When backpackers go missing to live new lives

Clare Jay's Breathing in Colour follows the journey of a mother searching for her lost backpacking daughter in India. She tellsu00a0FYI why some foreigners only come to India to lose themselves

How did Breathing in Colour come about?
The story kernel for Breathing in Colour emerged when I was in India. I'd walk into backpacker cafu00c3u00a9s in places like Bangalore or Hampi and see "Missing" posters on the walls and doors the faces of young travellers like myself staring out at me, along with details of when and where they were last seen. I looked into their eyes and thought: What's your story? Where have you disappeared to, and will you ever be found? I imagined the awfulness of getting the news that your child has gone missing without trace in a far-off land. What would the mother do would she weep, give up? Or would she set her jaw and go out looking for her daughter?

What is the one thing in the world that you think is unique to India and Indians?
For me, one aspect of India's uniqueness lies in the way that religion is part and parcel of everyday, public life Hindu gods and goddesses swing in rickshaws to protect the driver; sacred cows wander the streets; people perform puja on river ghats; pilgrims walk along chanting. For visitors from places such as northern Europe, this is fascinating. It shows us that spirituality doesn't have to beu00a0 hidden, sequestered inside churches.

Why do you think many foreigners come to India to first lose themselves and then find themselves again?
Any foreign country provides a sense of anonymity, and India is used to backpackers and tolerant of them. I think some foreigners come to India to escape the shackles of their own culture and experience the freedom of reinventing themselves as they travel around, and India provides a particularly rich and inspiring setting for doing this. I did some research for the novel through the Missing Persons Bureau and discovered that a glut of backpackers have gone missing in the Kullu valley over the years. There were many theories to explain these disappearances. While some unfortunate individuals end up literally losing themselves forever, becoming the casualties of drugs or thieves, others consciously choose to slip through the net, opt out of society and create a new life and a new self, far from family pressures and expectations.

Breathing in Colour has been published by Hachette India and is available at all leading bookstores for
Rs 295