Nalin Khanduri, Founder GIO
I love the mountains and the outdoors. I’ve been going
on wilderness trips for over 20 years now, and yet, I simply can’t get enough
of it. This passion for adventure and the outdoors, the mountains and nature,
propelled me to start Great Indian Outdoors (GIO), an adventure/outdoors
company in 2000, which is now one of the leading ‘adventure tourism’ companies
in India. My posts in this blog are mostly about how my life, my passion and my
work are so closely connected.
A good example of how partial
knowledge of something is more damaging than no knowledge is the much misunderstood
concept of ‘Adventure’ in India. Basis few documentaries earlier on Doordarshan
channel and more recently on Discovery and National Geographic channel and a
few books extolling some great achievements of the human race, majority in
India think of adventure as something which takes one to near death or
confirmed death experiences. It is considered to be something meant for freaks and
firangs. Lots also subscribe to the
belief that one needs to be born as more than a man. Nothing can be farther
from truth. Meet me once and you’ll know. Also contributing to this wrong
notion is the very people who indulge in it, including me. I have found an
uncanny habit in the Indian adventurers/travelers of big talk, exaggerating
their experiences. Add to it good story telling skills of an average Indian, you
have wrong information spreading like plague. In other parts of the globe you
will find most people giving true and detailed account of their experiences, which
is mostly documented and helps others, plan their own adventures
The statement, ‘I run an
adventure company’ sounded really cool to me about 12 years ago when I started
my company, but these days quite a few times I underplay my association with
adventure. I say I run an Outdoor company or that I run a travel company
because of the fear of being misunderstood and also for the fear of losing
business. Many a school and parents get panic attacks the minute they hear of
someone suggesting an ‘adventure program’ for their children; it’s a different
matter you label the same program as ‘outdoor learning program’ they will lap it
up.
Due to insufficient information there
is an enigma around adventure and people who indulge in it. I get tons of attention
and interesting reactions when people get to know of my association with the
‘A’ thing. Some think I am a dare devil and some as being the ‘Different’ type.
There are lots who thought of me as a nursery drop out and were quite amused to
know am an engineer/MBA variety. Am sure quite a few also think of me as being
frivolous and incapable of earning my livelihood without getting into something
as drastic as adventure and also as someone whose been encouraged by his parents
to intentionally to go near high mountains, deep gorges and fast rivers due to
my inability to show excellence in any other regular field.
Like any other concept, adventure
am sure has different meanings to different people. TO ME ADVENTURE IS ANYTHING
OUT OF THE REGULAR. You don’t just jump off planes & bridges or check out shark
teeth from close proximity or climb up to heights at which planes fly to taste
adventure. As per my understanding, a trip to Bombay for a villager from the
mountains is an adventure, for an American tourist roaming the lanes of ‘Purani
Delhi’ is an adventure, for city bred children staying with villagers is an
adventure. Nowhere is death hanging over one’s neck, maybe to an extent with
the villager in Bombay! As by me, a
group of experienced mountaineers climbing a Himalayan peak and bunch of
amateur city kids heading to the Sahyadris (beautiful mountain range in
Maharashtra) represent the same spirit and zeal for adventure. I attribute this
wrong notion about adventure to ACT vs SPIRIT and DOING vs FEELING phenomenon. Let
me explain. I am fairly convinced that adventure for whatever reasons is wrongly
perceived by majority in terms of doing an act; something very physical in
nature and not as something you feel and enjoy. Adventure in reality does not
necessarily need to be dangerous and difficult. It is about trying something
new and enjoying the feeling and celebrating the spirit, which acts as the
catalyst in making one try new things. Adventure connotes SPIRIT and not the
act. One of the things in my list of ‘top 10 all time adventures’ has to be the
salsa dance classes that I attended once.
