Once arranging the cultural tour
to India
was restricted to arranging of a comfortable hotel for accommodation, designing
the route ensuring the most comfortable means of transportation with the lowest
possible traveling time between the two cities and visit to few of the renowned
monuments depicting the historical moments of the country. It was more of a relaxation
holiday at a foreign locale on the premise of exploring the local culture. But
did it really introduced you to the local cultures and beliefs or helped you
understand the ways of life, of the people of the destination you are
visiting??. Does it fulfill the role of tourism as a greater binding force by
developing better understanding of each others culture??. Probably not.
With the advent of modern
communication means, the life of human being has become more active, they are
performing more activities per day than they used to do earlier, they are
better informed, better and more widely connected, sometimes across world
boundaries (through facebook or linkedin etc), still they are far from each
other, bereft of understandings of others thinking, personality and cultural
ethos. To fill this gap, new age travel agents are developing ways to give
you a more closer look and a better understanding of the cultures you are visiting, to
enable you to make a personal bond and discover the facets your culture might
be lacking. It not only gives you better understanding of human life but also
help make you a better person.
One of the most popular new age
travel phenomenon developed to achieve this is the walking tour of the cities
historical areas, which have resident people representing different eras and
beliefs. A walking tour , by slowing down your travel through a particular
area, not only gives you enough time to observe the day to day life from very
close quarters but also gives you chance to interact with the local people.
Walking through a street of residences or through an old market where resident
come for their daily purchases, not only helps you come across the daily
struggle a normal resident have to go through, but also helps you share
briefly, their moments of joy, despair and sorrow. The walking tours give you a
chance to relive some of the moments as experienced by the local people. A great
local guide discussing his life experiences with you while you walk through the
places where he or one of his friends/ relative has spent his childhood, will
not only take you to nostalgia but will also help you to bring closer to
yourself, letting you appreciate what you have and desire to have what you
missed.
A lot of new age travel agents in
Delhi, the historical city and capital of Modern India, have devised walking
tours of Delhi introducing you, not only to its rich historical past, but also
to its sound, smell and tastes. Being an amalgamation of Seven different cities
of different Era, the modern day Delhi is a multifaceted city, where Old meets
New, Where the people wearing ultra modern western clothes still have their
traditional cultural ethos ingrained in them, where you have swanky new age
malls sharing the space with the heritage era structures, where modern day
transport means co exist with the traditional transport means. It gives you
numerous area spread across different parts of the city, to explore, unraveling
different aspects of the city’s life and history. A lot many tour operators
have mastered the art of providing the walking tours across the city providing
you a near authentic experience of cities culture, some of them who arrange
Walking tours of Delhi
– an amazing way to experience Indian culture :
www.masterjikeehaveli.com : Organized
by Mr Dhruv Gupta, who is the resident of this heritage haveli in Old Delhi
area, it only takes you to the bylanes of erstwhile Shahjahanabad and today’s
walled city and experience the life from close quarters, but you also get a
chance to visit his home, where you will have a sumptuous meal for your Lunch
Or Dinner. Here you even can have a cooking lesson in Indian Cooking given by
his wife.
www.delhimagic.com : Organized by Ms
Deepa Krishnan, who has specialized in organizing walking tour across India including in Mumbai, Agra , Kolkata etc, through the team of highly
professional travel enthusiasts.
www.delhiheritagewalks.com :
Found by Late Mr Rajesh Ranjan, Delhi heritage
walks employs professionals with diverse educational background but all with he
passion towards discovering and preserving the rich historical lineage of Delhi . The walks are
organized at different parts of Delhi ,
focusing on different Era’s. Apart from scheduled walks, individual walks are
also organized by them.
INTACH (The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) is
a national body started in 1984, now having about 150 chapters across India .
It not only prepares the comprehensive list of built heritage of Delhi and
other parts of India, it plays an important part in making people aware of the
rich cultural heritage through public meetings and events. Conducting heritage
walks through the areas rich in heritage monuments is also part of the same
efforts. It conducts scheduled walks on certain days, where people can join
after paying certain fee. You will be accompanied by a historian during these
walks to give you detailed information about the rich history of the monuments
and city.
It co-ordinates with the local
government towards preservation of the heritage monuments
SALAAM BALAK TRUST: Salaam Balak Trust is an NGO engaged in uplifting
of unprivileged and less fortunate children. In this endeavor, they have picked
up some children from the street and have trained them to be guide. These
Children now double up as guides to take tourists to walk through the bye lanes of
Paharganj and the area around New
Delhi railway station, where they had spent their
childhood. They will give you the insight on the daily life of these
underprivileged children and their families and you will also get to learn the
cultural ethos of real India .
