About Me - Travel with Quest

Rukshin Shaher

Founder CEO,
Travel with Quest

How I rediscovered History

I hated history in high school just like everyone else. Unfortunately, the formal schooling system led me to believe that history is about memorising names and dates. When I was began my undergraduate studies, with the help of my mentor, Professor Dr. Fleur D’Souza, I discovered a completely new and absolutely fascinating way of looking at history. I began to perceive history as the sociology of ancient people, the psychology of motives, the philosophy of the human story, and sometimes even a crime scene investigation of events long gone.

The opportunities that History offered me

As part of my programme, I had the opportunity to participate in an archaeological excavation of a 1st century BC site under the guidance of the Department of Archaeology of the Deccan College (Deemed University).

During my years at university, I volunteered as a tour guide for the Asiatic Society of Bombay. As part of this program, I was even given the opportunity to take the then President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam on a guided tour of the Asiatic Society premises.

Exploring Berlin

After university, I went on to do a post-graduate degree in Linguistics. I studied and worked in linguistics for several years while I continued to nurture my love-affair with history in Berlin, Germany, which unarguably is a treasure trove for any historian.

From grand Prussian monuments to tiny tiles on the sidewalk, Berlin has it all. Berlin tells stories of people who changed the world forever as well as of the common man caught in the tides of history. After almost a decade of living in this city, I am still discovering Berlin and its local history.

How Quest was born

In all the years that I pursued history passively, I would cringe at every overenthusiastic tour guide who would drown me under names and dates. I would flinch at every fictitious story that was passed off as history because I knew, that presented correctly, real authentic history could compete with any Hollywood movie.

And that is how Quest was born. I want to tell meaningful stories, in a coherent narrative. I want people to see that, presented correctly, history is fascinating and has so much to teach us about our world today. I just want to share my passion for history and culture.