THE STORY

The Making of Fiazi Safar

It all started from 2014 - Nitesh Square did two penniless journeys in India and Southeast Asia. In 2014, he travelled from Mumbai to New Delhi without carrying any cash or cards on him and in 2015 he travelled across Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam with carrying money on him (took VISAs in advance). The idea was to see three things. First how does he feels when someone refuses to help us. Does it hurt his ego, if he feels insulted or gets insecure whether he gets angry, what's his tolerance level? Second, he also wanted to see people's reaction when he tells them, "He got no Money". Third, how much of a leap of faith do people put in strangers in today's times?

For Fiazi Safar 2016: Nitesh thought it is time for him to give back to the world after the world helped him for two years consecutively during his penniless journeys. In 2016, Nitesh travelled for more than 15000 Kilometers around India on his Royal Enfield and collected hugs from thousands of people, clicked their pictures, printed and gifted them those pictures. All the cities he visited, he stood with a board which read as "Give a hug and get a free picture clicked".

Talk @ TEDx BVCOE

Talk @ TEDx NIITrichy

THE TRAVELLER

His journey

Nitesh is a Photographer, Speaker and Traveller. He believes that his art should as many as possible without any monetary hurdles. In early 2009, he started experimenting with his camera and by the end of the same year he had become a Professional Photographer. He still calls Photography his Passion not his profession. He based in Mumbai, India but travel all over the world for the love of art.

Prior to Photography, Nitesh was a Journalist for The Indian Express and DNA in India. He is currently based out of Mumbai but travels through Asia and around the create memories. Once in a while he does Fiazi Safar; which means he travels thousands of miles without carrying any money on him to experience the World of Humility or travel thousands of miles to spread happiness by collecting hugs & gifting pictures. The idea is to see how does one feel on denial of help? Does it hurt our ego, do we feel insecure, do we get angry and what is our tolerance level. Also to see how people react to a stranger with empty pockets. In todays day and age, how easy is it to put faith in strangers?

For his Photography, from April 2012 until April 2021, he followed the "Gift Economy/Giftivism" philosophy which is "Pay from your heart, Pay what you can, Pay it forward”, which essentially means your assignment charges are already paid by someone-else in the past and in order to continue this cycle of art and giving, you pay whatever your heart says.