Nisargahas three divisions — Eco tourism, Education and Research and Development. But themost favourite of all the members is trekking. “Atleast one weekend in a month, we indulge in backpacking. It can be through trekking or camping,”says Karthik.

Shilpa, an ex-NGO worker and apassionate trekker, has been with

Nisargafor more than a year. “Iwas looking for a trekking club foralong time,” she says. “Then Icame across theBangaloreTrekkers’community on Orkut.”Despite having a young son to lookafter, Shilpa always takes time outto trek, be it once or twice a month.“It’s addictive. Once you trek, youwouldn’t like the city life at all,”she laughs.

“During long weekends, we goout camping and it’s so much fun,”she informs. She laments at the diminishing wildlife due to the selfish nature of human beings. “Iwould like to tell the youth, to explorethe wild rather than going to pubs and cafes.”For Bishu Naik from Orissa, whose native placeis situated inside a tiger reserve, nature has alwaysbeen a fascination. “But the jungles of Orissa aredense and tough to explore,” he feels. His first trekto Kumara Parvatha was a memorable experiencefor him. “Apart from trekking, we cleaned the trek,collected plastic bags and garbage dumped by theother people,” he says. “Once near Muthaddi forest,which is 100 kms from Bangalore, we were comingdown from the hills. And we heard the sound of thebranches. We thought someone is cutting a tree butwere pleasantly surprised to see a herd of elephants,” he says.

Pankaj used to be a part of the adventure sportsactivities conducted in his college. “Karthik alongwithNisargaused to help us out,” he says. Beingone ofNisarga’s oldest members, Pankaj is a lotinto adventure sports. “I love the rope activities,”he conveys. Pankaj is even a part of the outbound training programme thatNisargahas forthe students of Management. “I am a core trainer.I’m not a formal trainer but I’ve been into it sincemy college days.”For Pankaj, travelling and interacting with different people, is most exciting. “You can see the fearin the eyes of the newcomers when they are gettinginto the adventure sports,” he says. “You have toconvince and motivate them.”The experience of trekking via the WesternGhats to the Dudhsagar falls during the rainy season was out-of-the-world for Shilpa. “That’s because over there, you just have the railway tracks totrek on,” she says. “There were 16tunnels and five bridges. Thesebridges had nothing apart from atrack,” she informs. The trekkersthought of camping over there butdidn’t find the right place. “Weslept in water and even the railwaybridge was covered with water,”she laughs. “It was very scary asthere were landslides and all thetrains were cancelled for two days.But luckily a railway officerhelped us out.”“We explore the spiritual side ofnature by not paying any attentionto infrastructure or convenience,”informs Karthik. “For instance,we collect garbage. Plus we cookour own food,” he says. “We preparewith the most lavish meal of all being onionpakoda,”he jokes.The members ofNisargahold informal meetings in each other’s houses. “It’s more like a family,” says Bishu. “We get together once a month anddiscuss about which places are good to trek.” Theorganisation doesn’t have memberships like theother clubs. “The moment you take part in any ofour programmes, you become a member,” saysKarthik. But one can also register on their website,http://nisargaindia.com/ by filling a form. “Onceyou register on the site, you get access to varioustrekking routes. This means you can trek without atrainer or a guide,” says Karthik.Interested peoplecan also mail the organisation atnisargaindia@gmail.com