Sajna, a 36-year-old mother of a two-month-old daughter, is celebrating the travel agency’s 400th journey. Due to the decision taken eight years ago, 4,300 women have travelled across India in the past seven years.
Sajna Ali possesses the attribute that distinguishes all winners — attitude. Her story begins in 2014, when she and several companions planned a weekend trip from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram to Odisha. When they abandoned the mission, Sajna did not pout. Instead, she travelled alone, returned to Kerala, and founded a women-only travel group.
She has completed the 398th voyage that her travel agency, Appooppanthaadi, has organised professionally.
Appooppanthaadi is the Malayalam name for milkweed, which is abundant in rural Kerala. It relies on the wind to disseminate its seeds and represents gay abandon, a burst of freedom amid a crowd, as it spreads its delicate wings and flies wherever it pleases.
Sajna, a 36-year-old mother of a two-month-old daughter, is celebrating the travel agency’s 400th journey. Due to the decision taken eight years ago, 4,300 women have travelled across India in the past seven years.
The first international excursion for her travel agency is scheduled for this year. Sajna’s fondest recollection is the first excursion with eight women to Rosemala in the Kollam district.
“After sharing the enjoyable aspects of the excursion on social media, I received a deluge of inquiries. “I believed the time was right to start this travel agency as a side business,” she recalls.
“I originate from Kozhikode. My father is a truck driver who returned from each journey with photographs. I always wanted to accompany him, but he discouraged me from coming on lengthy rides because there were insufficient restrooms for women. “However, he used to take me on short day trips, which I thoroughly enjoyed,” she says.
Sajna, a software professional, quit her employment at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram to pursue her travel passion. As the travel agency surpassed the 400-tour mark, Sajna desires to contribute back to the community.
A ‘give-back-to-the-community’ excursion involving volunteer work in a village is likely. The members of the expedition could be teaching the locals anything, from language skills to computer programming.
Appooppanthaadi has partnered with Responsible Tourism Mission Kerala, the state’s initiative to promote ecotourism. Another organisation is Prayaana, a travel fellowship. Her company will sponsor two-day excursions for travel enthusiasts to promote offbeat destinations in exchange for online blog and video posts.
The agency’s Facebook community, which has 11,000 members, serves as her primary source of travellers. Sajna manages 22 WhatsApp groups with 300 members each and uses social media to promote and finalise travel arrangements. The travel pioneer believes that travel, particularly solo travel for the average Indian woman, is less about visiting a location, checking off its tourist attractions, and taking photographs. “Travelling alone is empowering. I have witnessed hundreds of women travelling with us who feel liberated.
Some were taking their first solitary trip in fifty years. She states that solo travel brings out their sense of humour and makes them feel independent, confident, and capable. Before she organises the itinerary, Sajna conducts a recce of each destination to ensure that it is affordable. “My highest priority is the safety of my female travellers. We never make concessions on this,” she insists.
The lights in hotel corridors have been turned off. They bring extra batteries for their flashlights, safety applications, and self-defense devices such as pepper sprays and tasers. Sajna’s accomplishments include winning a fellowship grant of Rs 40 lakh for a special Aao travel initiative. Despite the fact that Covid-19 halted travel, she is now back at work with two office staff and 18 travel volunteers.
Appooppanthaadi has a profound significance for Sajna. When she was a child, she sat on her grandfather’s knee, listened to his stories, and played with his beard while she was carefree. “Currently, travel makes me feel liberated and content.” Have feet, will travel, should be the slogan on her T-shirt.