International content creators Jackson O’Doherty and Kristen Hanby landed in India on Friday, and immediately immersed themselves in the Indian culture, taking auto rides, eating South Indian food and much more. “We received a very friendly welcome when we arrived. There was a tuk-tuk waiting with our names on it. We also had South Indian food on our first day and it was really tasty and awesome,” Jackson says.
Kristen gives his impression of India saying, “I knew it’s going to be cool coming here, but it has been above my expectations. Everyone’s super nice and helpful. Even in the busy traffic, it’s fun just sitting there and seeing and how crazy it is.”
The duo is on a seven-day trip to the country and will attend the Maha shivratri celebrations at Isha Foundation in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and also visit Nagaland. “We are looking to create a lot of different travel content this year. We thought India is a great place to start and learn more about the culture. We wanted to do different things than what usual tourists do. We’re going to go to a tribal area in Nagaland to explore that and film some content. As for the Maha shivratri celebrations, we’ve only seen videos and heard about it, but we’re expecting it to be mind blowing,” says Kristen.
On their first day in India, the creators met Bollywood royalty, actor Sanjay Dutt as well as actor Jacqueliene Fernandez. Ask them about their experience and Jackson shares, “We met Baba. We are his best friends now, as he told us to call him Baba. We went inside with this whole energy, but he was this cool, calm and collected person. He was like a boss.” He also quips, “We also met my future wife Jacqueliene,” while Kristen adds, “She was really friendly, cool and she could dance better than us. Picture a big old fridge, bouncing on springs and that was us in front of her. She made us twerk.”
Raving about their Indian fan following, Kristen says, “I think they’re just so animated. Their energy is great, they are so vocal, loud and energetic. Anywhere else you go, people are scared to show their support but not Indians. They love it and they are so proud to be from India.” Jackson adds, “They are very supportive only except when it comes to the Australian Cricket team. We are India’s biggest rival, and also, we are a little bit better.”
However, Jackson goes on to add that he is a big fan of Indian cricketers Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli. “They are two of my favourite players in the sport. Bumrah is so cool, happy and calm, but also easily the best bowler in the world by far. There is no one close to him. And Kohli, even with being far from his best form, I always love watching him. Australia vs India is such a good rivalry because you never know India might destroy Australia or vice versa, it’s always so close,” he says, adding that while not on their list, he would love to bump into them while in India.
