When Hackett London's Chairman spent a night in a Goa shack for £2

Travelling in India can be chaotic, overwhelming and, at times, adventurous, as Jeremy Hackett, Chairman of UK menswear brand Hackett London, realised during his three trips to the country. Hackett, who was in India earlier this month to attend the British Polo Day in Jodhpur, made a bold decision to travel to Jaipur from Delhi on a train. “I can’t remember the name of the train, but it was the standard one,” he told ETPanache during a stopover in Mumbai.

“We took the AC chair and you could just sit with the doors open. So, I sat there with my legs hanging out. You can’t do that in London,” he joked. Hackett said he was to take a train to Jodhpur too, but changed his plans. “There was a three-hour delay, so we took the road. We went to Mehrangarh Fort and it was quite an experience,” he said.

The confidence stems from previous experiences. During his last trip, Hackett flew down from Mumbai to Goa in the last week of December. “I had a reservation in a 5-star hotel, but it was overbooked,” he said. “My taxi driver said he had a cousin — everyone here has a cousin who can do something — who had a place down the road. We got into an old Ambassador and drove on a dirt track and reached a town that looked out of 1950s England. There were some basic shacks there and his cousin charged me £2 a night. I stayed for a week and even rented a Royal Enfield.”