#23: Walk and Explore

Meet Shruti Dutt Gupta, Director, Walks 2 Remember, who is passionate about walking and exploring Delhi. “I belong to a service class family based in Dehradun and nobody in my family has gone into business. From childhood I knew two things, one, that I could never do a 9-5 job, and two, that I would do something either in the film industry or in the hospitality industry, because I grew up as an introvert, but transformed to become a people’s person. I went on to do my graduation in English Literature from Hindu College, Delhi University and then joined a film making course. After that course I set up my own film production company. I discovered the tourism industry as a part-time job when I was looking for some income to stabilize myself. Two years into my part-time job, my entrepreneurial mindset took over me completely and hence I came up with Walks 2 Remember,” shares Shruti.

“After having moved to Delhi in Grade 9, it became my home. It’s a city my father belonged to and a city that made me explore it and fall in love with it. It’s so rich in the history, culture, traditions and people that I wanted to tell people its story. In my experience of living in the city, I realized that even people who were born and bought up in Delhi hadn’t managed to explore it completely, let alone the people visiting it. Hence the idea of Walks 2 Remember came to life. The idea was not only to show people Delhi and tell them about it, but also help them know Delhi in its entirety. So we came up with the idea of not having an ordinary Heritage Walks, but also creating a tradition of coming up with an experience, that is not only rich in history, but also is culturally enhancing and awakening. The inspiration was my love and chanced discovery of Delhi, and I wanted to share that story with people in a unique way so that people don’t remain alien to Delhi,” she elaborates.

“Walks 2 Remember was officially found in November 2013, it’s just the beginning and the journey so far has been nothing less than thrilling. The joy of seeing our idea turn into reality, the happiness when people appreciate your work, and the long and daunting working hours to make our dream become a phenomena is just a sensational feeling. One of the happiest moments so far has been when a travel professional who is a veteran in this industry, after taking our Old Delhi Fusion Walk said that in his 21 years of experience he hadn’t seen Delhi like he did today. And those words meant a lot to us,” shares Shruti.

Asking about the venture’s future, Shruti beams with joy and says, “In the near future, I would like to see Walks 2 Remember cover the entire Delhi map and keep on creating tours that make people fall in love with Delhi all over again.”