About us
We started with a simple idea: travel should feel personal again.
01Our story
It started with a wrong turn near Pelling.
The road was closed, the plan was gone, and a family running a tiny homestay took us in for the night. We ate their food, heard their stories and watched Kanchenjunga turn gold the next morning. It was the best day of the whole trip — and none of it was on the itinerary.
Raasta exists to make more days like that one. We are a small, independent studio that designs journeys through India the way we like to travel ourselves: slowly, personally, with people who know the road.
We don't sell hundreds of packages. We look after a handful of routes we know by heart, and we design custom journeys for people who want something of their own.
— the Raasta team
homestay chai, 6 am.
the reason for everything.
02How we travel
Five promises we make to everyone who travels with us.
- 01
Thoughtful itineraries
Fewer places, longer stays, and days with room to breathe. Every route is travelled by us before it's offered to you.
- 02
Smaller experiences
Twelve travellers at most — often just two. Small enough to be welcomed into a home, not herded through a gate.
- 03
Local knowledge
Guides, drivers and hosts who live where you're travelling, and who are paid fairly for what they know.
- 04
Flexible planning
Snow on the pass? A festival in the next village? Plans bend on the road, and so do we.
- 05
Human support
One trip designer from first message to the drive home — and a real person on the phone at 2am.
03What we believe
- 01
Travel is better slowly.
- 02
The best guide is a neighbour.
- 03
A good trip changes the traveller, not the place.
- 04
Every rupee should reach someone who lives there.
04Meet the people
Small team. Long roads.
The people who'll answer your messages, plan your days and pick up the phone when the road decides otherwise.
Aarav Mehta
Founder & Trip Designer
Left a desk job after a winter in the mountains and never quite came back. Designs every route by travelling it first.
fav road: Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, windows down
Ishita Rao
Head of Journeys
Fifteen years in hospitality, a spreadsheet for everything and a soft spot for heritage homestays.
fav road: The ghat road up to Munnar
Rohan Shinde
North-East Specialist
Eight seasons leading small groups through Meghalaya and Sikkim. Has walked the Nongriat steps more times than he will admit.
fav road: Shillong to Dawki in the dry season
Meera Nair
Guest Experience
The calm voice at the end of the phone at 2am. Knows which chai stall is open at every hour.
fav road: Gangtok to Pelling, fog and all
Sample team profiles and stock portraits shown for demonstration.
05Responsible travel
Leave it better than you found it.
We're a young company and we won't pretend we've solved travel's footprint. But these are the choices we make on every journey, and we're open about where we're still learning.
Local first
We work with locally owned stays, family-run homestays and guides from the communities you visit.
Small by design
Small groups put less pressure on fragile places — and leave more space for real conversations.
No animal shows
We don't offer elephant rides or animal performances. Camel rides are optional and only with operators we've vetted.
Less plastic
Refillable bottles on every trip, and we're working with partners to cut single-use plastic on the road.
