Trekking from IT Sector to Himalayas, lead to the Summit of Startup i.e. Indiahikes
From quitting jobs in IT sector, here is how Arjun Majumdar & Sandhhya Chandrasekharayya, founders of Indiahikes decided to earn their living from Himalayan treks, which later evolved as India's Largest and Safest Trekking Organisation.
By garima
The romanticism that currently prevails among the youth of India is traveling. While you heard of many who decided to quit their jobs for travel, Arjun Majumdar & Sandhya Chandrasekharayya planned to quit their jobs for defining the future of trekking by starting Indiahikes, India's Largest and Safest Trekking Organisation that is based in Bangalore, running over 35 Himalayan treks. Indiahikes is especially known for safety, information, and a sustainable style of trekking.
How it all began ?
During her school days, Sandhya Chandrasekharayya would go hiking in the hills around Mysuru, her hometown. The shorter climbs eventually led to longer, steeper ones in the Western Ghats, and soon hiking became the activity she loved the most.
After graduating with a degree in computer science from Mysuru’s National Institute of Engineering, Chandrasekharayya joined the IT sector. Trekking was still a constant, with frequent trips to the Himalayas. While planning one such excursion to Roopkund, a glacial lake in Uttarakhand’s Garhwal region, in 2009, Chandrasekharayya decided to reach out to trekking forums for useful tips. That’s when she came across Arjun Majumdar’s blogs and was inspired to start a trekking platform, Indiahikes.
During college days, Sandhya always enjoyed treks that usually happened during her vacations only and soon she noticed that people have little or no information/knowledge about the trek routes. Soon she began her blog community where the trek information was shared and in no time, many trek options were open for people to read, locate, and learn about.
Battling Nature, 2013
When the blogging community had turned into profit making fulcrum for trekkers/hikers, Indiahikes started taking groups with their responsibility of trekkers to take them on an adventure for their love towards mountains but, a natural calamity of the flash flood in Uttarakhand devastated nature & struggle for Indiahikes to manage the business.
Current Scenario
Soon, Sandhya & Arjun though to make "Green Trails" a separate division of Indiahikes focusing on waste management & bringing tonnes of waste from mountains to recycle. This again ignited enthusiasm among the mountaineers to go for treks, while contributing to the green initiative.
Sandhya says,
"Very early in our organisation making, we realised that with the growth of trekking, managing the environmental impact would be critical. Being the leaders, we had to set the right example — and the policies for the future."
What began as one humble blog post about the Roopkund trek has now blossomed into India’s largest trekking community and an authoritative source of all trek related information. Ten years later, the Indiahikes website is the largest database of trek information in India. Thousands of trekkers use the information on the Indiahikes website to go trekking on their own.
Currently, Indiahikes documents trek organizes treks, and offers experiential learning programs for children, families, schools, and companies. These programs are led by experts to deepen mental, physical, and spiritual development through experiential learning in the lap of nature.
From trekking to providing resources for treks, Indiahikes has also opened up many unexplored treks (Kedar Kantha to be the most famous) for Indians. Indiahikes has unique setup a place for amateur Indian mountaineers to live their dream.
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