Give hugs and get free pictures from this professional photographer!

Do you have such a generous heart that you won't charge a single penny for your work? Twenty-eight-year-old lensman Nitesh Square does. His life has been a testimony to the fact there are generous people in this materialistic world who would not misuse his generosity.

“As a kid, my mom always used to tell me, 'Earn money'. But now, as I grow up, I realise that I need peaceful sleep before I earn money. At the age of 18, I found the urge to serve people and use my art to make a career path for myself,” he said.

Born in a Jain family in Rajasthan, Nitesh (then Karnavat, he is in the process of legally changing his name to Square) came to Mumbai five years ago to build a career in photography. Before this, he was living in Ahmedabad and was inspired by the idea of Seva Café in the city. “The idea is simple, have a meal and pay any amount you want to. The basic concept is your food has already been paid for by someone else and to continue the cycle, pay what your heart says,” he said.

This philosophy stuck in his mind and he wanted to implement it in his professional life. He started telling people to pay anything from their heart for his photographs. “I have realised that this art has helped me to be free. So, how can I put a price on freedom? I cannot restrict my art only to the bunch of people who can pay for the money which I am asking for.” he added.

In August 2014, he set out on foot from Mumbai to Delhi without any money to test his level of tolerance of how he feels when someone refuses to help him. "Money has never stopped me from doing anything I love," feels Nitesh. He named his campaign 'Faizi Safar', which means a journey of generosity. Nitesh says that his 18-day journey made him a better person. He didn't starve, he slept outdoors, surviving on food at dhabas and small restaurants. “I used to write a blog every day during my journey. One night I wrote the blog and the next day my friend Pragya called up saying she's coming from 50 km away to give me a pair of shoes. These instances led me to believe that one should keep faith in this universe,” he said.

On Day 4 of his journey, Nitesh met Asgar Amir, a guest at Hotel Shimla Inn on Manor Highway. On hearing about his journey, Asgar told him to request help from the hotel manager. The manager refused. Asgar and a guard, Sakher Nohdi, then offered to pay for his meal. The next morning, Sakher's brother Hakim gave him a cup of tea, and Asgar told the cleaner of the washroom to let Nitesh use the place. Hakim also got him a lift in a jeep. "I was thrilled and started crying," says Nitesh.

Having slept on the road during his journey and spent time talking to a homeless person at night, Nitesh feels that as a human being, we don’t communicate and that is why we have fears. “I could have feared that the homeless person would have stolen my belongings that night but I kept faith and slept with him. He was generous enough to give me some space to sleep,” he said.

He completed another penniless journey in South East Asia travelling to four countries in the continent— Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam.

For this year, Nitesh is planning to go on a similar journey covering 12000 km around India on his Royal Enfield, collecting hugs from 12000 people and clicking their pictures, to print and gift it to them in return. The funds will help him cover the cost of travel, food, a photo printer and bike expenses.

You can help Nitesh by donating your bit for a journey to discover the world’s generosity.

If you want to connect with Nitesh personally, he can be reached here and here.