Sharell Cook Follow Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter Calcutta Photo Tours QualificationsSharell lives in Mumbai full-time and has covered India for TripSavvy since 2008Sharell has a Bachelor of Business from Australia's Monash University and has written a memoir: Henna for the Broken HeartedShe moved to India over a decade ago, and has since managed a guest house in Kerala, worked on the set of a Bollywood movie near Manali, and dined with the royal family in Udaipur. Experience A native Australian, Sharell first visited India in 2000, and found it to be a complete assault on her senses — confronting but strangely uplifting and exhilarating. This hasn't changed, only now Sharell lives in cosmopolitan Mumbai where she writes full time and grapples with Hindi.Sharell arrived in Kolkata in late 2005 to do five weeks of community work during a break from her government accounting job in Melbourne, Australia. Despite returning to Australia a few of times, she never ended up staying there for very long. Instead, she's traveled the length and breadth of India, exploring the diverse attractions that the country has to offer.Sharell has managed a guesthouse in the beach town of Varkala in Kerala, worked on the set of a Bollywood movie near Manali, driven an auto rickshaw from Chennai to Mumbai, ridden a yak in Spiti, and dined with the royal family of Udaipur at their palace. She's also survived getting bitten by a monkey in Rishikesh, a bout of malaria, and numerous encounters with the infamous Indian bureaucracy, with sanity kept (mostly!) intact. She fell so much in love with all things Indian that she even married an Indian guy.Sharell has been writing about India travel for TripSavvy since 2008. Education Sharell holds a Bachelor of Business from Monash University in Australia.Awards & PublicationsSharell is the author of the transformational memoir Henna for the Broken Hearted, which narrates her life-changing move to India.Sharell has given a TEDx talk on her life transformation.Sharell is an India travel contributor to UK-based Horizon Guides.Sharell writes a monthly opinion column for Indian newspaper the Deccan Herald. About TripSavvy and Dotdash Meredith TripSavvy, a Dotdash Meredith brand, is a travel site written by real experts, not anonymous reviewers. You’ll find that our 20-year-strong library of more than 30,000 articles will make you a savvy traveler—showing you how to book a hotel the whole family will love, where to find the best bagel in New York City, and how to skip the lines at theme parks. We give you the confidence to spend your vacation actually vacationing, not fumbling with a guidebook or second-guessing yourself. Learn more about us and our editorial guidelines.