By Indranil Halder
As Sydney was battered with heavy rain, Khaver Ali Khan was my guest at the new Art Gallery of NSW member’s lounge. It was a perfect afternoon to listen to Khaver’s ideas on how to enjoy India as a tourist destination.
Who is Khaver Ali Khan?
Khaver Ali Khan completed his degree in Hospitality Management from United Kingdom. Worked with several hotels in England. In India, he was assistant manager at The Oberoi Group Hotels & Resorts and an ex-senior sales manager at Cox and Kings. He loves having conversations with modern India’s intellectuals: Mohua Maitra , Karan Thapar and Dr Shashi Tharoor. His passionate was to create an unique travel company for the Indian subcontinent tourists. In 2008, established : Secrets of India. Today, his company specialises in rejuvenation experience( for body, mind and soul) with “Yoga” or enjoy the grandeur of Ajanta and Ellora cave paintings or for just a private tour to enjoy watching one of India’s majestic beasts – the Royal Bengal Tiger.
India, Wildlife & Tour Company named Secrets of India:
At the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Khaver was mesmerised to attend the 2022 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes exhibition , followed by cappuccino at the members’ lounge. Enjoying his cappuccino, he talked about enchanting India as a land for amazing travel experiences.
The India and her people characterised by following Australians :
John Zubrzycki ( author of The Shortest History of India ) mentioned, “ One of the oldest civilisations and the largest democracy in the world, India is an amalgam of customs, races, castes, languages and spiritual beliefs.”
Steve Waugh ( retired cricket captain) said “Getting back to India reignited that passion I had when I was a kid. Playing with the kids on the street and the beach and the mountains … it was good to get a bat back in my hands.”
Journalist Kendall Hill (a former travel editor of The Sydney Morning Herald), stated, “ Indian people tend to be osmotic” during his solo trip to India.
And Mr Sinclair Hill ( veteran polo player) can never forget that he learned to play polo in Jodhpur, India.
Even today, with huge population of 1.3 billion people, India is one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. One can definitely enjoy the wildlife in their habitats. In the west, the King of the Jungle, the Asiatic lions roars and in the east, the one-horned rhino roams. While the stunning Himalayan snow leopard lurks in the north( (inhabitants of Himalayan Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim) and elephant walks through dense forest of the South.
India is also home to world-famous majestic Royal Bengal Tiger in the mangrove forest of Sundarbans, West Bengal(similar to Sydney’s Parramatta river). According to Khaver, one can also find large number of tigers in other national reserves as protected species in Jim Corbett (Himalayan foothills, Uttrakhand, north), Ranthambore (desert, Rajasthan, west) and Nagarhole ( thick green forest,Karnataka, south). In 1973, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s leadership established ‘Project Tiger’ with core objective to protect them from extinction. This wildlife conservation initiative saw many tiger reserves come into existence and increase the tiger population across India.
Khaver loves the tiger reserves of Bandhavgarh, Kahana, Pench and Panna, which are also connected with regular flights from different parts India to Jabalpur(closest airport). Taj Mahua Kothi, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is a great boutique property to stay and enjoy tigers. He is confident that Australian tourists can enjoy upclose and personal experiences with these majestic Indian tigers in Ranthambore too. They can stay at the SUJÁN Sher Bagh or Aman-i-khas Hotel for glamping. Authentic luxurious tents, bush dinners and magical lantern lights welcome guests to the Ranthambore paradise. According to Khaver, India has over 100 national parks which includes The Great Himalayan National Park ( Langur and Leopard; Himachal Pradesh), Eravikulam (Nilgiri Thar and Elephants; South), Kaziranga National Park (One horned Rhino; East) and Gir National Park (Asiatic Lion in West). Secrets of India can help arrange a tailored tour, where tourists can enjoy both breathtaking India her wildlife with special emphasis on their customer satisfaction, intimate knowledge and superb accommodations with Taj Group, Oberoi Group or ITC Group.
An opportunity to create memory of a life time:
With dedicated professionalism and can-do attitude, Secrets of India, remains the primary choice for many Australian tour operators to cater for spice tour for foodies or mathematics (educational)tour for school children. Such is his success story that Sydney based Kincoppal-Rose Bay School had already used his service for its students’ tour of India.
Khaver is aware that India was 5th overseas travel destination for Australians(pre Covid) and post Covid , with international travel in full swing, recent India Australia trade deal and regular Qantas flights, India remains in the top destinations for Australian tourists. Just like the exhibition of 2022 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW, Khaver’s description of India remained incredibly enjoyable. It was also as colourful as India’s new Villa Palladio property (located between Jaipur and Agra, waiting for grand opening in late 2022). As guru of ungoogleable tailored travels of India, Khaver’s suggestion to participate in unforgettable learnings about tigers with Valmik Thapar or Railway Adventures with Scott McGregor(Australian actor, television presenter) or an Indian Garden Tour with Ross Garden tours( 40 year old garden travel company from NSW) or a Golf Tour that includes playing golf at a golf-course designed by Nack Nicklaus (American golfer).
Khaver with his company Secrets of India is here to help you with innovative, enjoyable and memorable travel and you can contact him on khaver@secretsofindia.in
