The Breakfast That Started a Friendship

Back in 2012, on my last morning in Varanasi, I shared a simple breakfast with two other travellers on a hotel rooftop overlooking the Ganges. We traded stories from our time in India, and before we said goodbye, we swapped contact details — the way you do when you’re not quite ready for a trip to end.

Years later, and still in touch, I found out one of them — the lovely Mariya — had become a serious artist back home in Australia. I asked her to design something permanent for me: the lotus, India’s national flower, worn across cultures and religions as a symbol of beauty rising out of the mud.

My love of India, artisan connection, and friendship, all intertwined — and with me forever.

(Dummy copy to be overridden)