Hello, I'm Ram, an Indian....from India.
I'm an avid trekker,hiker, speed walker, cyclist and due to my job, becoming a mountaineer too.
....When I was 10, I had my own nature club. At 12, I would often go trekking all by myself.....even climbing slippery slopes in pouring rain....just loved the thrill of being so close to nature...in my teens, I would go cycling for hours, often heading towards agricultural fields outside the city limits...and getting several punctures in the process!
It was therefore no wonder that, by the time I got to University, I decided to study geography, then went on to acquire a Master's in , (urban & rural) development planning. Post-Master's, I worked 2 years for a UNESCO (Man & Biosphere Program) project on biodiversity & traditional knowledge in Coorg region of the Western Ghats (a chain of ancient mountains which run a length of 1600 kms in South-West India) .
Thereafter, I worked nearly a year with an NGO, on popularizing rain water harvesting techniques in urban and rural areas of South India....thus satisfying my yearning for walks in varying terrain!
Next, I studied for an M.Phil in Environmental Milieus, Techniques and Societies, specializing in Sustainable Development & biodiversity management, at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France. This had its fair share of field work too.
Post-M.Phil, I worked 6 years on an European Union sponsored project on social water management in a river basin in extreme southern India... a place surrounded by hills on 3 sides, and many places to explore. Also, I spent one or two months each year in France, at which time, I often had long walks in the rural hinterland, or along the Brittany coast.
After a short stint as the editor of an environmental journal, and thus a desk-job, I came back to an outdoor job last year. I now work as a socioeconomic & environmental consultant in a large public sector consultancy firm specializing in water and power projects. Basically, I undertake ethnographic surveys, Social Impact Assessments, Environmental Impact Assessments and Feasibility Studies.....most often in pristine, wild, rural locales in India, Nepal and Africa. So lots and lots of trekking, camping out, throughout the year...summer, winter, anytime!
Though I find my job fascinating, I've been planning a gap year for quite some time now....which I expect to take sometime in 2012, at which time, I'd like to do some serious mountaineering stuff.
Well, it's been a long innings, and except for a relatively short period, all by myself.....I really do want to find a soul-mate to share life with, to get married to. Somebody with similar interests, a gutsy woman, not afraid to be herself, with a mind of her own.....Is anyone out there listening?
I'd just like to add that I'm a vegetarian/eggatarian and an animal-lover, so fishing and hunting, as well as caging pets, is a big turn-off, for me.
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