Q & A with the founder of Travia Outdoors – Nishigandha Sakhardande

Here’s my post from #CelebratingWomen Series 2019! – Featuring Nishigandha! Read on for her brief background and an interesting Q and A!

Nishigandha began her education in the field of Architecture at one of the most esteemed universities in India – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee. Through the course of my programme, she realised that she was building an inclination towards fields of architecture like History of Architecture, Contemporary Architecture, Indian Architecture etc. Therefore, she began to enjoy reading papers and books about these subjects. This motivated her to pursue a specialisation in the field of Conservation and Preservation of Historic Buildings, so with the aid of 3 International Scholarships, she completed her Master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in the field of Architectural Conservation.

Describe yourself in not more than 5 words!

• Hardworking, Enthusiastic, Compassionate, Determined, Practical

Can you tell us more about your journey, what was the inspiration behind starting Travia Outdoors?

• I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but was trying to fit the ideas of my business in alignment with my educational qualifications. The idea of Travia Outdoors is a result of two parallel ideas – one, to educate locals/visitors/students about Pune’s existing heritage, and two, to engage foreign expats/delegates, who visit companies in Pune for work/business reasons, on cultural and heritage tours so as to give them a cultural glimpse of the city within a certain time frame.

• The main idea with which Travia was started was to propagate heritage in order to create community involvement and engagement. It was, and will be necessary for a significant amount of time, that Pune’s heritage be recognised as what I believe to be three levels in order to be perceived effectively. These levels are :

1. Awareness – for those who are new/negligent to the city and its whereabouts, we create awareness of the existing heritage merely by giving them basic information through Heritage Walks etc.
2. Respect – for those who have seen this city grow for a bit, creating respect and reverence about existing heritage in their minds is quintessential because that will keep them or their heart closely grounded to the city
3. Pride – the most important factor that helps propagate the heritage value of a city is pride, because only when one has immense pride about his city’s heritage, can own propagate it to others, and this chain of verbal propagation, in turn, will lead to a chain of awareness, respect and pride generation in the society.

What does travel mean to you?

• To me, travel is analogous to a conscious effort of leaving your comfort zone by dropping your inhibitions so as to broaden your horizon through various levels of healthy exposure to local experiences. Only by indulging in local experiences can one completely embrace new and varied cultures.

Which is your favourite travel destination in India and abroad?

• My favourite travel destination in India would undoubtedly be Uttarakhand, owing to the variety in its topography and the warmth and welcoming nature of its people. I like to explore a different city/town in Uttarakhand, as far as possible.

Outside India, I love to travel to European countries. Every country in Europe is so close to one another and yet, so distinctly different. One can possibly not exhaust the culture of a new country in just about a couple of days. I usually travel to one country at a time in Europe and explore it by visiting its different cities, tasting local cuisines, learning a bit of the local language, using local transport systems extensively. Basically I follow the proverb – When in Rome, do as the Romans – quite literally only to my total enjoyment.

What is your take on solo traveling?

• Solo travelling, is essential once in a while, to align with yourself and get to know yourself better. It is, however, not the only best way to travel, because it surfaces your behaviour only in an isolated context where you are at your own will and choice. In a societal living, that may not always be the case – we may not always experience things our way.

What will you tell young and aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to take the leap of faith and start something new?

• The struggle in running a business is real, there are hardships from every side, and you cannot say you’ll have a happy day every day – this is the truth! The challenge and the motivation is to wake up every morning, determined and passionate about your cause, and believe that your cause is nothing if not for you.

How do you and your team help people plan their trips? Can you shed some light on the process?

• Its most important to understand the background of a client while planning an itinerary for them. Their age, fitness levels, size of group, interests, male/female ratio, cultural background decide a lot while giving the clients alternatives while planning. It is a back and forth process and iterations have to be made considering the clients’ interests and budgets. The trips are planned and executed completely by the likes of the clients and their choices, without compromising factors like hygiene, sanitation, safety and quality.

Since this is a women special month, do you mind sparkling your pixie dust and a bit of wisdom on my women readers who wish to grow and achieve in life!

• I think women possess the best potential to manage and execute any project – be it corporate, professional, education and research oriented, home-making etc. because nature has designed that we work supremely well with multi-tasking. One more beautiful power that women have and don’t know or fail to acknowledge and appreciate, is to be all of ambitious, practical and sensitive at the same time. Use this power to its fullest, ladies! More power to us to shape a compassionate, well-educated and independent India!

Your message for all my readers!

• Let’s be more compassionate, responsible, well-educated and aware as a society, and let us extend our compassion not only to our society but also our dying and fading built heritage, which if preserved well, will speak of our glory to our very own future generations.

Thank you so much for your time…! 😊

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