I n 2022, an Indian and a Frenchman embarked on a strange quest. They were in search of a phrase, a word, in fact, that held at its kernel the secret of a country. The word is Serendipity and the country was Sri Lanka. In a world awash with social media interruptions, sound-bites and chaos, it is rare to come across a duo on a mission such as this. A few years ago, Frenchman Quentin Desurmont happened to read the delightful story of The Three Princes of Serendip. If you are not familiar with the story, in brief, it is that three princes of Serendip travelled the world, making accidental discoveries and finding wonderful things they were not in search of. Thoroughly enchanted with both the story and the concept of serendipitous discoveries, Quentin and his friend Nageshwaran decided to visit Sri Lanka, the Island of Serendib. Both are in the travel industry, more specifically the high-end travel industry which aspires to provide exceptional adventures for the discerning traveller in the subcontinent. Nagesh, owner and chairman of Incent Lanka by Saffron, a travel agency which for the past 25 years has specialized in organizing exceptional adventures for ultra-wealthy travellers to the subcontinent, and Frenchman Quentin Desurmont, chairman of Swiss based Traveller Made Luxury Travel Designers’ Network, despite having travelled all over the world and having