On the road I am constantly asked these questions, which I try to reply as patiently as I can. To satiate everybody’s curiosity, once and for all let’s just get all of this out of the way.

Don’t I feel scared?

Very! I sleep with the light on, when I travel and I keep a chair against the door of the hotel room. But there are two questions that I ask myself, constantly.

The first is- Do you want to spend your life wagging your tail or roaring and running through the jungle? The second is-Do you want to be a Saunahar or Lauhar? The answer to those two remain the same and I only keep those people around, who have the same viewpoint. Otherwise, sheep tend to try to convert you, constantly!

I get plenty of calls from family and friends, out of concern, trying to scare me about what can go wrong, who will harm me, what will happen. I just tune off or stop answering my phone, as simple as that. I only speak to people, especially when I’m travelling, who have true faith that someone is watching over them and me.

Which religion do I follow? What about my parents?

I’m a bin pende da lota. Na ithe da…na uthe da. None of the Gods are going to claim me, I have a pact with the Devil. My parents are practising Sikhs.

Why am I still unmarried?

Take a long hard look at me, I’m too much for most men to take.

How can my parents allow me to do what I do?

I have unfortunately, for everybody else and fortunately for me, always lead my life according to my rules. My parents tried very hard to control the rogue that I was as a teenager, but gave up after a certain age. Like my Dad says, ‘ if anyone stops you, then you will definitely do it. So the odds are better if one doesn’t say anything.’ Plus, they are both very strong willed themselves, so somewhere they know their genes won’t allow me to tow the line.

P.S- This is for all the random calls I get from the men that I meet during my travels. The sleaziest being, ‘ Madam humme aap chahiye ho!’ Like I tell you creeps, ‘It will take 5 of you to handle one of me. So the day your society allows women to keep those many, I will call you, Okay?