Our Mission

The Editors (Stumptown Trio)

Behind the scenes, India Insider is shaped by three core editors we jokingly call the Stumptown Trio. You may not always see their names on the page, but their perspectives are baked into everything we publish.

Priya
Priya is our cultural bridge and logistics nerd. She obsesses over “how it actually works”: train systems, festival calendars, why queues behave differently, and what’s really happening behind religious rituals. If an article walks you through a step-by-step transit route or explains the history behind a custom, Priya’s fingerprints are on it.

Chloe
Chloe writes for the traveler who has googled “Is this safe?” at 2 a.m. She is tuned into light, sound, and nervous systems. She notices how the air shifts when you step from a chaotic bazaar into a quiet shrine, and she fights for content that validates overwhelm instead of mocking it. If a piece feels gentle, sensory, and honest about anxiety, that’s usually Chloe’s influence.

Maya
Maya is our tech and flavor engine. She brings in the digital nomad lens: payment apps, eSIMs, Wi-Fi realities, ride-hailing tricks, and coworking spots where you can actually hear yourself think. She’s also deeply food-motivated, pushing us to document what to eat, where to eat it, and how to avoid a ruined week.

The Extended Team

India Insider isn’t just three editors and a shared document.

We rely on a quiet network of people across India: locals, drivers, fixers, language teachers, homestay owners, photographers, and neighborhood experts who sense-check our routes and reality-check our assumptions. When we quote prices, describe a commute, or explain a ritual, it’s usually been vetted by someone who lives there, not just someone passing through.

Behind the curtain, a small staff team keeps everything running:

• An assigning editor who shapes messy drafts into clear, structured guides.

• A fact-checker who hates vague numbers and fuzzy claims.

• A developer who makes our website, maps, and formatting behave.

• A reader support lead who monitors feedback about safety, accessibility, and cultural sensitivity and feeds it back into our editorial decisions.

How we write

Most articles start with real questions from real travelers:

“How do Delhi scams actually play out?”
“What does respectful behavior look like at a Sikh gurdwara if I’ve never been in one?”
“Where can I stay that feels local but not overwhelming?”

From there, we:

1. Map the systems: routes, transit options, neighborhood vibes, and realistic timing.

2. Talk to locals: to understand what’s normal, what’s changing, and what travelers often get wrong.

3. Stress-test the advice: delayed flights, upset stomachs, lost phones, newbie mistakes – we run the scenario mentally before it happens to you.

4. Add the narrative layer: the smell of frying pakoras, the sound of a train announcement echoing over a crowded platform, the way a courtyard goes from blinding noon to golden evening.

We aim for guides you can read as stories on a Sunday afternoon and still use as checklists on a jet-lagged morning.

What we believe about India

We don’t believe India is a “test” to survive.

You don’t earn a badge by enduring scams or discomfort. You build a relationship by slowing down, paying attention, and learning how to be a good guest in spaces that were sacred or lived-in long before you arrived.

That’s why you’ll see us return to a few themes again and again:

• Respect: shoes off, head coverings where needed, appropriate clothing, and knowing when to watch rather than perform.
• Consent: in photography, in conversation, and in how you share other people’s stories when you go home.
• Fairness: bargaining that’s firm but not cruel, tipping where it matters, and understanding the economic realities beneath the tourist surface.
• Nuance: avoiding lazy stereotypes and remembering that India is not one thing, one language, or one story.

Who we write for

India Insider is for travelers who care as much about the person serving their chai as the rooftop bar view.

Some are first-time visitors who feel a mix of excitement and fear.
Some are remote workers looking to balance Zoom calls with street food runs.
Some grew up in the diaspora and are returning with family stories in their heads and questions in their chest.

Whoever you are, we want to give you language, context, and practical tools so that you can step into a new city with less fear and more attention.

How to read our site

If you’re short on time, start with the “Quick Intel” section of any article. Think of it as the skeleton: key facts, warnings, timing, and must-knows.

Then, when you have a quiet evening or a long flight, come back for the full story. That’s where we explain:

• Why a particular scam works psychologically.
• How a ritual evolved and what it means to the people who practice it.
• What a neighborhood feels like at dawn compared to midnight.

Use our etiquette and scam guides as a pre-trip rehearsal. Share them with whoever you’re traveling with. The goal is not to memorize rules, but to develop instincts.

Our Promise

We promise to:

• Be honest about the hard parts of travel in India without flattening the country into a list of warnings.
• Correct ourselves when readers or locals point out blind spots.
• Prioritize on-the-ground voices and lived experience over easy clichés.
• Respect your time with clear structure and your intelligence with nuanced stories.

Most of all, we promise to treat both you and the places you visit with respect: no exoticizing, no fear-mongering, no copy-paste travel writing.

If India is calling you, we’re here to help translate the noise into something navigable. Pack your curiosity, your questions, and a bit of humility.

We’ll meet you at the airport arrivals hall, in the train compartment, and at the tea stall around the corner – in the pages of this site.