts of Karnataka. Turiya Villa and Spa is a delicate and beautifully done up Portuguese villa in a village called Chaudi in…

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Photos from Spiti

As I near the first anniversary of my debut solo trip, for reasons unknown I still struggle to articulate my experiences from Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. Faraway in the mountains, the silent solitude has taught me more than I expected and made me believe in the good even more. If there was only one thing I…

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Perfect Strangers

This life is truly underrated. I have said this to myself so many times now, that I reckon it has become an enlightenment of sorts. Months ago, when I was volunteering with Ecosphere in Spiti I met my co-volunteer, Sonali in Manali. We were just about to start our journey from Manali to Kaza and…

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Volunteering with Ecosphere, Spiti

A sensible friend asked me, ‘why are you doing this?’ without any mistrust, only curiosity. My answer, ‘I just feel like it.’ That was a month before I left for Kaza from Bombay. I was not sure of very many things at that point, only that I was going to experience Himachal like never before….

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