But marriage between an "untouchable" Indian man and a woman of Swedish nobility defied tradition, so "people started writing articles since I landed in Sweden".

That eventually drew the interest of Per J. Andersson, the Swedish journalist and co-founder of the travel magazine Vagabond, who wrote about him for the publication.

After the success of My Grandfather Was a Tribal Chief, the 2004 documentary about Mahanandia, the journalist told him the film was so popular that many people would think there was a book already. This conversation paved the way for The Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled from India to Europe for Love.

First published in Sweden in 2014, the book, like its subject, would end up voyaging to untold countries