Rajesh has been trekking for more than a decade. His first one
being Nanda devi in 2005, thats what got him to become a trekking
guide.
His favorite treks are Dodital and Dayara Bugyal. He has done
these treks countless times! His favorite peak is the Draupadi ka
danda 2 (DKD-2), which he had summited during his Advanced
mountaineering course in 2013.
Rajesh says he also likes trekking because it gets him to meet new
people, make new friends as well as keeps him physically fit.
On conservation, Rajesh says -
"
We should not pollute
the mountains .... I pick plastic waste if I see ..."
"
In Kedartal there was so
much plastic … we brought 2-3 kgs of plastic from there."
"
Most of the trekkers
are aware and do not throw things."
Rajesh did his schooling in Agora high school. He fondly remembers
playing cricket in his village as a kid. His village is on a
mountain slope and there is not much of flat ground. Farming is
done by the villagers in whatever little flat ground is available.
He recalls, the cricket rules, when a sixer used to be when a
batsmen would hit the ball above 4 fields. A four would be when
the ball went above 2 fields.
He recalls himself to be a sincere student, who used to also study
while walking to school. His favorite subject used to be English
because the English teacher used to teach like a friend.
Village Agora is on the route of Dodital trek. So when a few of
Rajesh's guests visited him, they suggested to make his home a
guest house. He took their advise and now runs a guest house as
well. Rajesh has done a first aid course from Mussorie.
Rajesh can also arrange for bird watching trips, he says we can
sight 'Monal' the Uttarakhand state bird on the Dodital trek.
Rajesh says its a great time to visit his village in December
during a festival called 'Pandav Nritya', i.e the Pandavas
Dance, the festival happens to chase away the bad spirits
from the village. It's a 5 day festival, with the last day being
the most fun, when they have a big fire burning the whole night
along with singing and dancing.
Also between July to August they have a flower festival in the
village, when flowers of different varieties and from different
mountain peaks are brought to the village and offered to the
village temple.
Rajesh and his guest house is mentioned in this
blog.