rahul orra has set out on a barefoot pedalling trip across india to discover the country and his own self he was a curious sight on jaipur roads pedalling leisurely barefoot the bicycle stacked with minimal camping gear a camera slung around his neck clicking when he pleased that is why we struck up a conversation with rahul orra who is a well what would you call him a wanderer a traveller or maybe a photographer rahul carries a whole new philosophy with him as we discovered when we spoke to this youth from madhya pradesh while taking a stroll in the city with him says rahul ive been contemplating going on a trip like this but was unable to find a starting point finally a few months ago i realized i should go on a trip and explore more about my own self and so with a bag full of hopes and smiles that i intend spreading along the way i decided to collect the tales from the roadside in return and started my journey i want to see where humanity is headed to understand my existence rahul says his mission is to understand life and so he is not really focussed on the kilometres he covers a day it could be 150 or 50 but his focus is on trying to move away from heavily materialistic lifestyle he used to lead by living with the bare minimum during this trip and so hes just carrying his sleeping bag tent camera laptop and a small printer in his saddle bag i began this trip in november from my hometown jaora in madhya pradesh says rahul who is a fine arts graduate from baroda university with a postgraduate in photography hes already travelled in baroda and has done ahmedabad chittorgarh nimbhaheda kota and bundi and now he is here he laughs and admits that wherever he goes his barefeet and the fivemetre pagri become the centre of attraction there is no specific reason for not wearing shoes i am just trying to live on basics but if i get married and my wife wants me to go for a ball dance i will wear shoes laughs rahul its been six months since he started on this trip and till date he has never stayed in a hotel or paid for his meals you can call it a holiday tailormade for me whenever i go to a village or a town people entertain me like a guest ive never stayed in a rented place or paid for my lunches or dinners the moment i tell people about my journey they ask me to stay with them all i can say is people in india still believe in the philosophy of treating a guest like god he chats with the villagers at times clicks pictures and gifts it to them too amidst all this rahul does not forget to stay in touch with his family back in jaora or enquire about