CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN GASPING AND BREATHLESS, CROSS THAT STREAM STEPPING ON SLIPPERY PEBBLES WITH A STRONG WILL POWER, SOAK IN THE RAIN AND JUMP IN TO PUDDLES LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, DISCOVER THE WONDERS WITHIN YOURSELF AND SEE HOW FAR YOU CAN GO, BELIEVE THAT NO CHALLENGE OUTSIDE US IS GREATER THAN THE POTENTIAL WE HAVE WITHIN. HAVE A LIFE TRANSFORMING EXPERIENCE, HIKE TOWARDS EMPOWERING ONE OWNS SELF.
Each one of us wake up to a new day, another blessing that comes our way. We all start going about the business of living which is tending to our commitments and responsibilities, personal and professional.He also wakes up to a seemingly normal day.His schedule at work starts with him sitting by himself with his a modern-day gadgets like everyone else. He may be working on the site or from a remote location. His office is any place where he decides it to be. His workspace could be a room, a café, by the side of a stream,on top of a mountain or on a flight. He does the routine of checking mails, preparing a schedule, setting the deadlines of various deliverables, browsing through the sales figures and looking in to the client queries.His work profile includes the usual stuff along with analyzing and working in harmony with weather conditions at the site, fitness levels of his clients. He goes to the extent of monitoring the health and food of Mulesand Ponies in a faraway place.
Who is he and what does he do? He is Arjan Kripal, founder and CEO of Get Up and Go, an adventure and travel company based out of Chennai, India. He leads trekking expeditions to various parts of the world and gives people the taste of travelling, adventure and experiences worth a life time.He has a Maori turtle tattooed in his arm neatly decorated. He carries the calm off the ocean in his stridesmatching the pace of a turtle slow and steady, calm but sturdy. He would seem as if he was not going in any direction yet his gaze was always towards the sun. What made him choose trekking over a routine job? He threw it all away to do all sorts of wild things like deep sea diving, hanging off a cliff,climbing mountains, looking for the remotest and mind-blowing places on this earth to explore.
Life in the mountains is laid back? Think again. Well explore a day with the Mountain Executive Officer Arjan Kripal and his team. They work with time and race against time too. Sunlight is the only hand ticking on their watches. With the availability of day light the entire team executes its operations beyond which the head lamps guide them through the darkness.The issues of his team are beyond the stock markets, falling shares and human resources. Weather conditions, rainfall, snowfall, hail and controlling all kind of resources human animal and natural is a challenge for him every day.
Customer service starts from making living conditions possible in the wilderness. Any place on a mountain is converted in to a camp site with tents to live in, toilets to use and a kitchen that serves nutritious and lip smacking food. Keeping the clients comfortable against natural conditions. He makes homes for peopleout of a tent space with a beautiful courtyard consisting of the mighty mountain ranges all around.He leads a team of modern day Bedouins,Travelers, Explorers and Gypsies. He guides a team of seekers and adventurists treading over the challenging mountain terrain looking for thrill and excitement.
He promises his clients adventures and experiences that will break barriers of fear and beat the monotony of routine life.The mind confines us to remain in our comfort zones. He ushers people to travel to the edge of our comfort zone and go beyond toconquer our own fears and limitations.
That is what the Mountain Executive officer promises to deliver an experience that makes each of us feel invincible.
“I Loved playing cricket as a Kid. Played a lot of cricket and made my mark playing the sport. Cricket will always be my passion. Well, indulging in one passion lead me to discover another passion of mine. That was travelling. Cricket was about playing growing loosing wining and travelling. I realized that I belonged out there where I was free. I was working briefly for a corporate post my playing cricket career. I couldn’t stand to have a regular desk job. I didn’t make a single good friend at work. I was never a city boy at all. I was an introvert. Walls, buildings, concrete structures never called out to me. I never enjoyed the rat race. I happened to watch a show on National Geographic Channel of Ian Wright. That was my calling. I was mesmerized by the mountains. I enjoyed making travel itineraries for random Treks my sister and her friends. From selecting the place, booking the tickets, organizing the stay. Slowly I started falling in love with what I was doing. In the silence of the mountains devoid of the hustle bustle of the city without my phone or a laptop was when I was sitting still and communicating with my mind. And that’s the one person I needed to be honest with myself. I realized I belonged up there on a mountain top. That was my home and I found my peace up in the mountains. I was not meant to fit in here in the city. I could not be another one in the pack. I had to walk my own path. And the path need not necessarily lead me anywhere. The straight path doesn’t cut it for me. I had to be watching out for falling off the edge of the earth edge constantly. I needed to live on the edge. Else I was wasting space on this earth.
And hence I took my voluntary retirement at 40 and started my adventure and travel company Get Up and Go. The day my work becomes a job it will take away the happiness from what I do.
And here I am now hanging of cliffs, wandering in the wilderness, diving in the deep sea or in to the sky like you said” he laughed. “Boundless and endless and limitless is my passion and quest for life and adventure.”
“Travelling exploring is the only way to break the barriers of the mind and yes it also keeps me fit and grounded. So that’s why I do what I do. That’s who I choose to be”.