to what people today know about it then in 1971 our plan was to walk from pakistan to afghanistan to iran and cover 15 countries but tensions between india and pakistan were so high that we were denied visas so we took a steamer from india to iran in the deck class which has the cheapest tariff now this steamer docked at multiple ports including pakistan to pick up passengers soon our deck class was flooded with pakistanis and they shared with us how they missed indian things they said due to tensions between both governments there was nonavailability of indian movies and music which they loved one person even said that the indian paan which was very popular there was also unavailable thats when i realized that the common folks of any country never bear hatred towards each other q your hitchhiking team of 1971 included your cousin sister was it safe for her to walk through so many countries including isolated spots a fortunately it was we did not encounter even a single incident where the three of us felt unsafe in fact people were extra protective of us when they saw the three of us walking families allowed us to stay with them at night locals helped us take the best routes etc but then it was a different time thats why i have titled my book it was a happy trusting world thenq have your travel experiences changed you as a persona in many ways the most important being that i do not carry prejudices i have experienced that inherently all people are good at heart in every country you visit an overwhelming majority will be eager to learn about your culture and your tradition even with food being a vegetarian in the 70s was a big challenge when visiting countries like afghanistan and iran because everything had meat being on a strict budget our eating places were restricted to roadside eateries and even there the chefs would allow me to cook my khichdi in fact they would gather around me to see what is this dish which does not have meat in itq with your travels being chronicled in detail does that mean no more travellinga travelling will continue always i have completed 106 countries and will try to cover as many as possible