Shilpa Gupta (formerly Rohatgi) is a confused freelance travel writer who, in some state of clarity in a previous lifetime, had worked as a journalist with some of India’s top publications including India Today and The Indian Express. As the deputy editor of Marie Claire India, she had written on a range of subjects, some rather controversial, like polyandry, drug abuse among Indian women, and Jain sadhvis (nuns). From riots and women, to lifestyle and education, she has covered an array of disparate beats. If that doesn’t explain or illustrate Shilpa’s confused state of mind, perhaps this will: she still doesn’t know (or care) if she loves the sea more or the mountains. Or whether she’d rather be supping with the nomads of Mongolia or watching the dancers of the Cirque du Soleil. Or whether her dream destination is Brazil or South Korea or…

Shilpa is married to an Army officer. Which is just as well because—if you haven’t surmised already—there is nothing she likes better than travelling and, given the peripatetic nature of her husband’s job, the two are like marbles on a slope, never to be found in the same place again. Greedy and restless by nature, she wants everything. Like, yesterday. And oh, by the way, Shilpa detests being called a writer, preferring instead to be called a storyteller.