Anand Mahindra's Rishikesh Nostalgia and a Question About Its Soul
Synopsis
Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra shared pictures of Rishikesh on X, recalling his student filmmaking days at Chotiwala and Swargashram, while welcoming new riverfront upgrades but urging the town to preserve its spiritual character.
Key Takeaways
Anand Mahindra posted images of Rishikesh on 18 October 2026 , recalling it as the location of his student thesis film.
He described Chotiwala restaurant as his 'canteen' and recalled filming sadhu Bankhandi Baba in the hills above Swargashram .
Mahindra noted new riverfront walkways and upgraded public spaces as a 'welcome facelift' for the town.
He expressed hope that Rishikesh would retain its soul amid the changes, asking: 'I just hope that, amid all the changes, Rishikesh holds on to its soul.' The post appeared under his regular #SundayWanderer tag and ended with a personal pledge to return and see the changes for himself.
Long before he ran one of India's largest conglomerates, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra was a young filmmaker hauling a camera into the hills above Rishikesh — and on Sunday, 18 October 2026, a set of photographs pulled him right back to that world.
Sharing images of the Uttarakhand pilgrimage town on X, Mahindra wrote that Chotiwala restaurant — the famously kitschy, decades-old eatery on the banks of the Ganges — was 'practically my canteen' during the making of his thesis film. He also recalled venturing into the hills behind Swargashram, the ashram-dense stretch of Rishikesh, to film a sadhu known as Bankhandi Baba. The memory clearly still holds weight.
From Thesis Film to the Ganga Ghats
Mahindra studied filmmaking before entering the family business, and his student work took him to one of India's most visually and spiritually charged locations. Swargashram, on the eastern bank of the Ganges, has for generations drawn sadhus, seekers, and storytellers alike — the kind of place where a young director with a camera could find a ready-made world. His recollection of Bankhandi Baba hints at the intimate, unscripted cinema he was chasing at the time.
New Walkways, Old Worries
What prompted the post, beyond personal memory, is a visible change. Mahindra noted new riverfront walkways and 'spruced-up public spaces' — upgrades consistent with the broader wave of civic investment that Indian pilgrimage centres have seen in recent years to handle rising visitor numbers. Rishikesh, which draws millions of tourists, pilgrims, and yoga practitioners annually, has been at the centre of exactly this tension: better infrastructure on one side, the risk of losing intangible character on the other.
Mahindra acknowledged the facelift as welcome — 'nature has always done most of the decorating' in Rishikesh, he noted wryly — but added a pointed caveat: 'I just hope that, amid all the changes, Rishikesh holds on to its soul.' It is a question many who love the town have been asking quietly for years. Coming from someone with a filmmakers' eye for place, it lands with particular sharpness.
The #SundayWanderer Promises a Return Trip
Mahindra closed the post with a personal resolve: 'Time to go back and see for myself.' Filed under his recurring #SundayWanderer tag — his habit of sharing reflective, travel-tinted observations on weekends — the post is part travelogue, part cultural audit, and part gentle public nudge to the planners reshaping the town. Whether a visit follows, and what he finds when it does, will be watched by a social-media following that spans millions.
Point of View
And Rishikesh sits at its heart. When a high-profile industrialist with a filmmaker's sensibility publicly flags the risk of over-sanitising a heritage destination, it reinforces an emerging consumer signal — that 'authentic experience' is itself a premium offering. Planners and hospitality investors alike would do well to read his question about the town's soul less as sentiment and more as market intelligence.
NationPress
18 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Anand Mahindra post about Rishikesh?
Mahindra shared photographs of Rishikesh on 18 October 2026 , saying the images took him back to his student filmmaking days when he shot his thesis film there, and he commented on the town's recent civic upgrades.
Where did Anand Mahindra film his thesis film?
He filmed in and around Rishikesh , including the hills behind Swargashram , where he documented a sadhu named Bankhandi Baba , while using Chotiwala restaurant as his regular eating spot.
What is Chotiwala restaurant in Rishikesh?
Chotiwala is a well-known, decades-old restaurant in Rishikesh famous among pilgrims and tourists, sitting on the banks of the Ganges . Mahindra described it as his 'canteen' during his student filmmaking period.
What changes has Rishikesh seen recently?
Rishikesh has seen new riverfront walkways and upgraded public spaces, consistent with broader civic investment across Indian pilgrimage towns to support rising visitor numbers. The precise funding and timeline of these projects have not been officially confirmed.
What is Anand Mahindra's #SundayWanderer?
#SundayWanderer is a recurring tag Mahindra uses on Sundays for reflective posts about travel, culture, and places — a personal ritual that has built a dedicated readership on his social-media channels.
