ABOUT MYSELF

I am Sarju. I guess this will be enough for most of you as I am pretty famous ;-) .... giggling modestly .... I know I know, you don't have to comment on what I just wrote over here, but hey I am entitled to my minute of fame too.

To give you guys more info about myself:
I finished my Masters in GIS (Geographical Informtion Systems) from University of Ottawa in 2005 and so I thought that "Summer of 2006" was an appropriate time to do some travelling on the part of Earth that I adore so much. So, this year I plan to lead many expeditions in the cultural and scenic settings of the Indian Himalayas.

I was born in the Himalayas so it will not be an understatement if I were to say that Himalayas are in my blood. Before moving to Canada in 2001, I did extensive trekking in the Indian Himalayas for seven years. Many of my Canadian and European friends who are very enchanted by India had been pushing me to take them to my native Himalayas and organize and plan some treks for them. This should explain my intentions for the summer of 2006.

YES !!! I am going back to the mightiest mountain range in the world so that I can show it to my friends the way it impressed, influenced and shaped my life. I intend to be in India from late July till the end of December and I will be planning plentitude of Trekking, Cycling, Rafting, Motor-Biking and Safaris for my friends.

We intend to:
# Cross many passes higher than 5000 meters.
# Camp for many days in a row at more than 4000 meters.
# Camp underneath the stars.
# Visit villages and monasteries in the remote Himalayas where time seem to have stood still since ages.
# Stay with families, nomads, having that unadulterated cultural and culinary experience in the Himalayas.
## & everything else that Himalayas have to offer.

PHOTOGRAPHY:
Usually I do not mix photography and travelling as I always feel that when we are trying to take photos we loose that moment in real life. There is nothing like travelling care free without being hooked to your camera. But ....(btw I find "But" as the most dreaded word in english dictionary. There is always a catch after this three letter word. What goes before this word is the balm that the person wants to put on its prey before giving the final blow so that it does not hurt too bad). Anyways there is no such blow coming in my next sentence :). Coming back to what I was saying .......

But recently I have been getting a feeling that I should share with rest of the world, the stories of the nice and simple people of Himalayas. So this year I will be taking my camera on my travels and would attempt to tell the stories of the native people of the Himalayas through my photos. Stories from the socio-culture that I was raised in and have cherished throughout my life. I am not sure to what extent I will be successful but I am definitely very excited about what I am doing this summers.