Fox Traveller Diaries | Every place has its own charm: Godrej Interio's Bedraj Tripathy

                                                        

Bedraj Tripathy started as a grass root sales professional, then moved to the field of communications and drove profitability for an advertising agency with three years of experience. He is known to have introduced some of the best practices in sales and marketing, build distinct marketing programs for both products and services and has also managed all influencer relationships and gained measurable impact from the same.

Aimed at taking on a large brand and substantially contribute to its growth over time, Tripathy joined Godrej and Boyce to take the brand Godrej Interio forward in 2010.

An avid traveller, he loves meeting new people, try out new cuisines and explore new places.

Fox Traveller Diaries caught up with Bedraj Tripathy, Senior GM Marketing, Godrej Interio who unwinds his travelling journey for us.

Fox Traveller Diaries (FTD): If there is one place you can keep going back to for a holiday, where would it be?
Bedraj Tripathy (BT): Seattle, WA

FTD: Tell us three good things about travelling.
BT: Meeting people and knowing them better as a culture, excitement of seeing a place that you normally do not see in daily life and to try out new cuisines that are local to the new places one travels to.

FTD: When you travel, what is a must carry for you
BT: A camera, a bag and a dental kit.

FTD:  When and where did your best holiday happen?
BT: Seattle

FTD:  As a traveler, what’s your tip for the others?
BT: Always try the local food! It won’t kill you, locals have it every day! No, am not asking you to try non-veg if you are a vegetarian, but the world over, you will always find food that is interesting.

FTD:  A colleague/co-worker from your industry with whom you would like to go on a holiday.
BT: Frankly, just about anyone, as long as they are not fussy about travel and stay and food and schedules. Madan, the CMO of Future Group is one I can think of now!

FTD:  Have you ever been surprised by the taste of food, outside India? Where?
BT: Always, and that’s the fun of travelling. Ethiopian crapes with dry lentil curry (that’s now what they call it). If one was to get a blindfold taste of the same, one would say it is one version of East Indian crape. Or the Octopus and wine combo in a Mediterranean restaurant brings in a fresh feeling to the taste buds.

FTD: What and where has been your best bazaar bargain so far?
BT: Pike Place Market, Downtown Seattle. This is one of the largest farmer’s markets where you get food items, crafts, sea food, flowers, etc. I have not seen a fresher and cleaner public market than this. You get the best stuff, at the best prices and interestingly, you get to deal with some of the best people in the world.

FTD: Which has been the most unique destination that you ever visited. When and why?
BT: Guess every place has its own charm and is unique. However, I still feel a visit to Velavadar National park in Gujarat is one of the most unique destinations. This is normally not a known park. People living 20 kms away do not know of this place. Right at the end of the Park, you have a resort called the Black Buck Lodge. The unique experience comes when you reach in the evening and are sitting out with a cup of tea to get refreshed and you see a few black bucks walking next to your lounge seat; or a few Blue Bulls hanging a few meters away from you or even the heehawing of hyenas! This is possibly the best wild life resort in India. Great food, good people and superlative service, is all I can say!

FTD: Tell us how have you managed to make a journey fun.
BT: Most of my travel is as a loner. I mean that’s how I start. But the first thing for me is to get to know people around (even the travellers on the flight). Post landing on to a destination, I speak to almost everyone as if I know them for ages. And believe me, people across the world open up. They lose inhibitions and make you part of their lives. And this is possibly the most fun part of any journey.

FTD: A gourmet gaffe that you would like to share.
BT: Won’t take the name of the outlet, as it may hamper their reputation. This is a restaurant known for sea food, on Times Square, in NY known for its exquisite sea food, that no traveller or local resident can miss. I remember we ordered for a lobster with garlic chinks basil leaves and some herbs. We ordered, we waited for our dishes to come for about 60 minutes. We were salivating at every dish that was being served at any table in our sight. After about 65 minutes, we got a large (XXXXL) deep socketed plate on our table. The waiter smiled and told us that this was the best Lobster you can find the whole of New York! We smiled and he lifted the cover from the plate – we were really excited to see the oversized lobster we had selected. The two of us and the waiter looked at each other aghast when we saw the uncovered plate. It had the garlic chinks, it had loads of herbs, a few sticks of garnishing, olives, pickle and the works. What was missing was the Lobster. The waiter of course took the plate and ran promising to come back in 20 minutes. He did and this time with the real well cooked lobster in place. However, still cannot imagine, how in such a premium place can have such a gaffe.

FTD: What has been your worst travel moment? Why?
BT: Frankfurt airport, where a flight attendant had taken my hand luggage and kept it safe for me and I deplaned at 7 am in Frankfurt without even thinking of my hand bag. I could do nothing for almost 3 hours till the authorities could identify the person, locate her and get my bags! She knew I had forgotten them and had also organized for it to reach my connecting flight. But for me those 3 hours was almost like 3 days without my dental kit, shaving kit, purse, clothes or just about anything. I just had my camera bag and my passport.

FTD: What is the best souvenir you ever bought for anyone?
BT: Many of them… can’t really pin point any one of them. But somewhere I love the wine jug I got from Srinagar and the old antique hand bell from Manali. They are the best.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are purely in the personal capacity of Bedraj Tripathy as a travel buff and has no bearing and/or correlation with his official role; Images, courtesy: Bedraj Tripathy