Between 1972 and 2000, I wrote seven First Person impersonation stories. Each time, I entered a different community incognito to experience its lives and problems through the eyes of its people What I learned in four hard days living as a shoeshine boy on New Delhi's streets Eyeless in Bombay for four days, I experienced the horror of living life blind How much could I get away with in Bombay disguised as a rich Arab tourist? What will they say about you if you're HIV+ but can't hear them because you're deaf? Being a clown in a circus in Calcutta for a whole week is no laughing matter.