Gefe found the subject for his story within two days - on the pavements of Central Market.

"Mehendi artists, their skills, their trade and their hidden stories are so fascinating," he says. He has befriended a few of them and have visited them at their homes. Known for his sombre works, Gefe will debut as a writer-cum-illustrator of graphic novels in this project.

Caprez and Schuler under took walking expeditions, one of which stretched from Lajpat Nagar to Nizamuddin, covered in five hours.

"We saw people living beside the tracks at Lajpat Nagar railway station. Mothers would hurriedly pull children off the rails before a train arrived," says Schuler.

Roy waves away questions about if the novels will repeat clichés about India and Switzerland.

"The cultural connection will help artists draw parallels or find contradictions with their own societies. For instance, not many people in upper class neighbourhoods in Lajpat Nagar even know that there is a railway station there," he adds.

Since they did not know anything about Indian stereotypes to begin with, they could only offer their own insights, smiles Gefe.

One of the most interesting drawings in Caprez's book is of a driver standing beside a parked car in front of a gate. "People in cities get driven from one point to another. They miss out a lot of what is between their home and destination," he says.

The Swiss group has found the Delhi belly the least of their problems. "There are no cafes here where we can sit and draw. A crowd gathers whenever we take out our drawing tools. It is a friendly crowd, but we cannot concentrate," says Caprez.

His illustrations, including a brilliant one of Sufi singers at Nizamuddin, along with those of Gefe and other Swiss and Indian artists, will be exhibited at the launch of the graphic novels.