The travel business is a great personal 'need'. I will seek half a minute of your time to tell you briefly about myself. There is perhaps no reason for this, except to give you a bit of an insight into the background of the person who is seeking to handle your travel arrangements. I am from a Bengalee (Calcutta - Mother Teresa) middle class well educated background who grew up without parents and all the negative complexes that come with it. I have no formal training in the travel business. I started the business 14 years back with USD 8 (Rs. 335) from a shed primarily to make friends and 'get back to the world' - so to say. I have ever since tried all possible to ensure that I do not fall in the eyes of the people who have trusted me with their trip. We have had tremendous success with the business. Today we have our own office building well-trained staff and our deluxe transport. However, I did not notice these things happen. I just kept enjoying my work and the relationships I built. The manifestations of success listed above just kept happening on the side. I feel the business has given me back my self respect, status and above all friendship and trust of so many people. Hence, life has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for us and today I can sense a definite shift in priorities. As life is moving on, my need for money and wealth for myself is diminishing. Things that I never had - friendship, trust, relationships etc. - are assuming greater significance. This is what the travel business is bringing to me.

It is the above shaping of Tapas Banerjee, that has led to the shaping of the Tapas Banerjee brand of tours.

What is this brand ?

With all that has been said above, it does not require a wizard to figure out that people are the center of our focus whether it be our people client or people in the destination. We want our clients to have a greater 'feel' of the destination, and not just a 'cold' superficial touristy overview.

Home Visit & Dinner With An Indian Family

It was during the regim of Prithviraj, in 1191, that Muhammad of Ghori invaded India. Prithviraj died fighting the sultan's army, and with the establishment of the Sultanate in Delhi, a new era began.

Me and my wife, Krishna invite home for dinner each guest passing through Delhi. This would give our guests an opportunity to experience a typical Indian home, how they live, their attitude to things etc. This would be an opportunity to experience typical Indian home food as well as typical Indian hospitality. The idea is to give you an insight into not only the country, but, also the people who actually make up the country. But this is a two way street, and, I must let out a secret. The home dinners appear on the surface as a value addition to the tour, but, the secret is that this gives me a great satisfaction - I want to see and interact with the people who have trusted me. This reminds me at all times the reasons for gaining initiation to the travel business.

» Lifestyle Experiences :
We not only bring to you the tourist sites, but, the highlight would be when we shift our focus exclusively from monuments. We accept that cities in Rajasthan have great monuments which speak of the creative heights achieved historically by the artists and craftsmen of the land. However, besides touring these monuments in these cities, we would also have opportunities to walk through typical bazaars and shop for traditional specialties of each destination. We would ride 3 wheel cycle rickshaws (accompanied by peals of laughter from the onlookers as well as the passengers), ride elephants, witness traditional occupations such pottery, agriculture, brickmaking, cotton fabrics etc all being made by hand using traditional tools and implements. We would also stop during our journeys to visit typical traditional homes that are still mud plastered with a coat of cowdung paste (Even bullshitting is for a reason !!); markets that are all on the pavements, roads (sorry trails !) are broad enough to permit only a one way traffic of donkey carts !!

» Our Guides :
These are 'not just' guides. These are people from well educated cultured middle class families who can discuss with you on a diverse range of topics within a friendly and family atmosphere. The idea is we want you to relax, trust us, and, hence see 'better'.

» Our Hotels :
We suggest handpicked hotels where we not only have value for money rates, but, these should be places that have atmosphere and charm without compromising on the amenities that discerning tourists would seek. Of course the personalisation of service, which is the cornerstone of our endeavour is an implicit requirement.

» Understanding Your Trust :
We are delighted to receive your trust. I must however tell you that I am fully alive to the responsibility that comes with this entrustment, and, will do all possible not to fall in your eyes. We are looking forward to a long term relationship with our clients based on mutual trust and honesty. We want to benefit from your good will and will do all possible to ensure that we generate enough of it. The other problem is that in the travel business it is very difficult to communicate to people the quality of services we provide as well as our attitude to the business. Hence, it is for this reason that we maintain an exhaustive reference list of clients who could speak for us. That is something that we offer to all our clients (if requested). In fact, we need to constantly update this list and each booking that we generate is expected to be added to this list(Only name and e-mail, with consent). We will of course bend backwards to ensure that guests do not deny us this opportunity.

Finally, the attitude is that of making a friend. I feel fortunate and humbled to be in a business that gives me the opportunity to both make money as well as friends out of complete strangers - can I ask for more ? I am extending a hand of friendship and an opportunity to experience our brand of India travel.

Client Feedback

Trinetra Tours were recommended to us by a friend in Australia whose faith in Tapas Banerjee's company was entirely borne out by our experience. We spent two weeks in Rajastan in January on a pretty packed schedule but one on which real thought for our welfare and enjoyment had been expended. We spent a relaxing couple of days in the charming palace of Udai Bilas in Dungapor before embarking on tours of Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaipur. Nights spend in the lovely hotels of the small towns of Rohet and Narlai where we were able to experience more of the rural life of Rajastan provided further opportunities for relaxation. In Narlai we went for a wonderful ride into the countryside on horses from the hotel and the jeep safari in Rohet was also a fascinating insight into the life of the local people. We were travelling with our nine-year-old son so the sense of being looked after was of crucial importance and in this we were blessed by the presence of Prakash, a prince among drivers, whose good sense and devotion to our well-being made the entire trip a delight. In Delhi we were able to meet the rest of the Trinetra team and spent a delightful evenign with Tapas Banerjee and his family at their home. Even Tapas could not re-arrange Vladimir Putin's trip to Delhi which did slightly spoil our experience of the city  as all the main Lutyens buildings were cordoned off but this disappointment only gives us an excuse to return which I am sure we will do in the future.

Best wishes
Sarah, Mark and Ned Lutyens
Grand Children Of Sir Edwin Lutyens one of the most important English architects responsible for the layout and planning of New Delhi

Dear Mahendra and all the staff at Trinetra,

I would like to take this opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone in Trinetra Tours who was involved in planning the recent holiday to India for me & my family.

We had a holiday of a lifetime that went beyond our expectations. It was due in no small measure to the superb planning and execution of the holiday itinerary by all the staff involved in Trinetra. From the moment we were met at Delhi airport by the Trinetra rep. Mr. Krishna, to the time that we returned there 16 days later with Mr. Krishna again, we were able to relax and enjoy the experience of a lifetime in India without any worries or hassle.

It was such a reassuring feeling, Mahendra, to have you available at the end of a mobile phone, for any issues that arose, which were confidently, swiftly, cheerfully and efficiently dealt with by you anytime you were contacted. You did not let me down at any stage. You went beyond the call of duty and I am grateful.

I cannot remember any holiday where I was afforded such a high comfort level and faultless service as I got from Trinetra. In summary, we put our trust in you and it is only fitting that I write to express my congratulations to you all for living up to that trust. You very definitely did not fall in our eyes at any stage and have earned an excellent reputation. I would be absolutely delighted to recommend Trinetra to any of my friends interested in travel to India in the future.

Kind regards & many thanks,
Bill Bhandal. Ireland. (email protected – available upon request)

Dearest Tapas and Krishna,

How remiss you must think us for not writing sooner! We hope David and Elizabeth conferred our heartfelt thanks when they called you in Delhi; we had thought we would call you together but then we got caught up in the mess of having to move from the Imperial to the Metropolitan and then back to the Imperial again and then another move to the Raddisson. Anyway, both Tim and I want to tell you that having dinner at your home and meeting your wonderful family was truly one of the highlights of our trip. Please give a big hug to Krishna from us----you truly found your jewel. Arjun is the most delightful young man and we so enjoyed meeting and conversing with him. We know how proud you both are and with good right.

Tapas, you are a wonderful tour agent and, like the Whites, we will refer you to everyone who asks about our trip. Everywhere we went in the South of India was exactly where we wanted to be. I talked to a friend who has been to India several times and she said we hit the highlights and avoided all the lowlights and she commended the person who designed our itinerary. We too commend you and we will be back in touch as soon as we know when we are coming back to your incredible country. Because of you, we have only the best memories of India. Because of you, our trip was a lifetime experience. Because of you, we could relax and enjoy it all. Thank you so much, Tapas, for helping to insure that this was the best trip we have ever had. Please feel free to use us as a reference.

Do take good care of your wonderful Self and keep in touch. Please convey our deepest thanks to your wonderful staff and especially to Raman and Mahendra for keeping our suitcase and getting it back to us in Delhi.

Much love,
Susanna and Timothy McMahon USA
ibu.one@sbcglobal.net

I read the following quote from the late PM Nehru: “India is a land of contrasts, of some very rich and many very poor people, of modernism and medievalism. India is not a poor country. She is abundantly supplied with everything that makes a country rich, yet her people are very poor.” Those words were quotes on a page for me before this trip. Your tour made it come alive for me and for Jason. It was beyond expectations.

India moved me and changed me. I have never been in a land of such contradictions: of such modernity in its hotels, malls, and offices, and such primitiveness in the villages; of mobile connections everywhere and olden approaches to farming; of such beauty in the hills, and such ugliness in the shanty towns and gypsy encampments; of such wealth at the palaces and such poverty at the rail stations; of such religious piety everywhere while still being governed democratically.

Thank you, thank you for creating not just a vacation tour, but creating an experience. Visiting palaces, forts, and World Heritage sites is a vacation tour, but we got much more. How else to describe the following but to call it an experience?:

Jostling through hordes of people, rickshaws, tuk-tuks, 2-wheelers, cars, and cows with the sounds of horns blaring all around you in the bazaars of Jodhpur and Jaipur Drinking masala tea with fresh cow’s milk made over an open fire with the women of a Brahmin village Having a camel guide snap a dozen shots of me in quick succession because he didn’t realize that my camera can shoot at 5 frames per second with the shutter button fully depressed, and at the same time having his young grandson and friends whisper and throw dirt clods at Jason and then run away Talking for half an hour with a shopkeeper about “love marriage” versus “arranged marriage”. Trying to figure out how to get past a cow and her bull in the narrow alleyways of Varanasi to get back to our hotel (couldn’t do it without the help of a young man pushing them to the side) Standing in intense heat to observe a body getting cremated at the cremation ghats in Varanasi Talking for 30 minutes with an older gentleman about Indian politics, corruption, and how the good old days are gone

If I were a more adventurous traveler, then I’m sure I would have had a lot more experiences but what you put together was perfect for Jason and me.

As I sit here at the edge of the ocean writing this, it’s hard to believe that a few days ago I was 7000 miles away in a place that is so completely different than here having experiences that I will never have here. And yet only a click of a “send” link or a punching in of a phone number connects us. The world is truly becoming flat.

I cannot thank you enough, Tapas and your staff, especially Raman, for putting together such an extraordinary trip and for ensuring that everything went smoothly. Every detail was taken care of, and we felt extremely safe, secure, and well taken care of. You have surely enriched our lives.

Regards
Ms. Lenny Toups, USA
Margaret and Stephen Tripp
ljtoups@raytheon.com

Hello Tapas, Pal and all<
br>    Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to you all for your arrangement of our tour. I want to provide you with some feedback.

  Our tour leader, Digvijay (DV) Singh, and our driver Deepak and his assistant Mohan were all marvellous. The service that each of them provided to all of us throughout the tour was of the highest quality and we will always be grateful to the three of them for helping to make the tour so enjoyable. Nothing was too much trouble for any of them.

  So far as Robyn and I are concerned the tour was everything we could have wanted and much more. There were so many highlights that it is not possible to single out just a few. Every problem that we encountered was quickly and efficiently solved for us the moment we mentioned it to DV. At one point Robyn could have been in real trouble when both her blood sugar testing machine and her insulin injection pen ceased working. DV very quickly located a source of replacement equipment that was exctly identical to the broken units, enabling her to continue controlling her insulin without even having to familairsie herself with different equipment. The rooms we were allocated at each hotel were all of high quality, as were the hotels themselves. The fact that not once did we have to carry our luggage is just one of the marvellous touches that made the entire trip so pleasant for us. We would most certainly use your services again. Indeed Robyn is very keen to do another tour to other (probably southern ) parts of India in the future.

  I don't know how many photographs were taken by the group as a whole, but I took 3663 and Robyn took 2601! So, needless to say it will take a long time for me to go through them all and do things with them. I have set up a Flickr Website where I hope most members of our tour group will eventually put some of their best images. there is not much on it yet, but the Webpage is http://www.flickr.com/photos/rajasthanromance/. I am also putting some of my images on my own Flickr Website http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianrope.

It has been a great joy to deal with you all, and it also was a delight to meet Tapas in person whilst we were in Delhi.

Many, many thanks for everything
My kindest regards and very best wishes
Brian Rope, Australia
winfocus@ozemail.com.au