Bollywood Tour

We did two tours with Reality Gives: the Sanjay Colony tour with Shehnaz and the Old Delhi Street Food Tour with Naresh. Both were excellent. I was a little hesitant to do a slum tour, but the prohibition of photos and small group (it was just us two) made it feel less invasive. Shehnaz was kind and informative; willing to answer my myriad questions and giving us tons of information about everyday life in Sanjay Colony. We also enjoyed our tour with Naresh. The food was delicious, and it made it so much easier to navigate Old Delhi. If we'd gone on our own, I feel like we might've gotten overwhelmed and not known where to go. I'm so glad we went with a tour!

Strolling through Sajay Colony guided by friendly and funny Kavita, who lives there, changed your perception of a "slum" totally. We met selfconfident people who were busy with their work and every-day-life-duties, kids came along for a handshake and Kavita translated our questions to the had-working-women recycling clothes or the "doctor" who sells medicine in a tiny stall. The living conditions are horrendous -judging as a European - but the overall atmosphere was one of striving and mutual support. It was a horizon-widening insight to another world. Then Kavita showed us how to cook in a superclean small room (where six people live) on a tiny stove - it was delicious and we had a fantastic time chatting with her. We (my sister and I, 50 + 53 y) are really thankful to have had this close, openminded and joyful tour as the start of our 3 weeks in India. All the best for Kavita and her family as well a s the staff of Reality Tours! They are fantastic!

Kavita met us at the gate to the train station and from then on we were laughing and chatting like old friends. Our group of 4 signed up for the cooking experience and we enjoyed the entire day so much. Kavita showed us around the community and explained the way the economics of the area work and it was really interesting to see how rich in family and community those living in slums can be. We met many staff from the Reality Tours Company and all were genuinely caring people. We assisted with cooking lunch at Kavita’s aunts house where we sat on the floor and ate in true traditional Indian style, with 3 fingers! (Cutlery available if your not up to it). The kitchen was spotlessly clean and was comfy and happy and was a great way to end the day. I would definitely recommend the cooking experience as we didn’t feel any other experience we had in India was as authentic as this. The staff were not selling anything, there was no attempt to sell you magnets or T-shirt’s or anything, they are just pleased to help tourists to understand how the slums function. Our guide grew up in the Sanjay community and is such a positive testament to the good that can come from it. I would love to have a few hundred million spare to go back and provide constant running water and a toilet for each house and more teachers for the school which I believe teaches girls in the mornings and boys in the afternoons. I think there was 5 teachers to 400 students but please comment and correct me Kavita if I have that wrong. If you want to see the real Delhi and better understand Indian society, do this tour and the cooking is a fun end to the day with a yummy lunch as well. Thanks for A great day Kavita and we wish you, your family and your colleagues all the health and happiness in the world:)