Of unexpected thrills and naughty ideas

Neha Arora, all of 30, wants to make Bangaloreans hop on to The Yellow Cycle, her company that lets you gift out of the ordinary experiences to your pals or family. Once you agree to a ride on The Yellow Cycle, you could be in for surprises—like getting a chance to learn the ropes of cooking from a top chef in the city, or live your dream of becoming a rockstar for a day and record your own album while at it. And for naughty couples, there’s the aphrodisiac experience.

The idea to start a company that would let people gift experiences came to Arora when she visited Singapore in 2010. “Everything in Singapore, from shopping malls to the entertainment zones, were designed carefully to heighten the experience and wow tourists,” Arora tells us. Taking back this learning from Singapore, Arora decided to design experiences for her clients. After almost a year’s worth of research, planning and tying up with various vendors, she launched The Yellow Cycle in October 2011.

“Firstly, we had to work out experiences that were feasible in Bangalore. I can’t promise my client a scuba diving experience, if it is not possible in the city, can I?,” says Arora. The name The Yellow Cycle was Arora’s attempt at slowing down life in the fast lane, by hopping on to a bicycle, a symbol of laidback times where you can journey at your own pace, slow down and savour moments. And the colour yellow is a happy, sunshine hue, says Arora, and fits in perfectly with her theme. In fact, if you visit Arora at her home, which also doubles up as her office, you cannot miss the bright yellow bicycle festooned with cheery balloons, standing in the middle of her work space.

Once you have visited the website of the company and narrowed in on the kind of experience you want to gift, all you need to do is to call Arora, make payments by cash on delivery, cheque, online transfer or debit card, and a gift kit is sent to your pal. The kit comes with chocolates, balloons and the experience ticket or voucher, which is valid for six months.

Then, whenever the receiver wants to avail the experience, he or she can call in with the ticket number, and The Yellow Cycle books in the experience. All he/she needs to do is to land up at the venue at a given date and time.

Gift experiences at The Yellow Cycle are divided into categories like Gourmet, Adventure, Aphrodisiac and more. Under the Gourmet experience, you can opt for an elaborate nine-course dinner, with lobster, caviar, and a menu specifically designed by a well-known chef. The Adventure experience involves flying a two-seater aeroplane, with some professional help of course.

Inspired by the motto popularised by Donald Trump—living life kingsize—after the air ride, you and your partner will get whisked away in a BMW for a wine and cheese evening.

The Aphorodisiac experience involves a couple getting picked up by a sedan and taken to a spa, where they can indulge in a milk bath together. After this, they are taken to a farmhouse for a romantic dinner with a pre-designed meal. The guests are pampered along the way with strawberries and champagne, and are also gifted a hamper basket that comes with chocolates, naughty boxers, handcuffs and Kamasutra position-shaped tarts. You could also put your singing chops to test if you opt to be a rockstar for a day. After selecting two tracks that you would like to sing and record, you are taught voice modulation by an expert, after which you go live. Once your song is recorded, it is edited, put into a CD and before you have digested the fact, you have cut your own music album.

Arora is currently quite happy with the response she has been getting for her maiden business venture. The newbie entrepreneur, who was previously heading a corporate communications department in an IT company, claims that she gets at least five to six enquiries a month, without any kind of aggressive marketing except for publicity on Facebook. The experiences at The Yellow Cycle also cannot be customised. “It is actually a ready to pick, off-the-shelf kind of model,” says Arora.

The Yellow Cycle experiences are priced between Rs 2,800-24,500. Call #9900729619 to book.

Log on to www.theyellowcycle.com