Q		Your company seeks to nurture your clients' spirituality by delving into the rich spiritual history of India.  What line do you draw between "religious" and "spiritual" history and how does visiting India differ from visiting other cradles of the world's religions such as Israel and Saudi Arabia or perhaps a pilgrimage to the Vatican?
A		“Religion” and “Spirituality” are two different things.  If 100 people were asked to define spirituality, there would be at least 101 definitions put forward.  Thus a comment on “What line do you draw between "religious" and "spiritual" history” would first need a definition of spirituality.   I define spirituality as how Deepak Chopra, defined it once as being “the domain of awareness."  By this, I mean that for one to be “spiritual," one has to be aware, to be aware of the other, to be aware of one's surroundings.  How does one become aware?  By learning about different people, their values, their way of life, what they have been taught by their elders, by their society.  And how does one achieve that?  A cursory way is to learn about other religions, as a religion gives an encapsulated form of its society.    One turns to religion for inner strength, dependence, and for the need of support during trying times.  Religion is for the self.  Being religious is selfish.  As I define it, spirituality is to know others, to understand others, to recognize and acknowledge others.  Spirituality is for others.  Being spiritual is for the community.   With this as background, allow me to respond to your question by comparing a mono-religious community with a multi-religious community.  I would suggest that members of the community in the former are self-indulgent, self-centered, and thus intro-perspective.  India is a multi-religious country, a secular country.  The community grows up with different religions and their practices all around them.  They are thus more aware.  They are more spiritual.  A visit to these two communities offers far reaching differences.    For a Muslim going to Saudi Arabia, a Jew going to Israel or a Catholic going to the Vatican, it merely reinforces and bolsters one’s selfishness.  A Jew going to the Vatican or a Muslim going to Israel will make her more aware of others, and take her towards an increased level of spirituality.  Thus anyone visiting India with her multiple religions being practiced in all corners of the country, all corners of a city, and all corners of a road is a spiritual experience to anyone practicing any religion from any background.
Q		Over the years, have you seen a change in the type of people who are motivated to visit India because of spiritual reasons (e.g. are those people mostly young today versus decades ago, are they professionals looking for a break versus students, are there now more men than women, etc.)?
A		Historically, there were two types of people visiting India from the USA:  The elderly who were generally intolerant but had either a historic connection or were merely seeking an exotic destination, or the younger individual who was both inquisitive and much more liberal and had been enchanted by the mystique of India as projected by the music group of the day, such as the Beatles   Today there are three types of visitors:  (a) the student of one of the many Sciences of India such as Yoga or Ayurveda going to India for deeper study, (b) the technocrat who was forced to go to India for work, and since decides to visit the country for a holiday, and, (c) the liberal and educated baby-boomer who is seeking (my definition of) spirituality.   There is a definite increase of women going to India as there appear to be more women associated with the Sciences of India, the technocrats visiting are males, and thus their spouses are females, and a majority of those seeking spirituality are females.
Q		India is famous for its spiritual side, notably its gurus and ashrams -- do you think people plan a trip to India expecting too much from the country's spirituality?
A		Expectations of visitors have to be managed by the tour operator.  There is no instant gratification for seekers of spirituality – irrespective of their expectations.  In any case, those with a desire to visit “gurus and ashrams” already have a relationship with India through their local teacher and generally know what to expect and where.  It is essential to give suitable and appropriate guidance to visitors – a visit to an ashram  is a long drawn out affair.  Seekers first have to have a certain affinity towards the teachings of the ashram, and then it would take months, if not years of close propinquity to imbibe the teachings.  It is not a quick fix nor a quick return.
Q		If you were designing an itinerary to cover India's most important spiritual places, where would you tell people to go?
A		India is the size and blend of Europe with age-old architecture, customs, languages making up her civilization, with the additional religions.  Both the size and variety make a quick visit to the country impossible, thus one has to seek the visitor’s wants and desires to package the ideal tour.   The North offers a greater variety than the South, and also the North has easier access to visitors.  Thus we offer a tour of the North to the first time visitor.  The places we visit on our typical 14-day tour which starts in Delhi are chosen because they are historic, religiously important and are architecturally beautiful.  We go to Agra (a must because of the splendour of the Taj Mahal, Varanasi (one of the oldest cities of the world, a visit to which leaves an indelible impression to the visitor) and Sarnath (there are four important places during Buddha’s life – here he gave his first sermon), Khajuraho (home of some exotic temples, most well known for the sexual images carved in ston on the outer walls of some temples), Orchha (one of the most tranquil places I have been to – meditating on the banks of the tiny Betwa river and home of great Islamic and Hindu architecture), Bhopal for Sanchi (the most pristine 2,000 year old architecture simply because it was hidden for more than half its life), Indore for Maheswar (a gorgeous temple-city on the banks of the river Narmada) and Omkareshwar (a very historic temple-island in the confluence of the Narmada and Kaveri rivers) and then back to Delhi.