For a heart’s calling

Vikrant Parmar

IT is the classical chicken and egg dilemma: did the book’s idea germinate first or that of the journey? Or, the jobs? It’s hard to decipher, but the travelogue-cum-memoir ‘28 jobs, 28 weeks, 28 states’ by Jubanashwa Mishra is sure a leap of faith. After all, how often and who can take such a massive risk midway through a thriving career?

At the very outset, Mishra confesses that if hailing from a middle-class family in India, taking the unconventional path is a sure-shot ticket to stardom — “you will be famous in no time”. Is it something that goaded him to go for 28 jobs in 28 weeks and in 28 different states of India? Or, was it a genuine quest for something his soul desired? Or, a challenge he wanted to ace? How was it a journey of self-discovery?

Inspired by the Canadian Sean Aiken, who completed 52 jobs in 52 weeks, Mishra successfully finished his journey in seven months, having travelled a distance of 25,000 kilometres through whatever mode of transport available, gathering truckloads of experience and a bagful of memories. Interestingly, the journey for him began at 28 too! By the way, fulfilling a dream through ‘crowd-funding’ seems a bit odd.

Any which way, on the brighter side, what is admirable is his intrepid spirit that dared the unknown, desired to travel the last mile, was ready to take on anything and anyone coming his way.

So whether he was with the ‘aghoris’ on the cremation grounds in Varanasi or among HIV+ people in Sikkim or selling condoms in rural Bihar, the author remained fearless. Among the jobs he accomplished were those of a mountain cleaner, TRP analyst, tattoo artist, rafting trainee, tea factory worker, mud artisan, film executive, snack seller, and many others. His experiences with Buddhist monks, ‘Naxalites’ and Israeli hippies make for interesting passages.

Amid all this, the author has narrated historical facts as well as mythological tales related to the places he visited. Without claiming literary excellence, he has gone about his business of highlighting experiences that charmed him and soothed his soul. He even sprinkles the text with poetic verses by famous bards.

In between, there is the story of the love of his life, whom he loses early and encounters again during his travels. Mishra has the company of women all along, but never quite overcomes the lasting charm of his first crush.

“Travel, it seems, was in my genes,” beams the author. True that!