Independence Day 2026 | The long way around India on a bicycle
Photographer Navin Paul recounts his five-year journey cycling across India to document the country's diverse people and traditions. The project highlights his experiences in various villages and his interactions with local communities.
Why it matters
It provides a human-centric perspective on India's cultural landscape and the importance of slow travel in understanding social nuances.
In 2021, I started cycling across India with a Nikon D850 camera and a loose plan to photograph whatever I found along the way — people, places, small routines of everyday life. I wanted to step away from a fixed routine and spend more time on the road, and cycling, with its slower pace, seemed the best way to do it.
It wasn’t meant to be a long project. And yet five years passed as I got to know the people of my country, and the journey turned into nearly 21,000 kilometres across 28 states and more than 180 villages.
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