So most of us comes from the middle class mindset and families where education is given at most importance. So I was no different. I finished my education. I came to Mumbai and I got a job. Got a job for a very basic salary. And mind you, Mumbai is a place very hard to survive. There's a difference between living. There's a difference between surviving. So if you can survive in Mumbai, it's a big deal. But mind you, you know, at the same time, the good thing about the city is it'll give you the kind of exposure provided you are talented. So for the first three years, that was the task. How to survive with this little minimalistic salary. Someone like me coming from a small town with big dreams into this super big city. You know, a lot of things is going on in your mind. You know, you're all about mixed emotions. You are exploited at times. You have great mentors at times. So we don't know where we are going to land. So one thing I was very clear, what I didn't want. I wasn't sure what I wanted, but I was very sure what I didn't want. And I didn't spend too much of time. I didn't waste too much of time there. And that's precisely one of the reasons what helped me into my profession. So getting into anchoring was more about passion. So we come from a society where anchoring, acting is not called as a profession. We come from a family where these are not a very respectable profiles. So I was no different. My parents were sure about me. But gosh, we come from a family and society norms. And that was really, really huge on me. So initially. When I was starting off, I realized that there were a lot of emotional and lonely moments which I had to go through. And my parents had to go through because I was into this profession. But again, you know, when you're doing something from your heart. And my dad always told me this, that if you love and if you are passionate about what you do, you don't have to work for the rest of the life. And I'm not the kind of a guy who would sit at the desk and work nine to five. Maybe I will do that. But end of the day, I want to do something for my passion. Something what I'm good at. There has to be a certain creative satisfaction, mainly towards my personality, towards myself. So I was focused on that. And that gave me an opportunity to start my career as an anchor, wherein I was allowed to work on weekends in one of the parks and to host shows and to anchor shows. That's how my journey in anchoring started. But mind you, you know, television presentation is way different to the presentation, what you probably might do in a corporate. Or what you probably might do in a pool party. It's totally different. But then you got to speak and that stage daring or that, you know, you know, the initial scares were taken away by these small, small events. And at the same time, it was a good money, you know, money on weekends and weekdays. It was a job. So everything was taken care of. But what really mattered was after a couple of months, things started to get a little tricky. My channel was shutting down. And I was given a choice of either switching to a different department altogether or else, you know, quitting and giving my place to someone else. And that's when I realized that it's high time I need to audition with others also. So initially, when I was there, we are talking about 10, 15 years back, you know, auditions used to happen. People used to come on board or get selected. Talent used to get selected through auditions. Now, it's more about social media numbers. How many followers you have. And so everything has taken a toll back. For me, if you ask me five most important things which are required for a television presenter in today's world, number one is the social media numbers, which is very sad, but that's the truth of life. You know, the more the merrier. OK, so the number of followers, the easier it is for you to get hired, because then the employer also thinks that, you know, I'm going to divert my traffic and that traffic is going to come on my portal. Number two, of course, you've got to have a presence of mind. You know. Not many people know this, but when you talk in public with public, there are no scripts involved and everything has to be impromptu and on the spot. So you've got to have a good presence of mind. Talking about presence of mind, there's also a certain confidence you need to show on the screen, and that goes to screen presence, how you look on the screen, how comfortable you are with the camera. If you're shy, if you're nervous, that is clearly visible on the camera. Then comes, of course, scripting. I would strongly urge not to follow scripts. Instead, make pointers and elaborate. Elaborate those pointers. And of course you have, you need to have a little technical knowledge because a lot of cameras are involved when you're doing a television presentation. Unlike vlogging, vlogging, you have a camera, which you're holding and it's easier. It's your one-on-one talk, but then television presentation is a different ballgame together. But again, the school remains the same. Uh, the colleges are different, but the school remains the same. Nevertheless, coming back to where we started. So yes, the big break happened. One fine day, it was 2009. And I went and I did an audition.


Someone like me coming from a small town with big dreams into this super big city. You know, a lot of things is going on in your mind. You know, you're all about mixed emotions. You are exploited at times. You have great mentors at times. So we don't know where we are going to land. So one thing I was very clear, what I didn't want. I wasn't sure what I wanted, but I was very sure what I didn't want. And I didn't spend too much of time. I didn't waste too much of time there. And that's precisely one of the reasons what helped me into my profession. So getting into anchoring was more about passion. So we come from a society where anchoring, acting is not called as a profession. We come from a family where these are not a very respectable profiles. So I was no different. My parents were sure about me. But gosh, we come from a family and society norms. And that was really, really huge on me. So initially. When I was starting off, I realized that there were a lot of emotional and lonely moments which I had to go through. And my parents had to go through because I was into this profession. But again, you know, when you're doing something from your heart. And my dad always told me this, that if you love and if you are passionate about what you do, you don't have to work for the rest of the life. And I'm not the kind of a guy who would sit at the desk and work nine to five. Maybe I will do that. But end of the day, I want to do something for my passion. Something what I'm good at. There has to be a certain creative satisfaction, mainly towards my personality, towards myself. So I was focused on that. And that gave me an opportunity to start my career as an anchor, wherein I was allowed to work on weekends in one of the parks and to host shows and to anchor shows. That's how my journey in anchoring started. But mind you, you know, television presentation is way different to the presentation, what you probably might do in a corporate. Or what you probably might do in a pool party. It's totally different. But then you got to speak and that stage daring or that, you know, you know, the initial scares were taken away by these small, small events. And at the same time, it was a good money, you know, money on weekends and weekdays. It was a job. So everything was taken care of. But what really mattered was after a couple of months, things started to get a little tricky. My channel was shutting down. And I was given a choice of either switching to a different department altogether or else, you know, quitting and giving my place to someone else. And that's when I realized that it's high time I need to audition with others also. So initially, when I was there, we are talking about 10, 15 years back, you know, auditions used to happen. People used to come on board or get selected. Talent used to get selected through auditions. Now, it's more about social media numbers. How many followers you have. And so everything has taken a toll back. For me, if you ask me five most important things which are required for a television presenter in today's world, number one is the social media numbers, which is very sad, but that's the truth of life. You know, the more the merrier. OK, so the number of followers, the easier it is for you to get hired, because then the employer also thinks that, you know, I'm going to divert my traffic and that traffic is going to come on my portal. Number two, of course, you've got to have a presence of mind. You know. Not many people know this, but when you talk in public with public, there are no scripts involved and everything has to be impromptu and on the spot. So you've got to have a good presence of mind. Talking about presence of mind, there's also a certain confidence you need to show on the screen, and that goes to screen presence, how you look on the screen, how comfortable you are with the camera. If you're shy, if you're nervous, that is clearly visible on the camera. Then comes, of course, scripting. I would strongly urge not to follow scripts. Instead, make pointers and elaborate. Elaborate those pointers. And of course you have, you need to have a little technical knowledge because a lot of cameras are involved when you're doing a television presentation. Unlike vlogging, vlogging, you have a camera, which you're holding and it's easier. It's your one-on-one talk, but then television presentation is a different ballgame together. But again, the school remains the same. Uh, the colleges are different, but the school remains the same. Nevertheless, coming back to where we started. So yes, the big break happened. One fine day, it was 2009. And I went and I did an audition. with one of the companies and it was a very emotional moment for me and I'll tell you why because my dad was suffering from a terrible disease he was on deathbed and one of his wish was to see me on screen he was the one who always fought for me for my dreams and I thought perhaps maybe just maybe he sees his young days in me and because he couldn't achieve it he wants his son to achieve it on his behalf so he was a great supporter and I wanted to perform before he goes so I had this crazy sense of urgency in life and I was auditioning and there were 700 800 people along with me who were auditioning but I believe it all boils down to your why why you're doing why people should watch you why are you going for that audition why are you starting a business if you're clear with your why I think everything else falls in place my why was very clear I wanted the biggest audience that was my father I wanted him to see my show before he goes away and of course I enjoyed being on camera that felt so much like me and I thought that's my space and I would be more happy if I can find something to do in front of the camera so yes 700 auditions imagine 700 auditions a boy coming from a small Marathwada region of Maharashtra all the way to the humongous humongous city called Mumbai where you have people from pan India everybody's struggling for one position and there you have who would listen to me you know if you go back if I go back and if I look at myself it's it's very difficult to even accept the fact that you know I could crack that deal because what I am itself is a great achievement so yes I was selected I was one not one of them but I was one of them and I was one of them and I was the only presenter which was selected out of 900 audition and I think when you put in your skills when you put in your ethics when you put in your hard work then definitely luck support I don't think I don't believe in people who says that luck doesn't make any difference it's all your hard work not really now getting selected out of 900 people definitely luck plays a very vital role but again everything needs to be in a line the energy needs to be in a line with your hard work with your skills and as they say these days you know the ekigai needs to be in place ekigai wherein it is sellable whatever you put out in the market needs to be sellable you need to be passionate about it people need to be willing to pay for it and of course you've got to add a certain value to it so I think everything fall in place uh the first initial days or years or months were difficult because you know when you learn something and then you have to unlearn something and then you have to learn something again it's a difficult process but with great mentors and with great companies you know it's always feasible so I would strongly urge all the people coming out of college do not fall for great jobs do not go for great jobs go for great mentors because they will be shaping your career they will be shaping how you're going to be in the next 10 20 30 years okay so anyways coming back to the point so that was my start of my travel journey


And I went and I did an audition. with one of the companies and it was a very emotional moment for me and I'll tell you why because my dad was suffering from a terrible disease he was on deathbed and one of his wish was to see me on screen he was the one who always fought for me for my dreams and I thought perhaps maybe just maybe he sees his young days in me and because he couldn't achieve it he wants his son to achieve it on his behalf so he was a great supporter and I wanted to perform before he goes so I had this crazy sense of urgency in life and I was auditioning and there were 700 800 people along with me who were auditioning but I believe it all boils down to your why why you're doing why people should watch you why are you going for that audition why are you starting a business if you're clear with your why I think everything else falls in place my why was very clear I wanted the biggest audience that was my father I wanted him to see my show before he goes away and of course I enjoyed being on camera that felt so much like me and I thought that's my space and I would be more happy if I can find something to do in front of the camera so yes 700 auditions imagine 700 auditions a boy coming from a small Marathwada region of Maharashtra all the way to the humongous humongous city called Mumbai where you have people from pan India everybody's struggling for one position and there you have who would listen to me you know if you go back if I go back and if I look at myself it's it's very difficult to even accept the fact that you know I could crack that deal because what I am itself is a great achievement so yes I was selected I was one not one of them but I was one of them and I was one of them and I was the only presenter which was selected out of 900 audition and I think when you put in your skills when you put in your ethics when you put in your hard work then definitely luck support I don't think I don't believe in people who says that luck doesn't make any difference it's all your hard work not really now getting selected out of 900 people definitely luck plays a very vital role but again everything needs to be in a line the energy needs to be in a line with your hard work with your skills and as they say these days you know the ekigai needs to be in place ekigai wherein it is sellable whatever you put out in the market needs to be sellable you need to be passionate about it people need to be willing to pay for it and of course you've got to add a certain value to it so I think everything fall in place uh the first initial days or years or months were difficult because you know when you learn something and then you have to unlearn something and then you have to learn something again it's a difficult process but with great mentors and with great companies you know it's always feasible so I would strongly urge all the people coming out of college do not fall for great jobs do not go for great jobs go for great mentors because they will be shaping your career they will be shaping how you're going to be in the next 10 20 30 years okay so anyways coming back to the point so that was my start of my travel journey And since then, I had visited 40 countries. It's been almost 17 years I'm traveling. I live life on the edge. It's been a great journey because travel teaches you a lot. It opens different horizons for you. It broadens your perspective. I'm no more the guy who used to come from the small town. Perhaps maybe a little bit of exposure of the outside world makes a lot of difference in you. So yes, I've traveled 40 countries. I've did more than 500 television shows. And I have my own podcast channel. And this is something new for me. So I'm trying to learn something with the audio domain also. So great. And that is how my journey started. And it's been 17 years. I haven't looked back.


with one of the companies and it was a very emotional moment for me and I'll tell you why because my dad was suffering from a terrible disease he was on deathbed and one of his wish was to see me on screen he was the one who always fought for me for my dreams and I thought perhaps maybe just maybe he sees his young days in me and because he couldn't achieve it he wants his son to achieve it on his behalf so he was a great supporter and I wanted to perform before he goes so I had this crazy sense of urgency in life and I was auditioning and there were 700 800 people along with me who were auditioning but I believe it all boils down to your why why you're doing why people should watch you why are you going for that audition why are you starting a business if you're clear with your why I think everything else falls in place my why was very clear I wanted the biggest audience that was my father I wanted him to see my show before he goes away and of course I enjoyed being on camera that felt so much like me and I thought that's my space and I would be more happy if I can find something to do in front of the camera so yes 700 auditions imagine 700 auditions a boy coming from a small Marathwada region of Maharashtra all the way to the humongous humongous city called Mumbai where you have people from pan India everybody's struggling for one position and there you have who would listen to me you know if you go back if I go back and if I look at myself it's it's very difficult to even accept the fact that you know I could crack that deal because what I am itself is a great achievement so yes I was selected I was one not one of them but I was one of them and I was one of them and I was the only presenter which was selected out of 900 audition and I think when you put in your skills when you put in your ethics when you put in your hard work then definitely luck support I don't think I don't believe in people who says that luck doesn't make any difference it's all your hard work not really now getting selected out of 900 people definitely luck plays a very vital role but again everything needs to be in a line the energy needs to be in a line with your hard work with your skills and as they say these days you know the ekigai needs to be in place ekigai wherein it is sellable whatever you put out in the market needs to be sellable you need to be passionate about it people need to be willing to pay for it and of course you've got to add a certain value to it so I think everything fall in place uh the first initial days or years or months were difficult because you know when you learn something and then you have to unlearn something and then you have to learn something again it's a difficult process but with great mentors and with great companies you know it's always feasible so I would strongly urge all the people coming out of college do not fall for great jobs do not go for great jobs go for great mentors because they will be shaping your career they will be shaping how you're going to be in the next 10 20 30 years okay so anyways coming back to the point so that was my start of my travel journey And since then, I had visited 40 countries. It's been almost 17 years I'm traveling. I live life on the edge. It's been a great journey because travel teaches you a lot. It opens different horizons for you. It broadens your perspective. I'm no more the guy who used to come from the small town. Perhaps maybe a little bit of exposure of the outside world makes a lot of difference in you. So yes, I've traveled 40 countries. I've did more than 500 television shows. And I have my own podcast channel. And this is something new for me. So I'm trying to learn something with the audio domain also. So great. And that is how my journey started. And it's been 17 years. I haven't looked back. So traveling for 17 years, so many countries, of course, there will be good experiences and bad experiences. There have been a couple of near-death experiences which I have witnessed. The first thing, of course, 2015 Nepal earthquakes. I was filming in Nepal. In fact, I was not very far away from the main epicenter of the earthquake, which was Pokhara, if I'm not mistaken. So I was on the borders of Nepal. And you won't believe, but I was bungee jumping. You know, I have this vertigo issue. I have a huge vertigo problem. And my producer said that you have to, sir, you have to take a bungee jump. So I was in a resort taking a bungee jump. And can you guess the name of the resort? Well, it was called as The Last Resort.


And since then, I had visited 40 countries. It's been almost 17 years I'm traveling. I live life on the edge. It's been a great journey because travel teaches you a lot. It opens different horizons for you. It broadens your perspective. I'm no more the guy who used to come from the small town. Perhaps maybe a little bit of exposure of the outside world makes a lot of difference in you. So yes, I've traveled 40 countries. I've did more than 500 television shows. And I have my own podcast channel. And this is something new for me. So I'm trying to learn something with the audio domain also. So great. And that is how my journey started. And it's been 17 years. I haven't looked back. So traveling for 17 years, so many countries, of course, there will be good experiences and bad experiences. There have been a couple of near-death experiences which I have witnessed. The first thing, of course, 2015 Nepal earthquakes. I was filming in Nepal. In fact, I was not very far away from the main epicenter of the earthquake, which was Pokhara, if I'm not mistaken. So I was on the borders of Nepal. And you won't believe, but I was bungee jumping. You know, I have this vertigo issue. I have a huge vertigo problem. And my producer said that you have to, sir, you have to take a bungee jump. So I was in a resort taking a bungee jump. And can you guess the name of the resort? Well, it was called as The Last Resort. What a coincidence. And here's the big thing. You know, when I jumped, I still remember when I did that jump, I was screaming and shouting away to glory. After 15 minutes, the earthquake hit Nepal.


So traveling for 17 years, so many countries, of course, there will be good experiences and bad experiences. There have been a couple of near-death experiences which I have witnessed. The first thing, of course, 2015 Nepal earthquakes. I was filming in Nepal. In fact, I was not very far away from the main epicenter of the earthquake, which was Pokhara, if I'm not mistaken. So I was on the borders of Nepal. And you won't believe, but I was bungee jumping. You know, I have this vertigo issue. I have a huge vertigo problem. And my producer said that you have to, sir, you have to take a bungee jump. So I was in a resort taking a bungee jump. And can you guess the name of the resort? Well, it was called as The Last Resort. What a coincidence. And here's the big thing. You know, when I jumped, I still remember when I did that jump, I was screaming and shouting away to glory. After 15 minutes, the earthquake hit Nepal. and we were stranded. And not just that, but because my adrenaline, you know, my nervousness was completely taken off by the gym. I had a GoPro, I had a small camera on my chest on my forehead, I was running away as soon as because, you know, I had never experienced earthquake before. So when it hit us, earlier, I thought that there might be some sort of landslide or something like that. But then everything I realized that the mountains around me started to go down, and people were screaming and shouting. And that's when we thought that it might be an earthquake. It wasn't very pleasant sight, seeing people dying in front of you, especially people who had worked with you, and who had filmed with you, who helped you in the whole filming process. It was very discouraging and very, very, very sad. But nevertheless,


What a coincidence. And here's the big thing. You know, when I jumped, I still remember when I did that jump, I was screaming and shouting away to glory. After 15 minutes, the earthquake hit Nepal. and we were stranded. And not just that, but because my adrenaline, you know, my nervousness was completely taken off by the gym. I had a GoPro, I had a small camera on my chest on my forehead, I was running away as soon as because, you know, I had never experienced earthquake before. So when it hit us, earlier, I thought that there might be some sort of landslide or something like that. But then everything I realized that the mountains around me started to go down, and people were screaming and shouting. And that's when we thought that it might be an earthquake. It wasn't very pleasant sight, seeing people dying in front of you, especially people who had worked with you, and who had filmed with you, who helped you in the whole filming process. It was very discouraging and very, very, very sad. But nevertheless, This is not a story of sympathy. I would rather want to be the story of bravery. How we made others believe in this, you know, there's hope.


and we were stranded. And not just that, but because my adrenaline, you know, my nervousness was completely taken off by the gym. I had a GoPro, I had a small camera on my chest on my forehead, I was running away as soon as because, you know, I had never experienced earthquake before. So when it hit us, earlier, I thought that there might be some sort of landslide or something like that. But then everything I realized that the mountains around me started to go down, and people were screaming and shouting. And that's when we thought that it might be an earthquake. It wasn't very pleasant sight, seeing people dying in front of you, especially people who had worked with you, and who had filmed with you, who helped you in the whole filming process. It was very discouraging and very, very, very sad. But nevertheless, This is not a story of sympathy. I would rather want to be the story of bravery. How we made others believe in this, you know, there's hope. how we saved different lives, how we got back, all of us together, to the base. And it's an incredible story. So I'll start with the start. 2015, it was a jump. It started at the last resort. I did the jump. 15 minutes later, earthquake hit. The first thing I realized that I need to go. And there were a lot of children and a lot of women around me. So I was, you know, there was a filming crew was shooting us, filming us on the other end.


This is not a story of sympathy. I would rather want to be the story of bravery. How we made others believe in this, you know, there's hope. how we saved different lives, how we got back, all of us together, to the base. And it's an incredible story. So I'll start with the start. 2015, it was a jump. It started at the last resort. I did the jump. 15 minutes later, earthquake hit. The first thing I realized that I need to go. And there were a lot of children and a lot of women around me. So I was, you know, there was a filming crew was shooting us, filming us on the other end. and they were stuck. So it was just me and my producer who were running, saving the kids, saving the families, the Nepalese families there. And then we reached out to our crew. And I realized that one of our cameramen had a fall, and we never found his body. And by the time we got everybody together, so the first thing you always remember is when you get down, when you're stuck in an earthquake prone zone, go to the top.


how we saved different lives, how we got back, all of us together, to the base. And it's an incredible story. So I'll start with the start. 2015, it was a jump. It started at the last resort. I did the jump. 15 minutes later, earthquake hit. The first thing I realized that I need to go. And there were a lot of children and a lot of women around me. So I was, you know, there was a filming crew was shooting us, filming us on the other end. and they were stuck. So it was just me and my producer who were running, saving the kids, saving the families, the Nepalese families there. And then we reached out to our crew. And I realized that one of our cameramen had a fall, and we never found his body. And by the time we got everybody together, so the first thing you always remember is when you get down, when you're stuck in an earthquake prone zone, go to the top. go to the top of a mountain with space, because eventually everything comes down and you don't want to be the place where, you know, you're going to be absolutely.


and they were stuck. So it was just me and my producer who were running, saving the kids, saving the families, the Nepalese families there. And then we reached out to our crew. And I realized that one of our cameramen had a fall, and we never found his body. And by the time we got everybody together, so the first thing you always remember is when you get down, when you're stuck in an earthquake prone zone, go to the top. go to the top of a mountain with space, because eventually everything comes down and you don't want to be the place where, you know, you're going to be absolutely. You know, you don't want to be a victim at the bottom. So the first thing you do is you go into those open spaces and go on top. I remember they were just not Indian citizens. We were surrounded by Swedish, Israelis, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis. You wouldn't believe, but this is where we came very close to the Pakistani women, girls then. And there were a lot of, you know, good people from Bangladesh also. So, you know, I don't want to be geopolitics, but a lot of, you know, during crisis, everybody comes together. And that is one thing which I've learned from my city, which is Mumbai during crisis. Mumbai, I don't know who stays next to me. I don't know the name. I don't know the person, nothing. But during crisis, this entire city comes together. And that's precisely what happened in Nepal when that earthquake hit. Everything went for a toss. No connection, no network. We were completely aloof. On top of a mountain, stayed there for almost... Just a week, we used to drink water from the nearby waterfall. We used to eat corns in the market, in the field, corn field.


go to the top of a mountain with space, because eventually everything comes down and you don't want to be the place where, you know, you're going to be absolutely. You know, you don't want to be a victim at the bottom. So the first thing you do is you go into those open spaces and go on top. I remember they were just not Indian citizens. We were surrounded by Swedish, Israelis, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis. You wouldn't believe, but this is where we came very close to the Pakistani women, girls then. And there were a lot of, you know, good people from Bangladesh also. So, you know, I don't want to be geopolitics, but a lot of, you know, during crisis, everybody comes together. And that is one thing which I've learned from my city, which is Mumbai during crisis. Mumbai, I don't know who stays next to me. I don't know the name. I don't know the person, nothing. But during crisis, this entire city comes together. And that's precisely what happened in Nepal when that earthquake hit. Everything went for a toss. No connection, no network. We were completely aloof. On top of a mountain, stayed there for almost... Just a week, we used to drink water from the nearby waterfall. We used to eat corns in the market, in the field, corn field. And we survived. And somehow when that adrenaline and when that panic hits you, you don't feel hungry. You don't feel like, I think your body, I think we just over it. I think your body understands the situation. And we made a documentary out of it because we were a camera team. There was a camera with us. So I, being the director, I said, keep rolling. Let's see how it comes up, you know, because we didn't have places to charge the battery and everything. And we rolled and that documentary went on to win the British Council Award as the documentary was called as Nepal Hope Never Dies.


You know, you don't want to be a victim at the bottom. So the first thing you do is you go into those open spaces and go on top. I remember they were just not Indian citizens. We were surrounded by Swedish, Israelis, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis. You wouldn't believe, but this is where we came very close to the Pakistani women, girls then. And there were a lot of, you know, good people from Bangladesh also. So, you know, I don't want to be geopolitics, but a lot of, you know, during crisis, everybody comes together. And that is one thing which I've learned from my city, which is Mumbai during crisis. Mumbai, I don't know who stays next to me. I don't know the name. I don't know the person, nothing. But during crisis, this entire city comes together. And that's precisely what happened in Nepal when that earthquake hit. Everything went for a toss. No connection, no network. We were completely aloof. On top of a mountain, stayed there for almost... Just a week, we used to drink water from the nearby waterfall. We used to eat corns in the market, in the field, corn field. And we survived. And somehow when that adrenaline and when that panic hits you, you don't feel hungry. You don't feel like, I think your body, I think we just over it. I think your body understands the situation. And we made a documentary out of it because we were a camera team. There was a camera with us. So I, being the director, I said, keep rolling. Let's see how it comes up, you know, because we didn't have places to charge the battery and everything. And we rolled and that documentary went on to win the British Council Award as the documentary was called as Nepal Hope Never Dies. And it was shot and most of the crew, most of the people we shot are no more with us, but the memories are found. And it was a complete tribute to do that.


And we survived. And somehow when that adrenaline and when that panic hits you, you don't feel hungry. You don't feel like, I think your body, I think we just over it. I think your body understands the situation. And we made a documentary out of it because we were a camera team. There was a camera with us. So I, being the director, I said, keep rolling. Let's see how it comes up, you know, because we didn't have places to charge the battery and everything. And we rolled and that documentary went on to win the British Council Award as the documentary was called as Nepal Hope Never Dies. And it was shot and most of the crew, most of the people we shot are no more with us, but the memories are found. And it was a complete tribute to do that. But by the time we finished six days, seven days, and no help came to us, I realized that we have to take a little initiative ourselves.


And it was shot and most of the crew, most of the people we shot are no more with us, but the memories are found. And it was a complete tribute to do that. But by the time we finished six days, seven days, and no help came to us, I realized that we have to take a little initiative ourselves. Kathmandu was still 50, 60 kilometers away. Kathmandu, why? Because the airport was there and somebody told us on radio, somebody heard. So a lot of these Chinese whispers thing happening. And somebody told us that the Indian government has sent their flights and Indian armies looking out for all the Indian citizens and they are taking us back. And so are the Israeli authorities and the European authorities. So we said that it's high time instead of sitting in the mountains. We're almost six days, seven days, nothing to eat, nothing to sleep, no bath, nothing. So we thought it's high time. We need to take a tour, take a risk and we need to climb. We need to go to Kathmandu. So we left all our luggage, we left all our clothes, everything, but we took the camera along with us. And we walked for almost 30 days. We walked an entire day across different rivers and reached to a place where we could find. We could find a local transport and locals were very helpful. They helped us out to reach Kathmandu. We reached Kathmandu and we see millions of people at the airport, you know, fighting to go back. The runway had a crack. So not all the flights were coming, not the big flights were coming to Kathmandu and people were crying, screaming, injured. There was a complete chaos at the airport. But then I realized that Air India or, you know, the Indian army. Who are ranging different and not just for Mindy, for Indians, but for everyone. And I take great pride in saying that, you know, in spite of all these things, what our army does, we don't, we don't give them the kind of credit we should be giving because they go all out there. They fed us, they brought us in their cargo plane. We were brought while sitting, you know, if you can just Google the Indian army cargo plane. So we were brought in that. And then I spoke to my family. And of course my family, they knew about the earthquake and the media houses already had already published our photographs on news, different news channels saying that we were missing and missing for six days speaks a lot of volume. So my mom was very positive. At least she says so.


But by the time we finished six days, seven days, and no help came to us, I realized that we have to take a little initiative ourselves. Kathmandu was still 50, 60 kilometers away. Kathmandu, why? Because the airport was there and somebody told us on radio, somebody heard. So a lot of these Chinese whispers thing happening. And somebody told us that the Indian government has sent their flights and Indian armies looking out for all the Indian citizens and they are taking us back. And so are the Israeli authorities and the European authorities. So we said that it's high time instead of sitting in the mountains. We're almost six days, seven days, nothing to eat, nothing to sleep, no bath, nothing. So we thought it's high time. We need to take a tour, take a risk and we need to climb. We need to go to Kathmandu. So we left all our luggage, we left all our clothes, everything, but we took the camera along with us. And we walked for almost 30 days. We walked an entire day across different rivers and reached to a place where we could find. We could find a local transport and locals were very helpful. They helped us out to reach Kathmandu. We reached Kathmandu and we see millions of people at the airport, you know, fighting to go back. The runway had a crack. So not all the flights were coming, not the big flights were coming to Kathmandu and people were crying, screaming, injured. There was a complete chaos at the airport. But then I realized that Air India or, you know, the Indian army. Who are ranging different and not just for Mindy, for Indians, but for everyone. And I take great pride in saying that, you know, in spite of all these things, what our army does, we don't, we don't give them the kind of credit we should be giving because they go all out there. They fed us, they brought us in their cargo plane. We were brought while sitting, you know, if you can just Google the Indian army cargo plane. So we were brought in that. And then I spoke to my family. And of course my family, they knew about the earthquake and the media houses already had already published our photographs on news, different news channels saying that we were missing and missing for six days speaks a lot of volume. So my mom was very positive. At least she says so. But a lot of family members gave up hopes and that's where I decided that I'm going to document and I'm going to give the name of this documentary as Hope Never Dies. And it was good to be back. I felt like I...


Kathmandu was still 50, 60 kilometers away. Kathmandu, why? Because the airport was there and somebody told us on radio, somebody heard. So a lot of these Chinese whispers thing happening. And somebody told us that the Indian government has sent their flights and Indian armies looking out for all the Indian citizens and they are taking us back. And so are the Israeli authorities and the European authorities. So we said that it's high time instead of sitting in the mountains. We're almost six days, seven days, nothing to eat, nothing to sleep, no bath, nothing. So we thought it's high time. We need to take a tour, take a risk and we need to climb. We need to go to Kathmandu. So we left all our luggage, we left all our clothes, everything, but we took the camera along with us. And we walked for almost 30 days. We walked an entire day across different rivers and reached to a place where we could find. We could find a local transport and locals were very helpful. They helped us out to reach Kathmandu. We reached Kathmandu and we see millions of people at the airport, you know, fighting to go back. The runway had a crack. So not all the flights were coming, not the big flights were coming to Kathmandu and people were crying, screaming, injured. There was a complete chaos at the airport. But then I realized that Air India or, you know, the Indian army. Who are ranging different and not just for Mindy, for Indians, but for everyone. And I take great pride in saying that, you know, in spite of all these things, what our army does, we don't, we don't give them the kind of credit we should be giving because they go all out there. They fed us, they brought us in their cargo plane. We were brought while sitting, you know, if you can just Google the Indian army cargo plane. So we were brought in that. And then I spoke to my family. And of course my family, they knew about the earthquake and the media houses already had already published our photographs on news, different news channels saying that we were missing and missing for six days speaks a lot of volume. So my mom was very positive. At least she says so. But a lot of family members gave up hopes and that's where I decided that I'm going to document and I'm going to give the name of this documentary as Hope Never Dies. And it was good to be back. I felt like I... I had a reborn and I'm being brought into life again for a purpose. And since then, I've become more wise, more clear, more vocal.


But a lot of family members gave up hopes and that's where I decided that I'm going to document and I'm going to give the name of this documentary as Hope Never Dies. And it was good to be back. I felt like I... I had a reborn and I'm being brought into life again for a purpose. And since then, I've become more wise, more clear, more vocal. more empathetic than sympathetic yes that was one incident but otherwise other there are a lot of other incidents where we have experienced paranormal activities and can i say


I had a reborn and I'm being brought into life again for a purpose. And since then, I've become more wise, more clear, more vocal. more empathetic than sympathetic yes that was one incident but otherwise other there are a lot of other incidents where we have experienced paranormal activities and can i say So, this is a story which goes back a couple of years in Rajasthan. There is a place called as Sirohi. Now, Sirohi or the Maharaja of Sirohi were the princely Maharajas. There were different princely states before partition in India. So, Sirohi was one of the princely states and Mount Abu was one of the small pran which came under the princely state of Sirohi.


more empathetic than sympathetic yes that was one incident but otherwise other there are a lot of other incidents where we have experienced paranormal activities and can i say So, this is a story which goes back a couple of years in Rajasthan. There is a place called as Sirohi. Now, Sirohi or the Maharaja of Sirohi were the princely Maharajas. There were different princely states before partition in India. So, Sirohi was one of the princely states and Mount Abu was one of the small pran which came under the princely state of Sirohi. So along with the Maharaja of Sirohi, we went to see the Maharaja Ka Mahal or the fort of the Maharaja or the Sirohi fort.


So, this is a story which goes back a couple of years in Rajasthan. There is a place called as Sirohi. Now, Sirohi or the Maharaja of Sirohi were the princely Maharajas. There were different princely states before partition in India. So, Sirohi was one of the princely states and Mount Abu was one of the small pran which came under the princely state of Sirohi. So along with the Maharaja of Sirohi, we went to see the Maharaja Ka Mahal or the fort of the Maharaja or the Sirohi fort. And I don't know about ghosts and I don't know about paranormal activities. I don't know a lot of things about them, but I realized that it's all about the energies. The moment you step into that zone, that fort, you realize that there's something very bad, very, very brutal happened, very gruesome, which has happened to that.


So along with the Maharaja of Sirohi, we went to see the Maharaja Ka Mahal or the fort of the Maharaja or the Sirohi fort. And I don't know about ghosts and I don't know about paranormal activities. I don't know a lot of things about them, but I realized that it's all about the energies. The moment you step into that zone, that fort, you realize that there's something very bad, very, very brutal happened, very gruesome, which has happened to that. In fact, there was this one spot where I was specifically talking about, and Rajasthan, of course, everybody knows that it is known for its spooky places, whether it is Bandavgarh, whether it is, you know, the different village, or whether it is the temple where you turn around and you turn into a stone. You know, different myths and different legends are associated with this state.


And I don't know about ghosts and I don't know about paranormal activities. I don't know a lot of things about them, but I realized that it's all about the energies. The moment you step into that zone, that fort, you realize that there's something very bad, very, very brutal happened, very gruesome, which has happened to that. In fact, there was this one spot where I was specifically talking about, and Rajasthan, of course, everybody knows that it is known for its spooky places, whether it is Bandavgarh, whether it is, you know, the different village, or whether it is the temple where you turn around and you turn into a stone. You know, different myths and different legends are associated with this state. So Sirohi was never mentioned into it and this was my first time, first-hand experience. So I was speaking and of course there are a couple of gadgets when we are filming, we have cameras, we have mics and all of that stuff. So there are a couple of...


In fact, there was this one spot where I was specifically talking about, and Rajasthan, of course, everybody knows that it is known for its spooky places, whether it is Bandavgarh, whether it is, you know, the different village, or whether it is the temple where you turn around and you turn into a stone. You know, different myths and different legends are associated with this state. So Sirohi was never mentioned into it and this was my first time, first-hand experience. So I was speaking and of course there are a couple of gadgets when we are filming, we have cameras, we have mics and all of that stuff. So there are a couple of... gadgets. And gadget needs a certain frequency. And I was talking about the paranormal activities which has happened in the fort. And the moment I would say paranormal, or ghost, or something like that, you know, the audio used to go off.


So Sirohi was never mentioned into it and this was my first time, first-hand experience. So I was speaking and of course there are a couple of gadgets when we are filming, we have cameras, we have mics and all of that stuff. So there are a couple of... gadgets. And gadget needs a certain frequency. And I was talking about the paranormal activities which has happened in the fort. And the moment I would say paranormal, or ghost, or something like that, you know, the audio used to go off. So one take, two take, three take.


gadgets. And gadget needs a certain frequency. And I was talking about the paranormal activities which has happened in the fort. And the moment I would say paranormal, or ghost, or something like that, you know, the audio used to go off. So one take, two take, three take. We did 27 takes and every time I would say, well, this is a space where there are a lot of paranormal activity used to happen or experience or something like that. The voice used to get cut. 27 takes we did and the voice only used to get cut on paranormal or ghost. Well, you know what, what actually instead of getting scared, what made me think was is the ghost European or something? How can they speak so fluent English? Nevertheless, but it was a very spooky place. And then the Maharaja took us to the main courtyard where he showed that a lot of battles were fought here. A lot of people were killed here.


So one take, two take, three take. We did 27 takes and every time I would say, well, this is a space where there are a lot of paranormal activity used to happen or experience or something like that. The voice used to get cut. 27 takes we did and the voice only used to get cut on paranormal or ghost. Well, you know what, what actually instead of getting scared, what made me think was is the ghost European or something? How can they speak so fluent English? Nevertheless, but it was a very spooky place. And then the Maharaja took us to the main courtyard where he showed that a lot of battles were fought here. A lot of people were killed here. And the stains of their blood still remains on the floor. Unfortunately, there was a wedding which happened in that fort a couple of decades back. And it is inappropriate to have such floorings or, you know, it's not considered to be very holy. So the Maharaja changed the entire marble of the floor.


We did 27 takes and every time I would say, well, this is a space where there are a lot of paranormal activity used to happen or experience or something like that. The voice used to get cut. 27 takes we did and the voice only used to get cut on paranormal or ghost. Well, you know what, what actually instead of getting scared, what made me think was is the ghost European or something? How can they speak so fluent English? Nevertheless, but it was a very spooky place. And then the Maharaja took us to the main courtyard where he showed that a lot of battles were fought here. A lot of people were killed here. And the stains of their blood still remains on the floor. Unfortunately, there was a wedding which happened in that fort a couple of decades back. And it is inappropriate to have such floorings or, you know, it's not considered to be very holy. So the Maharaja changed the entire marble of the floor. because there were a lot of stains of the blood. So he changed the entire marble, entire flooring of the fort. And the moment he put the new marble or the new flooring, here's the best part. The stain emerged.


And the stains of their blood still remains on the floor. Unfortunately, there was a wedding which happened in that fort a couple of decades back. And it is inappropriate to have such floorings or, you know, it's not considered to be very holy. So the Maharaja changed the entire marble of the floor. because there were a lot of stains of the blood. So he changed the entire marble, entire flooring of the fort. And the moment he put the new marble or the new flooring, here's the best part. The stain emerged. All the same emotes. There are stories where ghosts have hit the watchmen. And I don't know. I don't know how to speak.


because there were a lot of stains of the blood. So he changed the entire marble, entire flooring of the fort. And the moment he put the new marble or the new flooring, here's the best part. The stain emerged. All the same emotes. There are stories where ghosts have hit the watchmen. And I don't know. I don't know how to speak. It's very hard to even narrate the story to you.


All the same emotes. There are stories where ghosts have hit the watchmen. And I don't know. I don't know how to speak. It's very hard to even narrate the story to you. But a lot of stories which you have heard, which you may not have experienced yourself, but are true in Rajasthan. And this one's coming straight away from my first and my practical experiences. In college, we used to have, because I'm a Mascombe student, the first year is always great, wherein you're giving a camera and you're told to do a documentary and one small short film. So I come from Pune. Pune is a cantonment area. And there are a lot of these bungalows, huge bungalows with, you know, beautiful trees and Denzi forest. So there was this bungalow in the cantonment area, in the camp area. And on the gate itself, they had written, beware of ferocious dogs and ghosts.


It's very hard to even narrate the story to you. But a lot of stories which you have heard, which you may not have experienced yourself, but are true in Rajasthan. And this one's coming straight away from my first and my practical experiences. In college, we used to have, because I'm a Mascombe student, the first year is always great, wherein you're giving a camera and you're told to do a documentary and one small short film. So I come from Pune. Pune is a cantonment area. And there are a lot of these bungalows, huge bungalows with, you know, beautiful trees and Denzi forest. So there was this bungalow in the cantonment area, in the camp area. And on the gate itself, they had written, beware of ferocious dogs and ghosts. So just out of curiosity and imagine, you know, a creative mind like me, you know, I wanted to do a documentary on them. And that point of time, we used to have those night vision cameras. So we decided that, you know.


But a lot of stories which you have heard, which you may not have experienced yourself, but are true in Rajasthan. And this one's coming straight away from my first and my practical experiences. In college, we used to have, because I'm a Mascombe student, the first year is always great, wherein you're giving a camera and you're told to do a documentary and one small short film. So I come from Pune. Pune is a cantonment area. And there are a lot of these bungalows, huge bungalows with, you know, beautiful trees and Denzi forest. So there was this bungalow in the cantonment area, in the camp area. And on the gate itself, they had written, beware of ferocious dogs and ghosts. So just out of curiosity and imagine, you know, a creative mind like me, you know, I wanted to do a documentary on them. And that point of time, we used to have those night vision cameras. So we decided that, you know. We decided that we are a big fan of Blair Beach project. So might as well we'll go stay there, you know, the entire night, film the footage and then bring on the editing table and then make a story out of it.


So just out of curiosity and imagine, you know, a creative mind like me, you know, I wanted to do a documentary on them. And that point of time, we used to have those night vision cameras. So we decided that, you know. We decided that we are a big fan of Blair Beach project. So might as well we'll go stay there, you know, the entire night, film the footage and then bring on the editing table and then make a story out of it. So I still remember there were four cameras and I was talking to the camera saying that the porch and we were allowed to go and stay there that night. And while we were there, there was a small swing outside the window.


We decided that we are a big fan of Blair Beach project. So might as well we'll go stay there, you know, the entire night, film the footage and then bring on the editing table and then make a story out of it. So I still remember there were four cameras and I was talking to the camera saying that the porch and we were allowed to go and stay there that night. And while we were there, there was a small swing outside the window. And I was speaking to the camera and then slowly I stopped because I saw something and I turned the camera and I showed the audience that there is no air, there is no breeze at all.


So I still remember there were four cameras and I was talking to the camera saying that the porch and we were allowed to go and stay there that night. And while we were there, there was a small swing outside the window. And I was speaking to the camera and then slowly I stopped because I saw something and I turned the camera and I showed the audience that there is no air, there is no breeze at all. And the swing was going right from one end to the other. And we didn't know how it happened. One of our crew experienced something very cold on her shoulder. She said that, you know, I was filming at the same time, you know, somebody touched me and that person was very cold. She fainted and by the time she woke up, we were asked to leave the premises. Actually, not asked, we were thrown away from the premises. It was a funny incident, but something happened, not to me, but something spooky. It did happen to me. If you ask me whether I've seen ghosts, not really. Have I experienced supernatural energies? Maybe a little bit, but energies are very strong. There are people you walk into, you see, you don't know, and you don't like them. Energy. You like them, energy. So we're all made of atoms.


And I was speaking to the camera and then slowly I stopped because I saw something and I turned the camera and I showed the audience that there is no air, there is no breeze at all. And the swing was going right from one end to the other. And we didn't know how it happened. One of our crew experienced something very cold on her shoulder. She said that, you know, I was filming at the same time, you know, somebody touched me and that person was very cold. She fainted and by the time she woke up, we were asked to leave the premises. Actually, not asked, we were thrown away from the premises. It was a funny incident, but something happened, not to me, but something spooky. It did happen to me. If you ask me whether I've seen ghosts, not really. Have I experienced supernatural energies? Maybe a little bit, but energies are very strong. There are people you walk into, you see, you don't know, and you don't like them. Energy. You like them, energy. So we're all made of atoms. And, you know, this can be spooked. A lot of, I met during my course of my career, I met a lot of people who do black magic.


And the swing was going right from one end to the other. And we didn't know how it happened. One of our crew experienced something very cold on her shoulder. She said that, you know, I was filming at the same time, you know, somebody touched me and that person was very cold. She fainted and by the time she woke up, we were asked to leave the premises. Actually, not asked, we were thrown away from the premises. It was a funny incident, but something happened, not to me, but something spooky. It did happen to me. If you ask me whether I've seen ghosts, not really. Have I experienced supernatural energies? Maybe a little bit, but energies are very strong. There are people you walk into, you see, you don't know, and you don't like them. Energy. You like them, energy. So we're all made of atoms. And, you know, this can be spooked. A lot of, I met during my course of my career, I met a lot of people who do black magic. and they experience certain connection with a certain entity and the people from the other side.


And, you know, this can be spooked. A lot of, I met during my course of my career, I met a lot of people who do black magic. and they experience certain connection with a certain entity and the people from the other side. Well, a lot of this thing happens and everything is associated with the energy. Talking about black magic, there's a village in Assam, which is completely dedicated to black magic. If you want to learn black magic, well, they teach you. You have to Google the name. I'm not able to recollect it right now, but it happens. It happens and I'm not sure, but I've seen things which cannot be explained.


and they experience certain connection with a certain entity and the people from the other side. Well, a lot of this thing happens and everything is associated with the energy. Talking about black magic, there's a village in Assam, which is completely dedicated to black magic. If you want to learn black magic, well, they teach you. You have to Google the name. I'm not able to recollect it right now, but it happens. It happens and I'm not sure, but I've seen things which cannot be explained. So I want to reserve my comments, but you know, it does happen and people still do practice all these things. So the more you get into all these things, the spooky and the weird life starts changing because I realized that because we are filmmakers, a lot of filmmakers go into that zone while writing a certain script. And I remember a couple of my friends making a horror movie and then they went into the certain research of demonic and satin research. And they started seeing a lot of things which otherwise they shouldn't. So I don't want to go that side, but a lot of things can happen while you're traveling. And because we were a filming crew, you know, the best part is we had a camera. So everything was shot, everything was documented. And that's just a few of the things which we have experienced, whether it was the earthquake, whether it was the spooky paranormal experience, or whether it was the bizarre experience. Everything becomes a part of the package. That's what traveling is all about, isn't it?


Well, a lot of this thing happens and everything is associated with the energy. Talking about black magic, there's a village in Assam, which is completely dedicated to black magic. If you want to learn black magic, well, they teach you. You have to Google the name. I'm not able to recollect it right now, but it happens. It happens and I'm not sure, but I've seen things which cannot be explained. So I want to reserve my comments, but you know, it does happen and people still do practice all these things. So the more you get into all these things, the spooky and the weird life starts changing because I realized that because we are filmmakers, a lot of filmmakers go into that zone while writing a certain script. And I remember a couple of my friends making a horror movie and then they went into the certain research of demonic and satin research. And they started seeing a lot of things which otherwise they shouldn't. So I don't want to go that side, but a lot of things can happen while you're traveling. And because we were a filming crew, you know, the best part is we had a camera. So everything was shot, everything was documented. And that's just a few of the things which we have experienced, whether it was the earthquake, whether it was the spooky paranormal experience, or whether it was the bizarre experience. Everything becomes a part of the package. That's what traveling is all about, isn't it? In the recent past, I've realized that there's a huge popularity for K-pop or the K-culture or the Korean culture. But just a quick experience, what I have experienced and everything is not glossy, to be very frank. I was in Seoul a couple of years back.


So I want to reserve my comments, but you know, it does happen and people still do practice all these things. So the more you get into all these things, the spooky and the weird life starts changing because I realized that because we are filmmakers, a lot of filmmakers go into that zone while writing a certain script. And I remember a couple of my friends making a horror movie and then they went into the certain research of demonic and satin research. And they started seeing a lot of things which otherwise they shouldn't. So I don't want to go that side, but a lot of things can happen while you're traveling. And because we were a filming crew, you know, the best part is we had a camera. So everything was shot, everything was documented. And that's just a few of the things which we have experienced, whether it was the earthquake, whether it was the spooky paranormal experience, or whether it was the bizarre experience. Everything becomes a part of the package. That's what traveling is all about, isn't it? In the recent past, I've realized that there's a huge popularity for K-pop or the K-culture or the Korean culture. But just a quick experience, what I have experienced and everything is not glossy, to be very frank. I was in Seoul a couple of years back. And the city is a beautiful city, not too crowded, especially coming from India, you know, every place outside India is not too crowded. But people are realized and this is I'm going to be absolutely blunt here, people are extremely, extremely artificial, whether there's, you know, it's, it's, they call it as the cosmetic capital of the world. Everybody is so artificial, everybody's so plastic, everybody's so, so, so cosmetic. And there were a couple of bars and I, I personally didn't experience it. But I realized I saw the boards and then in big broad letters, right outside the pubs, they have written that Pakistanis and Indians are not allowed inside the pub. It was very demoralizing. Not that we were not allowed, but we were compared with Pakistanis.


In the recent past, I've realized that there's a huge popularity for K-pop or the K-culture or the Korean culture. But just a quick experience, what I have experienced and everything is not glossy, to be very frank. I was in Seoul a couple of years back. And the city is a beautiful city, not too crowded, especially coming from India, you know, every place outside India is not too crowded. But people are realized and this is I'm going to be absolutely blunt here, people are extremely, extremely artificial, whether there's, you know, it's, it's, they call it as the cosmetic capital of the world. Everybody is so artificial, everybody's so plastic, everybody's so, so, so cosmetic. And there were a couple of bars and I, I personally didn't experience it. But I realized I saw the boards and then in big broad letters, right outside the pubs, they have written that Pakistanis and Indians are not allowed inside the pub. It was very demoralizing. Not that we were not allowed, but we were compared with Pakistanis. But nevertheless, these things, you know, I wish, you know, things were the other way around also. But there's a huge amount of respect and appreciation we Indians give the Korean, whether it is their automobile industry, whether it is their K-pop culture, whether it is their music bands. My niece, you know, she's a huge fan of BTS. And I promised that next year I'm going to take her to Seoul to meet. They have this small concert there. So I'll go and take her there. They are fascinated with their clothing style and their cosmetics and everything is so perfect and so beautiful. But that's just the life what these people have been living because in real life, the life is very difficult out there. Not much employment.


And the city is a beautiful city, not too crowded, especially coming from India, you know, every place outside India is not too crowded. But people are realized and this is I'm going to be absolutely blunt here, people are extremely, extremely artificial, whether there's, you know, it's, it's, they call it as the cosmetic capital of the world. Everybody is so artificial, everybody's so plastic, everybody's so, so, so cosmetic. And there were a couple of bars and I, I personally didn't experience it. But I realized I saw the boards and then in big broad letters, right outside the pubs, they have written that Pakistanis and Indians are not allowed inside the pub. It was very demoralizing. Not that we were not allowed, but we were compared with Pakistanis. But nevertheless, these things, you know, I wish, you know, things were the other way around also. But there's a huge amount of respect and appreciation we Indians give the Korean, whether it is their automobile industry, whether it is their K-pop culture, whether it is their music bands. My niece, you know, she's a huge fan of BTS. And I promised that next year I'm going to take her to Seoul to meet. They have this small concert there. So I'll go and take her there. They are fascinated with their clothing style and their cosmetics and everything is so perfect and so beautiful. But that's just the life what these people have been living because in real life, the life is very difficult out there. Not much employment. Everybody has this social life which they want to show everybody is perfect. But otherwise, there's huge cases of anxiety and depression coming from this country. And at the same time, if you're not a Korean, and especially if you're an other Asian, you're going to experience a lot of discrimination, which doesn't happen the other way around. Because when Koreans come to India, you know, we praise them. We praise them for their work. We praise them because if you see, we got our independence in 1947. And 10, 15 years back later, after the North Korea and South Korea war, South Korea got drifted and they started pretty late. Better than what, I wouldn't say ours, but, you know, we also have to tackle it. The ratio goes with per person GDP. So theirs is much better. We have a huge population crisis here. But that doesn't give any country the right to say that, you know, you should not be allowed in, you know, a public place. It was a huge disheartening moment for me.


But nevertheless, these things, you know, I wish, you know, things were the other way around also. But there's a huge amount of respect and appreciation we Indians give the Korean, whether it is their automobile industry, whether it is their K-pop culture, whether it is their music bands. My niece, you know, she's a huge fan of BTS. And I promised that next year I'm going to take her to Seoul to meet. They have this small concert there. So I'll go and take her there. They are fascinated with their clothing style and their cosmetics and everything is so perfect and so beautiful. But that's just the life what these people have been living because in real life, the life is very difficult out there. Not much employment. Everybody has this social life which they want to show everybody is perfect. But otherwise, there's huge cases of anxiety and depression coming from this country. And at the same time, if you're not a Korean, and especially if you're an other Asian, you're going to experience a lot of discrimination, which doesn't happen the other way around. Because when Koreans come to India, you know, we praise them. We praise them for their work. We praise them because if you see, we got our independence in 1947. And 10, 15 years back later, after the North Korea and South Korea war, South Korea got drifted and they started pretty late. Better than what, I wouldn't say ours, but, you know, we also have to tackle it. The ratio goes with per person GDP. So theirs is much better. We have a huge population crisis here. But that doesn't give any country the right to say that, you know, you should not be allowed in, you know, a public place. It was a huge disheartening moment for me. And I'm sure every Indian who is watching or who is listening to me right now can probably relate to it.


Everybody has this social life which they want to show everybody is perfect. But otherwise, there's huge cases of anxiety and depression coming from this country. And at the same time, if you're not a Korean, and especially if you're an other Asian, you're going to experience a lot of discrimination, which doesn't happen the other way around. Because when Koreans come to India, you know, we praise them. We praise them for their work. We praise them because if you see, we got our independence in 1947. And 10, 15 years back later, after the North Korea and South Korea war, South Korea got drifted and they started pretty late. Better than what, I wouldn't say ours, but, you know, we also have to tackle it. The ratio goes with per person GDP. So theirs is much better. We have a huge population crisis here. But that doesn't give any country the right to say that, you know, you should not be allowed in, you know, a public place. It was a huge disheartening moment for me. And I'm sure every Indian who is watching or who is listening to me right now can probably relate to it. But this is what happens. And if you think that Korea is the only place, not really. You're sadly mistaken. You go to any country, if you're not the privileged one, if you're not going there with the locals, or if you're not a part of a certain lobby, you will be discriminated. And mind you, we are no different. The northeastern people come to Delhi, they are discriminated. So I think it's everywhere. But again, it's how you tackle. So for someone like me, because I used to always be surrounded by the tourism board and people who are from that region, I never experienced something like this. But it happens. And a lot of places it happens. And we Indians are also responsible for how people treat us. I'll tell you one very small incident. I was in Thailand.


And I'm sure every Indian who is watching or who is listening to me right now can probably relate to it. But this is what happens. And if you think that Korea is the only place, not really. You're sadly mistaken. You go to any country, if you're not the privileged one, if you're not going there with the locals, or if you're not a part of a certain lobby, you will be discriminated. And mind you, we are no different. The northeastern people come to Delhi, they are discriminated. So I think it's everywhere. But again, it's how you tackle. So for someone like me, because I used to always be surrounded by the tourism board and people who are from that region, I never experienced something like this. But it happens. And a lot of places it happens. And we Indians are also responsible for how people treat us. I'll tell you one very small incident. I was in Thailand. I was coming back to India, to Bombay from Thai Airways, and there were these bunch of guys with me on the flight, and it was an economy flight, so, you know.


But this is what happens. And if you think that Korea is the only place, not really. You're sadly mistaken. You go to any country, if you're not the privileged one, if you're not going there with the locals, or if you're not a part of a certain lobby, you will be discriminated. And mind you, we are no different. The northeastern people come to Delhi, they are discriminated. So I think it's everywhere. But again, it's how you tackle. So for someone like me, because I used to always be surrounded by the tourism board and people who are from that region, I never experienced something like this. But it happens. And a lot of places it happens. And we Indians are also responsible for how people treat us. I'll tell you one very small incident. I was in Thailand. I was coming back to India, to Bombay from Thai Airways, and there were these bunch of guys with me on the flight, and it was an economy flight, so, you know. Whiskey, cola, you know, all that stuff. And there was a movie which was going on. It was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. And the moment they got into the aircraft, Indians would go and tell the...


I was coming back to India, to Bombay from Thai Airways, and there were these bunch of guys with me on the flight, and it was an economy flight, so, you know. Whiskey, cola, you know, all that stuff. And there was a movie which was going on. It was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. And the moment they got into the aircraft, Indians would go and tell the... I'm not sure. Can I say mango juice? Oh, we can say that, right? So the moment they got into the aircraft, the first thing they would ask for is, can we have some whiskey, you know? So just as a good gesture, Thai Airways is really excellent airlines. They would go, they would give, they were serving. And then after a couple of, you know, as the flight took off, again, someone raising hand and asking for drinks, couple of more drinks. By the time they were served three to four drinks,


Whiskey, cola, you know, all that stuff. And there was a movie which was going on. It was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. And the moment they got into the aircraft, Indians would go and tell the... I'm not sure. Can I say mango juice? Oh, we can say that, right? So the moment they got into the aircraft, the first thing they would ask for is, can we have some whiskey, you know? So just as a good gesture, Thai Airways is really excellent airlines. They would go, they would give, they were serving. And then after a couple of, you know, as the flight took off, again, someone raising hand and asking for drinks, couple of more drinks. By the time they were served three to four drinks, Because the movie was going on, Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara. Somebody from the back literally screamed, Senorita, can I have one more? It was embarrassing because it was not just Indian in that aircraft. There were so many people from different nationalities and I felt so embarrassed.


I'm not sure. Can I say mango juice? Oh, we can say that, right? So the moment they got into the aircraft, the first thing they would ask for is, can we have some whiskey, you know? So just as a good gesture, Thai Airways is really excellent airlines. They would go, they would give, they were serving. And then after a couple of, you know, as the flight took off, again, someone raising hand and asking for drinks, couple of more drinks. By the time they were served three to four drinks, Because the movie was going on, Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara. Somebody from the back literally screamed, Senorita, can I have one more? It was embarrassing because it was not just Indian in that aircraft. There were so many people from different nationalities and I felt so embarrassed. Also, I realize that when you go out, when Indians especially go out, they adhere themselves with the rules and regulations of the outside body. But the moment they come inside India, they want to go spit, throw. You know, I don't know the mentality, what it is like. You know, I realize that when it comes to personal hygiene, we have been talking about it. I wish we could have taught more about the social hygiene or how you can make a society a better place to live. Japan, in that case, is excellent. UAE, in that case, is excellent. You cannot have a car kept for a really long time, especially a car with all dust. There are so many fines out there. And it's a tax-free country, UAE. But they make it a point to generate all that revenue through fines. So, you know, a lot of places out there, Norway or Finland, one of the finest and one of the happiest countries in the world, so clean, so nice, and people treasure. Their nature and their, you know, everything is part of their stories, their upbringing. And India being so diverse and so amazing when it comes to its landmark and when it comes to its history, we are one of the oldest civilizations still existing. I wish if we can be a little prompt and a little civilized to showcase our talent in the best way possible to the outside world, things will change. But right now...


Because the movie was going on, Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara. Somebody from the back literally screamed, Senorita, can I have one more? It was embarrassing because it was not just Indian in that aircraft. There were so many people from different nationalities and I felt so embarrassed. Also, I realize that when you go out, when Indians especially go out, they adhere themselves with the rules and regulations of the outside body. But the moment they come inside India, they want to go spit, throw. You know, I don't know the mentality, what it is like. You know, I realize that when it comes to personal hygiene, we have been talking about it. I wish we could have taught more about the social hygiene or how you can make a society a better place to live. Japan, in that case, is excellent. UAE, in that case, is excellent. You cannot have a car kept for a really long time, especially a car with all dust. There are so many fines out there. And it's a tax-free country, UAE. But they make it a point to generate all that revenue through fines. So, you know, a lot of places out there, Norway or Finland, one of the finest and one of the happiest countries in the world, so clean, so nice, and people treasure. Their nature and their, you know, everything is part of their stories, their upbringing. And India being so diverse and so amazing when it comes to its landmark and when it comes to its history, we are one of the oldest civilizations still existing. I wish if we can be a little prompt and a little civilized to showcase our talent in the best way possible to the outside world, things will change. But right now... Ah, we need to work a really lot. You know, work should be in progress.


Also, I realize that when you go out, when Indians especially go out, they adhere themselves with the rules and regulations of the outside body. But the moment they come inside India, they want to go spit, throw. You know, I don't know the mentality, what it is like. You know, I realize that when it comes to personal hygiene, we have been talking about it. I wish we could have taught more about the social hygiene or how you can make a society a better place to live. Japan, in that case, is excellent. UAE, in that case, is excellent. You cannot have a car kept for a really long time, especially a car with all dust. There are so many fines out there. And it's a tax-free country, UAE. But they make it a point to generate all that revenue through fines. So, you know, a lot of places out there, Norway or Finland, one of the finest and one of the happiest countries in the world, so clean, so nice, and people treasure. Their nature and their, you know, everything is part of their stories, their upbringing. And India being so diverse and so amazing when it comes to its landmark and when it comes to its history, we are one of the oldest civilizations still existing. I wish if we can be a little prompt and a little civilized to showcase our talent in the best way possible to the outside world, things will change. But right now... Ah, we need to work a really lot. You know, work should be in progress. So the big question always comes to me is out of the 40 odd countries, Rohan, you have traveled, which one is your favorite? So my favorite, I mean, answer is very simple. You know, what do you expect from an Indian guy? It has to be India, right? India is incredible. I would want to travel the whole of the world, but end of the day, I want to come back home, come back to my mom, come back to my home and my home is India. So that's the plan. But again, you know, if you ask me one of the finest experiences I have had throughout the world.


Ah, we need to work a really lot. You know, work should be in progress. So the big question always comes to me is out of the 40 odd countries, Rohan, you have traveled, which one is your favorite? So my favorite, I mean, answer is very simple. You know, what do you expect from an Indian guy? It has to be India, right? India is incredible. I would want to travel the whole of the world, but end of the day, I want to come back home, come back to my mom, come back to my home and my home is India. So that's the plan. But again, you know, if you ask me one of the finest experiences I have had throughout the world. I would say Norway is a great, great, great country. Not much has been talked about it because it's expensive. It's far away in the Lapland and is way out of the touristy circuit reach. The beautiful fjords, you land in Oslo. But then I did a road trip because I think the best experience you have of that particular country, if you want to know the culture, the legends, the people, the food, it's road trips. So I went all the way to the northernmost tip of Europe. It's called as North Cape.


So the big question always comes to me is out of the 40 odd countries, Rohan, you have traveled, which one is your favorite? So my favorite, I mean, answer is very simple. You know, what do you expect from an Indian guy? It has to be India, right? India is incredible. I would want to travel the whole of the world, but end of the day, I want to come back home, come back to my mom, come back to my home and my home is India. So that's the plan. But again, you know, if you ask me one of the finest experiences I have had throughout the world. I would say Norway is a great, great, great country. Not much has been talked about it because it's expensive. It's far away in the Lapland and is way out of the touristy circuit reach. The beautiful fjords, you land in Oslo. But then I did a road trip because I think the best experience you have of that particular country, if you want to know the culture, the legends, the people, the food, it's road trips. So I went all the way to the northernmost tip of Europe. It's called as North Cape. In the Norwegian language, it's called as Noorkap.


I would say Norway is a great, great, great country. Not much has been talked about it because it's expensive. It's far away in the Lapland and is way out of the touristy circuit reach. The beautiful fjords, you land in Oslo. But then I did a road trip because I think the best experience you have of that particular country, if you want to know the culture, the legends, the people, the food, it's road trips. So I went all the way to the northernmost tip of Europe. It's called as North Cape. In the Norwegian language, it's called as Noorkap. And I drove down on these icy roads with reindeers running with me and with, you know, links and, you know, my car getting skid in the snow and amazing. That was one of the best experiences. So if you ask me one thing, one place, I would say do a road trip in Norway. Coming from Norway, the neighboring country, it's called Finland. If you get a chance, go and meet the Santa Claus in Roviniyami. So we have equator. In India, we have, what is it, Capricorn and Cancer?


In the Norwegian language, it's called as Noorkap. And I drove down on these icy roads with reindeers running with me and with, you know, links and, you know, my car getting skid in the snow and amazing. That was one of the best experiences. So if you ask me one thing, one place, I would say do a road trip in Norway. Coming from Norway, the neighboring country, it's called Finland. If you get a chance, go and meet the Santa Claus in Roviniyami. So we have equator. In India, we have, what is it, Capricorn and Cancer? Tropic, tropic. Got it. I'll take it from the last line.


And I drove down on these icy roads with reindeers running with me and with, you know, links and, you know, my car getting skid in the snow and amazing. That was one of the best experiences. So if you ask me one thing, one place, I would say do a road trip in Norway. Coming from Norway, the neighboring country, it's called Finland. If you get a chance, go and meet the Santa Claus in Roviniyami. So we have equator. In India, we have, what is it, Capricorn and Cancer? Tropic, tropic. Got it. I'll take it from the last line. So in India, how you have the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, you have the equator, okay? In these countries, which are about the Lapland, you have the Arctic Circle. So you have to cross the Arctic. And if you just Google Rovignami, so obviously there's no Santa Claus to tell you the truth and to disappoint you all. But the whole legend is so amazing that people still come and be a part of that story. And here's the best part, okay? There's a post office in Rovignami. It's on the Arctic.


Tropic, tropic. Got it. I'll take it from the last line. So in India, how you have the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, you have the equator, okay? In these countries, which are about the Lapland, you have the Arctic Circle. So you have to cross the Arctic. And if you just Google Rovignami, so obviously there's no Santa Claus to tell you the truth and to disappoint you all. But the whole legend is so amazing that people still come and be a part of that story. And here's the best part, okay? There's a post office in Rovignami. It's on the Arctic. So they have made a post office in Finland, in Roviniami on the Arctic. Whenever a child writes a letter to Santa Claus, it is by default, you know, taken to that post office. So we had the privilege of filming in that post office and we read a couple of stories and we read a couple of letters and they were...


So in India, how you have the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, you have the equator, okay? In these countries, which are about the Lapland, you have the Arctic Circle. So you have to cross the Arctic. And if you just Google Rovignami, so obviously there's no Santa Claus to tell you the truth and to disappoint you all. But the whole legend is so amazing that people still come and be a part of that story. And here's the best part, okay? There's a post office in Rovignami. It's on the Arctic. So they have made a post office in Finland, in Roviniami on the Arctic. Whenever a child writes a letter to Santa Claus, it is by default, you know, taken to that post office. So we had the privilege of filming in that post office and we read a couple of stories and we read a couple of letters and they were... I wouldn't say cute, but it really broke my heart because I read a couple of letters from Africa and they didn't want money or toys or games. They wanted their parents to be away from the misery and to lead a better life and lead the labor life. And they wanted to eat every day. They wanted to have the privilege of eating every day. And that makes you change so much. And that makes you think that we are privileged. We need to nurture that. We need to take care of that. So that is one place. And Finland is more of flatlands. Norway is more of mountains and fjords. And of course, the two other countries are also amazing, Denmark and Sweden. Sweden is cheaper, so you can get liquor, which is very Sweden. And if you are part of one of these countries, you can travel and get stuff from other countries. So it's not like India saying you're going to Pakistan and then coming back.


So they have made a post office in Finland, in Roviniami on the Arctic. Whenever a child writes a letter to Santa Claus, it is by default, you know, taken to that post office. So we had the privilege of filming in that post office and we read a couple of stories and we read a couple of letters and they were... I wouldn't say cute, but it really broke my heart because I read a couple of letters from Africa and they didn't want money or toys or games. They wanted their parents to be away from the misery and to lead a better life and lead the labor life. And they wanted to eat every day. They wanted to have the privilege of eating every day. And that makes you change so much. And that makes you think that we are privileged. We need to nurture that. We need to take care of that. So that is one place. And Finland is more of flatlands. Norway is more of mountains and fjords. And of course, the two other countries are also amazing, Denmark and Sweden. Sweden is cheaper, so you can get liquor, which is very Sweden. And if you are part of one of these countries, you can travel and get stuff from other countries. So it's not like India saying you're going to Pakistan and then coming back. So Scandinavia is one place I would strongly urge. In Asia, Japan. Japan will make you a better person. What can I say about that place? Whether it is food, whether it is culture, whether it is history, whether it is discipline, amazing, amazing country. In India, I would strongly urge people, especially newcomers who are into the travel circuit, please travel northeast.


I wouldn't say cute, but it really broke my heart because I read a couple of letters from Africa and they didn't want money or toys or games. They wanted their parents to be away from the misery and to lead a better life and lead the labor life. And they wanted to eat every day. They wanted to have the privilege of eating every day. And that makes you change so much. And that makes you think that we are privileged. We need to nurture that. We need to take care of that. So that is one place. And Finland is more of flatlands. Norway is more of mountains and fjords. And of course, the two other countries are also amazing, Denmark and Sweden. Sweden is cheaper, so you can get liquor, which is very Sweden. And if you are part of one of these countries, you can travel and get stuff from other countries. So it's not like India saying you're going to Pakistan and then coming back. So Scandinavia is one place I would strongly urge. In Asia, Japan. Japan will make you a better person. What can I say about that place? Whether it is food, whether it is culture, whether it is history, whether it is discipline, amazing, amazing country. In India, I would strongly urge people, especially newcomers who are into the travel circuit, please travel northeast. A lot of people haven't traveled that because, of course, the roads are very remote and the whole traveling to those places because it's a mountain terrain and after monsoon, there are a lot of landslides.


So Scandinavia is one place I would strongly urge. In Asia, Japan. Japan will make you a better person. What can I say about that place? Whether it is food, whether it is culture, whether it is history, whether it is discipline, amazing, amazing country. In India, I would strongly urge people, especially newcomers who are into the travel circuit, please travel northeast. A lot of people haven't traveled that because, of course, the roads are very remote and the whole traveling to those places because it's a mountain terrain and after monsoon, there are a lot of landslides. traveling there is a bit of a task and you cannot travel there for a weekend or something. You need to have a brief amount of time, whether it is seven, eight days. But when you stay with those people, the tribes, the people, their stories, it's so different and so amazing. And it makes your whole experience so fruitful and so, so, so fulfilling.


A lot of people haven't traveled that because, of course, the roads are very remote and the whole traveling to those places because it's a mountain terrain and after monsoon, there are a lot of landslides. traveling there is a bit of a task and you cannot travel there for a weekend or something. You need to have a brief amount of time, whether it is seven, eight days. But when you stay with those people, the tribes, the people, their stories, it's so different and so amazing. And it makes your whole experience so fruitful and so, so, so fulfilling. Again, one of the places which I thought was amazing and not much explored is Lakshadweep, which everybody is trying to promote. Unfortunately, it's also considered to be the very, you know, the fact that we don't, well, whatever stories I told you today, well, it is just to sum up that traveling is a very, very, very important part of your internal growth. If you want to widen your perspective, if you want to be a leader, if you want to take proper decisions, if you want to handle life during crucial times, you know, traveling will make you a better person, will make you deal with all these things, because when you travel, you're challenging yourself constantly. So I would strongly urge everybody who are willing to do big in life, let's start with the first step. Let's travel, shall we?


traveling there is a bit of a task and you cannot travel there for a weekend or something. You need to have a brief amount of time, whether it is seven, eight days. But when you stay with those people, the tribes, the people, their stories, it's so different and so amazing. And it makes your whole experience so fruitful and so, so, so fulfilling. Again, one of the places which I thought was amazing and not much explored is Lakshadweep, which everybody is trying to promote. Unfortunately, it's also considered to be the very, you know, the fact that we don't, well, whatever stories I told you today, well, it is just to sum up that traveling is a very, very, very important part of your internal growth. If you want to widen your perspective, if you want to be a leader, if you want to take proper decisions, if you want to handle life during crucial times, you know, traveling will make you a better person, will make you deal with all these things, because when you travel, you're challenging yourself constantly. So I would strongly urge everybody who are willing to do big in life, let's start with the first step. Let's travel, shall we?


In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had. He didn't say any more, but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me, and also made me the victim of not-viewed veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to the quality when it appears in a normal person, and so, it came about that in college, I was unjustly accused of being a politician.


In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had. He didn't say any more, but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me, and also made me the victim of not-viewed veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to the quality when it appears in a normal person, and so, it came about that in college, I was unjustly accused of being a politician. Because I was privy to the secrets of wild unknown men, most of the confidences were unsolved.