Authentic India Experiences 

A new café like no other, Sheroes Hangout, in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, is run by five women who have all survived acid attacks. They decided to deny their assailants the satisfaction of their victimhood. Instead of staying hidden away at home, they wanted to live normal lives, and a normal life means getting up in the morning and going to work. That is what the café allows them to do!

Experience the beauty and rituals of the holy city of Varanasi without the hassle of pushing through crowds to find the best viewing spot. On this boat ride you will relax like a king or queen on the comfortable cushioned deck while enjoying snacks and listening to classical music.

Drive with us deep into the desert in the dark twinkling predawn to Khaba Fort. Here, on the old ruins of the fort’s ramparts a champagne breakfast is laid out for you with a delicious assortment of pastries & traditional Indian delicacies. The rising sun heralds the arrival of hundreds of peacocks called in to feed. It is an extraordinary sight with the proud strutting of the peacocks.

You can’t claim to have done Kolkata if you haven’t yet been to the iconic, century-old Mullick Ghat Flower Market. Mullick Ghat is a 130 year old flower market, the largest in Kolkata, and one of the biggest in Asia. People travel all over the city and suburbs to sell flowers here. The jaw-dropping magnificence of the Howrah Bridge towering above makes it a popular place for photography.

The small town of Bagru has been a major centre of hand-block textile production for at least four centuries. The artisans here belong primarily to the Chhipa community and have learnt their professions from their families. In modern times, they work with natural as well as chemical dyes, and constantly innovate designs for the wider markets.

For the past nine years, Rajesh Kumar Sharma has been operating a makeshift school between two pillars of the aerial metro that runs across India’s capital. More than 200 children from the surrounding slums attend this open-air classroom every day.

Set up in 2002 by Jim Myers and Erika Abrams, along with their daughter Claire, who are originally from Seattle, USA, this operation has treated over 40,000 animals to date, including dogs, donkeys, cows, monkeys, pigs and birds, rescuing approximately 10-15 animals per day from the streets. The shelter resident animals have more than 3 acres of land to explore throughout the day.

There’s another reason a few thousand devotees throng Varanasi. It is to enrol themselves in ‘Mukti Bhavan’ or Salvation House and attain moksha, which will free them from the cycle of life and death. In order to attain this salvation, they wait to die in this charity-run hostel. The hostel manager Bhairav has been in-charge and praying for the salvation of these dying souls for past 44 yrs.

For the past nine years, Rajesh Kumar Sharma has been operating a makeshift school between two pillars of the aerial metro that runs across India’s capital. More than 200 children from the surrounding slums attend this open-air classroom every day.

Meeting a descendant of the Nawab over an afternoon tea is a unique experience. Talk to him about all that he has seen changing over the years in Lucknow, know a bit about his family and experience the innate etiquette, the mannerism and the art of speech that is mastered by him.

Also known as the ‘dog lady of New Delhi', Pratima Devi, is a rag picker and has chosen to dedicate her life to stray dogs. She lives in a tarp-covered shed with her 120 dogs and sells scraps to feed them, despite barely being able to feed herself. She knows that so many dogs rely on her not just for food, but she takes them to a vet to ensure their health as well.