Jonty Rajagopalan

OT: What does Detours India do exactly?
Jonty Rajagopalan: We conduct personalised and customised theme tours for individuals and small groups in and around Hyderabad. We seek out all that’s off-beat — hidden alleys, food, traditional crafts, history… No tourist traps or whistle-stop sightseeing trips. The tours could take anywhere between three hours and a full day.

OT: How did it come about?
Jonty Rajagopalan: We started in November 2008, which makes us a little over three-and-a-half years old. I worked in sales and marketing with Titan for many years before that, after which I moved to The Gates Foundation on HIV Prevention. But I wanted to do something with food tourism across the country — something that combined food and history. Eventually, I decided to begin with something more manageable and started Detours.

OT: Are you from Hyderabad?
Jonty Rajagopalan: Actually, no! I’m from all over — a Tamilian who grew up in erstwhile Bihar, now Jharkhand. Essentially, Jamshedpur is home. But I picked Hyderabad for many reasons. I was based here at the time, so it was convenient. Also, Hyderabad has such a rich history and yet, it isn’t a well-trodden, ghisa pita tourist circuit like, for instance, the Golden Triangle. It just made sense. I think it’s an advantage that I’m not Hyderabadi — being an outsider allows you to see the city from a fresh perspective.

Hyderabad is truly the cultural centre of India — where the north meets the south. I like the fact that Hyderabad is like a mixed fruit salad — you can taste each individual fruit but it comes together as a whole too. Everyone’s a Hyderabadi first, Hindu or Muslim after. It’s not ghettoised. Everyone lives everywhere. As an example, when I wished people ‘Eid Mubarak’ last month, people from all over said thanks, but Hyderabadis invariably said “aapko bhi”. It’s everyone’s Eid.

OT: Do you customise your tours?
Jonty Rajagopalan: Yes, of course. Once a guest wanted to see the old and the new Hyderabad in the same landscape, and one photographer was particularly interested in the once nomadic Banjara community… We do the research, chart out the course and conduct the tour. Naturally, we learn a lot about this city, all the time.

OT: If you had to pick a tour, it would be…
Jonty Rajagopalan: The food trails. I find Hyderabad’s culinary history fascinating. Despite the fact that Mughlai food comes to Hyderabad from the Delhi courts, there are so many local influences. Tamarind, for example, was apparently adopted to prevent skin rash in the hot Deccan climate! Then there is the distinct use of gongura here.

OT: Which Hyderabadi site is your favourite?
Jonty Rajagopalan: Well, we’re coming across treasures all the time, but I do love the unique architecture of the Paigah Tombs. It’s tucked away, relatively obscure and so serene. But that’s the conflict about conducting off-beat tours — when you start promoting places people don’t know about, they become more popular and lose the quality that drew you to them in the first place; it’s rather self-defeating. Still Hyderabad has so much that is not overly touristy; it’s not like trying to find an unknown trail in Jaipur, for instance.

OT: What excites you most about your job? What aspects do you find irritating?
Jonty Rajagopalan: The exciting thing is that we — my colleagues and I — are learning all the time, especially when we get unusual requests. We’ve had so many guests who’ve taught us more than we knew. As for the irritants, people who have a list of places to tick off are not so fun. Also, customers who come expecting the worst, who can’t see beyond the noise and the crowds — can be challenging.

Jonty Rajagopalan, Owner, Detours India, Punjagutta, Hyderabad 9000850505; detoursindia.com