“I was tired. I was trying to escape from my love life. Armed with my backpack, I was seeking refuge in a country whose contrasts are like a slap in the face, but where the deepest emotions can be found. Calcutta is a city that puts you to the test. An intense and profound reality that gets inside you, and it’s enough to make you feel sick. Calcutta never sleeps. It was the seed of the Gandhi movement and where the poet Tagore was born. From here, my adventure began. I visited some of India’s poorest villages, full of beautiful and dignified people, and descending to their level, stopped to sniff life. The rich West never stops, running frantically, leaving behind the essence of things. I remember my days spent in the Sunderbans. Even today, looking back at these pictures, I think of the dissatisfaction that accompanies our lives even though we are allowed to have too much. Those moments have helped me to think a lot. They are a contribution to my inner journey —a profound contact with the state of mind where every shade becomes important, where the simple things — the light, and nature itself — make you unplug your thoughts. The clock that is no longer needed and where everything flows. This should be my life…..India forces you to look down inside yourself. Perhaps there are no answers but every question you live under a new light.” – Roberto

Roberto Nencini is an Italian photographer who fell in love with the camera at the age of five. Since then, he has traveled the globe capturing images to tell stories about people that have stirred deep emotions within him. All photos kindly provided by Roberto Nencini and may not be used without permission. View more of his work here. 

Read more travel stories in our print edition:

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