What I Discovered From Two Gutsy Tour Guides Altering the Male-dominated Indian Journey Business

Shristi Shukla‘s first day as a tour information didn’t go as deliberate.

She’d simply set out with vacationers in Jaipur, a historic metropolis in India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan, when a stranger approached, launching right into a misogynistic rant about “so-called feminism.”

“What sort of girl are you, being on the street with so many males?” he added, all in English so her European visitors — a bunch of males — might observe alongside.

“Out of nowhere, he simply got here and began abusing me,” Shukla advised me.

Whereas feminine tour guides have gotten more and more frequent at monuments and different traveler scorching spots in main Indian cities, it’s rare to see a girl main on-the-street Rajasthani excursions like Shukla started conducting in 2018.

“In Delhi, lots of younger girls do that job. However Rajasthan may be very orthodox when it comes to the gender system — and it’s an excessive amount of right here,” Shukla advised me. “It was very bizarre and uncomfortable for them to see a girl main the tour.”

After I met Shukla and fellow historical past skilled Neha Agarwal whereas visiting the ornate metropolis final fall, I used to be blown away by their perseverance and poise amid the scrutiny. Their approaches to instructing Indian historical past and tradition have been simply as exceptional. Every girl makes use of recent narratives and insights which are uniquely their very own, and I left Jaipur a wiser girl due to our time collectively.

Journey + Leisure named Rajasthan one of many finest locations to go to in 2024, with world-renowned lodges including to the attract of its lavish historical past as a buying and selling hub and the land of Maharajas. Jaipur is likely one of the area’s large attracts, referred to as the Pink Metropolis due to its centuries-old terracotta buildings. Vacationers can expertise historic wonders of artwork and structure alongside bustling bazaars and a thriving artisan neighborhood. 

Shukla grew up in a forest-filled area of central East India, miles from Jaipur. “They nonetheless assume that I’m unemployed,” she half-joked about her household again dwelling. “I’ve all the time been rebellious in my home. I’m the primary girl who has truly gone out alone.”

Like her household, strangers don’t stand an opportunity of shaking her confidence. “Males all the time weirdly stare at you. I all the time stare again at them,” she stated. And as for girls? “They all the time come and counsel me,” she stated. “‘You’re very candy and exquisite; you shouldn’t do that work. Your pores and skin will likely be burned doing this strolling tour day by day, and who will marry you?’”

After their father’s passing, Agrawal’s brother inspired her to change into a tour information. She was the one girl in her information coaching class. Sixteen years later, demographics amongst her colleagues are bettering however nonetheless closely skewed — Agrawal recounted being the one girl out of greater than 700 males at a Jaipur information conference in November and feeling distanced from her male colleagues.

The stigma has vital repercussions. Agrawal is an impressive tour information — I can’t think about one with extra thorough information of Rajasthan’s historical past or a hotter spirit — however regardless of intensive {qualifications}, over 15 years of expertise, and ever-increasing tourism to Jaipur, Agrawal has bother reserving work.

She checks in with the lodges day by day, however they don’t ship gigs her method except visitors request a feminine information. “It’s a well mannered ‘no.’ However I carry on knocking,” she stated. “That is the issue we face: We’re not getting a lot work as a result of individuals have no idea the girl information exists.”

Shukla has additionally been handed over for alternatives that in the end go to males regardless of dozens of happy buyer opinions on her Airbnb Experiences profile. “Not too long ago, a person advised me, ‘You want a person with you to regulate the gang,’” she stated. She recalled telling the person she had simply led teams of upwards of 15 individuals — however the entire tour nonetheless went to a single male information.

Fortunately for anybody visiting the Pink Metropolis, Agrawal and Shukla persevere amid the challenges.

I spent my first day in Jaipur with Shukla. Equally gutsy and charming, she has a method of instantly placing you comfy. The storyteller glides via Jaipur’s bustling streets with a relaxed grace, and that confidence rubs off on you. 

“I used to be not comfy sharing solely the king’s story,” she advised me of her mindset going into the journey trade. “Nobody is used to seeing historical past from a feminine perspective. In our historical past books and in all places, we’ve all the time learn tales concerning the kings.”

The place textbooks fail her, empathy doesn’t: “If I might have been a girl in that period, how would I’ve felt? That’s how I began curating the tales and exhibiting the town from a feminine perspective.”

“For instance, Hawa Mahal, the wind palace,” Shukla continued, referencing the well-known palace facade constructed for royal girls to look at exterior life with out being seen. “It’s magnificent and a landmark of India. However the males proudly say it’s a ‘safety wall’ for the ladies. I might not really feel safe being trapped on the opposite facet of a wall.”

Shukla’s work profoundly impacts her feminine guests, and she or he believes they change into assured after listening to her storytelling. “I see an pleasure of their eyes,” she stated. “And I believe they see hope in India and the way a girl could be [here].”

Like Shukla’s, Agrawal’s ideology emphasizes the affect and experiences of ladies. “Kings got here, kings went, simply due to girls. They’ve been robust moms and robust maidservants. Indian historical past is filled with girls who took robust steps, have been courageous, and had a say,” she advised me.

Once you’re with Agrawal, you end up standing up straighter, listening extra intently, and asking as many questions on this elegant, smart girl as you might be concerning the centuries-old monuments. She took me to Jaipur’s Metropolis Palace, the place she had a narrative to inform about each vase, tapestry, and garment we encountered within the sprawling complicated.

Earlier than transferring to Jaipur, Agrawal was a information in Agra, instructing guests about one of many world’s best wonders via a feminine lens.

“Each single particular person goes to let you know that the Taj Mahal has been constructed by the emperor in reminiscence of his spouse, proper? The historical past received’t change. However the best way you might be telling it and speaking about that particular person within the seventeenth century is an important factor,” she stated. “I all the time inform them that the person beloved the girl, little question, however the girl has extra energy to make him fall in love along with her.”

Whereas educating vacationers about India’s historical past, Agrawal can also be studying lots. She’s solid friendships with individuals worldwide, and her work with girls vacationers has been particularly gratifying.

“When I’m with my girl visitors, we’re in a distinct zone,” she advised me. “We speak about every part and something: their private lives, struggles, and the way they achieved these ranges. That could be a lovely day for me, all the time. I like to listen to their tales as a result of they encourage me lots. I’m at one place, however I’m getting a little bit of the entire world each single day.”