In a small town, within the hills of Odisha, lives a calm and tranquil person named Ravi. He worked a regular 9 to 5 job but kept an odd hobby - exploring new places and posting his journey online. One day, while looking for a new restaurant, he came across a program called Google Local Guides. Undeniably curious, he signed up.
He just wrote a couple of reviews back then — one for a tea stall on the road, one for an old temple built behind the market — and didn’t really think that much of it. A week later the owner of the tea stall approached him with a smile.
“Sir, people are coming after reading your review. Thank you!”
That moment lit something in Ravi.
He began to document everything he went to – cafés, hospitals, bus stops, schools. He took pictures, corrected any wrong information on the road map, marked new roads he was driving, and answered questions posted online. Slowly he gained guide level. Google even recognized him as a Level 9 Local Guide and invited him to their annual summit.
But the real payoff came when he reviewed a small (and struggling) eco-resort in a tribal zone. His photos and review went viral. In just a few months the resort got huge bookings, providing employment for the local residents and supporting the local economy. The owner wrote him a kind message, “You didn’t just review my place, you revived it. ”
