A Passage To India: Her Second Act Started With A Trip

Shila Desai's life has an intriguing and international timeline. She is of Indian descent – with her grandparents coming from the country's Gujarat province. But she was born in Kenya and grew up there. She got her professional degree in the United Kingdom. And at the age of 24, Shila relocated to Canada where she spent most of her adult life.

She arrived in Canada and didn't know a soul. She met her future husband in the first few weeks in Toronto, they married and started a family. And they bought a bankrupt garment manufacturing company and turned it into a home run success.

On the outside it looked like a wonderful life. But Shila struggled with depression and thirsted for something that she could call her own. At the request of her writer's group, she put together a tour that brought nineteen of her friends to India. The experience was such a success she turned it into a travel company called Eat Your Heart Out Tours (or EYHO Tours for short).

As you'll hear in the podcast, EYHO Tours has developed a particular expertise in textile tours essentially bringing visitors and textile artisans in India, Morocco, Madagascar and Uzbekistan together. You can learn more about Shila's company at www.eyhotours.com.