Currently, we offer bespoke luxury travel destinations and services. I began my career as a fashion merchandiser before joining machine-manufacturing business founded by my father. Within a span of a decade, our business achieved the position of world number three, competing with multinational companies over one hundred years old. Recently, our company merged with world number two ranked competitor of ours. What is your current role in you organization? Please elaborate. As the Managing Director, I spearhead the company's nascent foray into the field of travel and tourism. I am assisted by a team who helps in creating travel programs as well as handling marketing and operations related activities. |
What plans – immediate and long term – do you (the company) have? In the short and medium term, we plan to offer our services to a broad –based section of discerning travelers. We wish to promote Kerala and the Himalayas within India and Swiss Alps-Black Forest region as destinations of choice in Europe. We wish to test the waters in terms of perception and acceptance of our value-added “Inner Journey” offerings primarily in the sections of romantic getaway experience and sacred experiential travels. n the long term, we plan to promote sacred destinations worldwide, social travel, silent retreat destinations, and value-learning travels especially for young adults. As a hospitality industry professional what is your ambition? Where would you like to see yourself ten years from now? I wish to offer true-hospitality to people. This emerges from a real inculcation of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakum – the world as a family. I have the Utopian ambition of making people feel more-at-home, more-with-oneself while on travel. I plan this through value- inculcation in my team members and eventually through similar training of my travel-partner-organizations. I am selecting my travel partners and properties with this end in mind. Ten year from now, I see Injourni becoming a synonym of more-at-home, more-with-oneself travel. Who or what has been the greatest influence in your professional life? Kindly elaborate. I look up to my father as the greatest source of inspiration to me. He embodies single-pointed pursuit of a goal with a well planned road-map with unwavering diligence and ambi-dexterous execution. Since he is a man of few words, I have learned just watching him work and discharge his duties towards his fellow-workers and their families. He has been my greatest pillar of strength who has not even once allowed me to stumble over my many failures or be burdened on my next step. Rather, even today, I hold his fingers, literally, as I walk each step on the long journey called Life. |
As woman, what were the challenges you had to face in your professional life? As a woman, one is saddled with many challenges, But before that, let me acknowledge that I also experienced extremely kind people who went out of their way to help me, just because I was a woman. The primary challenge is of being a woman. Itself ! Travelling to remote locations, interacting with men of varying degrees of understanding and ethics, and ensuring to be taken seriously are some of the challenges that I continue to deal with. To my young sisters who wish to step into the travel industry in particular and the work-space in general, my advice is that they should build their capacities at professional as well as emotional - personal-cultural level. They must not only instill in themselves, the confidence that they-can-do-it, but also in their loving families that they can. A supporting family is the greatest reservoir of strength. Secondly, they must acquire skills in ‘man-handling', in mean that they rush to learn martial arts, but they must learn the ability to protect their dignity without sounding defensive or being blatantly offensive (as far as possible!). Above all, they must focus on acquiring the requisite skill-set and ability to execute as per plan. What is the secret of your success? The secret of my success is also the mother of all success; hence it is a no-secret! This is, pursue that line of work which resonates with the melody of your heart. Work then becomes worship and, excellence, the highest offering to God. What is your proudest moment (till date) in your job? set out to build a house boat in the backwaters of Alappuzha, the true capital of this boat and built it from the first log of wood. I stayed for extended periods of time in Alappuzha, sometimes moths on end. I learned about Kerala and its people, about the nuances of Malyalam in the difference between chedda and chetta, and above all about my own deep inspiration to pursue travel as my vocation. The house-boat came out to be the most luxurious boat to sail in the back-waters till date and was named Indulge. |
This house boat was meant to be a gift to my mother who had desired to own such a boat during our previous mom –daughter vacation in Kerala. When my parents exclaimed with joy at the beauty and finesse of Indulge, blessing me again and again for that gift, I experienced the proudest moment of my life. Family, live with my loving parents and my ultra-pious grand-mother. My sister, who is a lawyer, live with her husband and their adorable twin – daughters in Washington. We are a very close – knit small family. What are your hobbies? Travel, for one, is my hobby and vocation, both. I love music in every note as the petals of lyrics unfold into bloom. Self – search (paradoxically, there is no – search possible of the Self!) is my ultimate engagement with Life. This makes me meditate, read, do charity and urges me to meet holy people at sacred places (all people are holy, all places sacred!). In short, travel- to inner spaces deep within or to beautiful spots on earth, the canvas of God – is my singular hobby!
This Article is Choosen from The Famous Travel MagazineASIAN TRAVELLER - Editin October 2010 To View it online and want to get soft copy please click here... 
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