About Me — Ahaan Nalavadi
Sharing my stories with strangers born under different stars.
My name is Ahaan Nalavadi, and I’m from Mumbai, India. I’m a student at Duke University, a photographer, scuba-diver, traveler, and writer. Over the past 19 years, I have been to 35 countries and have been blessed to have experienced things that have molded my perspective on life. Every sunset I saw, every shark I swam with, every night I spent under the milky way — I changed a little. These are my stories.
Here’s where I stand.
I’m agnostic, so I believe the human brain is simply incapable of providing viable reason and consequent rational grounds to show just cause for the existence (or not) of a supreme being. Science tells me everything that happens can be explained, but that explanation hides between laws resembling lines of code too stunningly complex to have been naturally programmed.
I believe aliens exist, but I support Michael Hart’s exploration of the Fermi Paradox in An Explanation for the Absence of Extraterrestrials on Earth, and his line of reasoning which concludes — with quite certainty — that ‘first contact’ will never happen.
I abandoned my fear of death for the Kurzgesagt-coined ‘optimistic nihilism’, and I tell people my only fear is regret when deep down I truly fear dwarf clowns.
Additional clichés of your everyday wanderlust photographer that I adhere to include having an Instagram photography page, writing unnecessarily deep captions that often make no sense, having a tattoo related to the ocean, having a tattoo with metaphorical meaning, having had a man-bun at some point of my life, donning an extraneous amount of men’s jewelry, and using big words like ‘extraneous’ in an often erroneous manner simply to make myself sound more intelligent.
In all seriousness, though, I love life. Be as we may, carbon monkeys with opposable thumbs and electricity-conducting head sludge that built society, language and art — life is fucking beautiful. Our planet holds landscapes and creatures alien to the average person, and our overpriced, giant metallic birds give us the opportunity to explore them. Having had the privilege to do so, my stories are those of experiences and learnings.
Of memories, life lessons, habits, skills, advice, and inspiration that I have discovered through people I have met during my travels —
Or as I refer to them, through strangers born under different stars.
My Writing Style
I have an oddly unique writing style, which I believe is birthed from my writing of serious Instagram captions coupled with my BS-ing skills from school assignments. Whether it’s for better or for worse, I can’t decide; but something about the collaborative effort of long sentences, overused hyphens and semicolons, and swaying between fancy language and colloquial terms, gives my writing a certain idiosyncrasy and flow that I quite enjoy.
Above all, writing is a way for me to think. I have always preferred the keyboard over the pen — and the benefit of being a fast typer is that writing becomes not a way of capturing thoughts, but a way of thinking out loud. My pieces don’t only reflect my learnings, they are a medium through which I attain these learnings. They’re domesticated thoughts — subconscious ideas that I often discover only as I progress through a written piece.
What Do I Write About?
- My Stories and Experiences: Following 19 years of traveling the world, I’ve experienced things that have left me thanking a God I don’t even believe in. From sunset shark swims off the coast of secret beaches, getting drunk under the milky way galactic strip, standing atop shipping containers to watch fireworks welcoming the new year, and the countless other memories from my travels — I like to think that I can share interesting and inspiring stories, as well as the things I’ve learned as a result.
- Photography: In early 2020, after six years of learning photography through YouTube tutorials, I achieved my childhood dream of being reposted by National Geographic. Through my career as a photographer there is a lot I have learned about photography, post-production, and most importantly about how photography can enhance your travel experience — especially in an unknown country.
- Travel: My solo travels, specifically, have taught me a lot about traveling. Landing up in an unfamiliar country where you don’t know a soul seems pretty daunting — but in my experience this is always the start of the best vacations. Having no itinerary and knowing no locals means you aren’t bound by anything when it comes to your plans. If you play your cards right — for which I believe I have some great advice — you can have an organic, unforgettable experience that will leave you with enough stories to start your own Medium profile!
- Home: I love Bombay with all my heart. My hometown’s rich culture, history, architecture, food, people, sunsets, and nightlife have convinced me it’s the best city in the world. My writings about Bombay cover my favourite experiences, festival celebrations, eateries and more — and Bombay is definitely my favourite topic to write about.
All in all, my goal for my Medium page is for me to express myself and my learnings while simultaneously providing inspiration and advice for my readers. If you’re reading this right now, thank you for coming this far. Be sure to follow me and I hope to see again on another article in the near future!
Contact Me
- Instagram — @thebombayshutter
- Facebook — Ahaan Nalavadi
- Email — ahaan.nalavadi@duke.edu
