New Delhi, Jan. 27 -- This place is a magnet for troubled souls," said Ram Kumar Gupta. "You wouldn't be here if life was smooth." Gupta spoke on the condition that no photos or videos would be shot. "We are respectable people. I don't want anyone in my village to know that I am toiling here."

The conversation took place in Krishna Kalyanpur village in Panna district, about an hour and a half away from the medieval Khajuraho temples, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Madhya Pradesh famous for its intricate sandstone carvings and explicit sexual imagery.

Panna is also home to a tiger reserve, spread over 1,500 sq. km, as wildlife enthusiasts and Instagram scrollers know.

What is less known though is that Panna is the only location in Indi...