trained to be a mechanical engineer he soon realised that his interest lies in the outdoors by the time i graduated i knew that i am a product of my hobby hiking and camping i was probably a year into my job when i realised that i could not settle for a desk job like most engineers and i decided to take up the outdoors as my profession says ravi kumar director of national outdoor leadership school nols india founded in 1965 by legendary mountaineer paul petzoldt nols takes students of all ages on remote wilderness expeditions and teaches them technical outdoor skills leadership and environmental ethics on how he got interested in the outdoors kumar says i grew up in south bangalore every time i had a few hours to spare i used to frequent the woods usually the nearby national park sometimes i would be lucky and get to see wild elephants from a distance my mothers stories about the himalaya gleaned from her pilgrimages to the area also got me attracted to the outdoors i felt an urge to see forests and snowcapped mountains he joined spark a hiking club in bangalore and went on a weeklong trek in the western ghats with that the outdoor bug was truly entrenched in kumars life he joined nols in 1996 to become a part of the faculty he needed extensive expedition experience in the wilderness mountaineering backpacking and rock climbing also he had to go through a 30day instructor course in the us where he got evaluated as an educator finally he had to teach a monthlong wilderness course to become a faculty kumar describes wilderness education as backcountry classrooms where students quickly learn how to apply the information given to themon what inspires him kumar says he likes what an extended trip in to the wilderness does to a young persons mind my first trip made me look at life in simple terms gave me a chance to reorient its course and made me try to be a good human being i resolved to create such opportunities for others that inspires me keeps me going he feels young people nowadays have wdd wilderness deficit disorder by the time they wake up to the world they missed knowing thanks to the pressures of competing and getting ahead in society their youth sometimes life would have passed them by it is an uphill task getting young people to convincingly imagine explore the social personal insecurity fueling this behaviour leave alone address it according to kumar compared to this challenge he faces with todays youth it was easier for him to climb remote mountains around the world in todays world propagating outdoor education is a more challenging task than climbing a difficult peak and that is my job he adds kumars advice to the youth is that it is important to know wilderness and spend time in wilderness for personal