All India Train Trip: Rustik Travel- Hemant Soreng, PGP 1997

All India Train Trip – 10,917 kms, 144 stations, 18 states and endless memories

On 13th March, 2022, Hemant Albert Soreng (PGP class of 1997) aka HAS completed a mega six-month long All India Road Trip by car covering 26,000 km across all 28 states. A trip that we had covered in earlier editions of Lsquare.

This trip was an initiative of Rustik Travel, a Sustainable Experiential Travel company that he founded a few years ago, in association with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Bengaluru. 12 of our alums had joined him in various legs while many other alums supported, met him and cheered along the way.

Seven months later, he along with other Rustik Travelers – Jaishree and Rajesh Nair set out on yet another ambitious trip across India, this time by train.

And on 1st November 2022, they completed their mega 11-day All India Train Trip. They covered 10,917 km, 144 stations, 18 states taking 5 trains in just 11 days. This is the first time anyone has covered such a distance in such a short time by train.

This mega journey started just like any other with a thought, a desire to see and explore India.  As Jaishree Nair narrates how the idea came about.

“It all started about six months ago when I got a casual thought of doing an All India trip. The obvious choice for mode of travel was Indian Railways. Tickets and hotels were booked and then the rest of the research began. It was fun and we enjoyed the entire experience. Planned how to pack day-wise clothes in a way that we could have fresh clothes on each day even in the train, carrying all the gadgets required to document the journey, medicines that could not be missed and so on.”

“While the traveler in us prompted this thought. The responsible traveler in us prompted us to showcase various positive changes being implemented by Indian Railways, promote eco-friendly measures & supporting licensed vendors, and highlight slow travel and the best way to see India from the window of a train,” said Rajesh Nair.

“And thanks to our partners, we were able to do just that by putting together a campaign and promoting this journey. Many were able to follow and see through the regular updates on social media, and were inspired to join us and/or emulate us. Our partners – Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Bengaluru, MyGov, LIC of India and Mastercard helped us in supporting the trip and amplifying the campaign. And of course, the support from IIMB friends and alumni network was encouraging as always,” added Hemant Soreng.

“Before we realised, it was 22nd October and then 1st November. 11 days flew away and we are back home. Travelling through 18 beautiful states of India and creating countless memories was a huge blessing. Met some fantastic people along the way, had a variety of cuisines and saw India from the train windows…. This was a dream come true for us. We would love to do this again, concluded Jaishree Nair.

About the Travelers

Hemant Soreng (IIMB alum, PGP class of 1997) is a published author, filmmaker, IronMan Triathlete, scuba diver, mountaineer, podcaster, serial entrepreneur and co-founder, Rustik Travel.

Jaishree Nair is senior IT consultant and a passionate traveler. She loves writing, reading and enjoys cooking. Her first train journey was when she was just 35 days old from Kerala to Bhopal.

She lives in Bengaluru with her husband and travel partner Rajesh Nair.

Rajesh Nair is a passionate traveler, voice-over artist, singer, history enthusiast, podcast host, storyteller, entrepreneur and co-founder, Rustik Travel. 

Rajesh’s parents were employees of Indian Railways.

All three of them have traveled extensively by train in India.

About All India Train Trip

All India Train Trip is an initiative by Rustik Travel in association with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Bengaluru, MyGov, a citizen engagement platform by the Govt of India, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Mastercard a leading global payments and technology company.

It was a 11-day trip, covering 10,917 km, 18 states taking 5 trains that started on 22nd October ’22 from Thiruvananthapuram and ended in the same place on 1st November ’22.

About Rustik Travel

Rustik Travel curates activity-based travel experiences in India and abroad that have a local flavour and engages people from the local community.

Sustainable Experiential Travel, in short. 

Sustainability, in terms of creating livelihoods, protecting environment and preserving culture.

Experiential, in terms of travel experiences ranging from adventure based – trekking, biking, cycling, diving etc. to cultural,  culinary, volunteering and more.

More details at www.rustiktravel.com