TravTalk India Online Magazine
The journey of Shoba Mohan, Founder, RARE India, is not just another success story, but a vivid depiction of a small-city girl turning the tide in her favour and moving ahead, her passion intact and without compromising on family time or her love for the planet, its people and, of course, their stories.
Hailing from South India, Shoba Mohan’s family originates from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, a place she passionately talks about. She represents a hotel called Svatma there, under the famous ‘RARE India’ portfolio, which she came up with after years of hardwork.
Early years
Shoba shares that her father was in the Indian Railways. “My father was a signal and telecom engineer in
Indian Railways and my earliest memories are from Madhya Pradesh, when he was posted in Bilaspur. After that he was posted in Vizag (Visakhapatnam), where I finished my school and college,” she says.
Having grown up in Andhra Pradesh, Shoba reminisces about the good old days. “My mother knew Hindi as well as English very well, and she would teach people there. That ensured we had some interesting people come over, even some actors, dancers and academicians,” she shares. Shoba completed her graduation in zoology and wanted to be a doctor. “But, that’s when the Mandal Commission happened and our reservations didn’t allow us seats in government colleges, so I got a seat in a private college. However, we didn’t have money to pursue it. Being a good science student, I decided to become a journalist, hoping to become a science reporter. I did my PG in Journalism and Mass Communication in 1990 and went on to intern at The Hindu in Chennai. There was a brief period when I was juggling various things like working full-time in an advertising agency in Vizag as a copywriter, while writing features for Deccan Chronicle and other local papers, also compering for events at the Rail Club. While into all this, I got married and came to Delhi. My husband was into inbound tourism and that was my first window into this awesome world of tourism,” she shares.
Initial tryst with travel
While in Delhi, Shoba worked as a journalist. “I was working for a photo agency called Fotomedia where corporate companies and even some tour operators would come to rent stock photos for their brochures and calendars. I used to write profiles for photographers and it was a happy twist of fate that many of the photographers who used to stock their photos at Fotomedia made wildlife and nature lodges which we promote under RARE India. Once a tour operator liked the way I wrote the profile for the photographers and asked me if I could join his company and write itineraries. I joined him and that was my first foray into the world of travel in 1994. Soon, we shifted to Gurugram which was quite isolated and things were tough,” she says.
But, difficulties always meant opportunities for Shoba. “In 1997, I turned entrepreneur. I started a company called TS Travel Services with my neighbour. Even then I used to promote offbeat places and would explore the mountains whenever I had the opportunity. The children were small and my ma-in-law was a great help. I travelled the hills of Kumaon, Garhwal, Himachal and Kinnaur in buses, trains and once even hitching a bike ride in Kumoan. My partner and I used to promote these offbeat places to MNCs and most of our clients were small business owners, MNC executives, expats from MNCs and embassies and media people. I remember organising stays for Vikram Chandra and Jug Suraiya. Once I sent Jug Suraiya and his wife Bunny to a remote little known place called Jilling Estate in Kumaon. He wrote a centre piece called “Jilling with Steve”. This was a kind of turning point in my life when I realised that selling small, owner-run hotels is the kind of travel I would like to promote,” she shares. Since then, Shoba has been promoting such hotels but, initially, “it wasn’t a great business model because when it comes to owner-run places, the clients and owners become friends and directly contact each other for future visits of friends and family,” she adds. “Hence I was constantly looking for new clients. My collection was called ‘101 secret Retreats by Shoba Mohan’ and we used to exhibit at the DLF Club on weekends and at Diwali melas. In 1999, one important travel publication listed many of my ‘secrets’ with address and contact information. From then on business was even more tough. I remember writing to all the 101 hotels (maybe more), asking them to give me `5000 per month to promote them. They refused saying that they will give me commission on bookings, again many of them call me now and want to know if they can join the RARE India community. Of course, the whole concept of the hotels we promote has changed. It wasn’t a worthwhile business; we were just creating a market by referring them to travellers without being monetised by them. That is when the idea of a representation company took shape,” Shoba shares.
Conceiving RARE
At a point in the early 2000’s things were so bad that Shoba was on the verge of taking up a job in an MNC. “It was the September of 2003 and I was to give my final interview with the MNC. It was also the day I met the owner of a superb lodge in Bandhavgarh, MP. The owner asked me to help run their reservation and marketing office in Delhi and I promptly said yes. Within the first four months we had a collection of four hotels and lodges. Soon, many hotels of a similar concept joined in. Those were the initial days of RARE. One of my team members is with me till date and it is a matter of immense pride for me to see how he conducts himself with tour operators now,” she says.
Family
“My husband, Mohan, runs an inbound company called
Travel Scope India. I have two daughters – Shruti, 27, is a graphic designer while the younger is Mohini, who has just graduated in Biology and Anthropology. They have taken their time to discover their interest. I always tell them that I did not know what I wanted to do till I was 32 years, and they should do what they love and take time to discover it.”
