Climber | Entrepreneur | Designer
Entrepreneur
After working for a couple of years in a tech start up during my early career, I began my journey as an entrepreneur in 2006.
SilverSilt was my first company. It was a proprietorship OOH media owning firm. I created and sold advertising space for about 8 years. During this time, I also consulted at Accord Advertising Pvt. Ltd.
I co-founded FeetOffGround in 2012. It began as an outdoor store retailing 70+ best-in-class international brands catering to climbing, camping, hiking, swimming, cycling, etc. It has now evolved into a manufacturing company that specializes in design and manufacture of rock climbing walls and play systems for kids.
Climber
One day in 1990, I was walking back from the swimming pool with my mother in Jayanagar, Bangalore, when I saw this sign that said "Rock Climbing" and I insisted we go and take a look inside.
That excitement when I first got onto a rock when I was 10 years old hasn't left me even today.
I like to introduce myself as a rock climbing first, everything else next.
Together with a couple of very good friends, I climb almost every weekend. Be it bouldering, or sport climbing or trad, we are out.
I favor sport and trad to bouldering.
Most of my life I've climbed on granite. But at least twice a year I make a trip to Badami to climb it's sandstone crags.
Designer
I won't call myself a designer yet. I'm working towards it though. I do not have any formal training in design, but from the time I can remember, I have been creating things.
As a kid I created board games. I was never any good at drawing or painting, but I could make things by hand.
These days I work with metal. I have been working with one fabricator for over 10 years and he and his team usually build anything I think of.
I've scavenged scrap metal yards for various things. I love it in there, to see old components and try and imagine what I can make from them. I've picked up a tractor hood and made it into a barbecue grill. I've bought gears and sprockets and made them into kinetic sculptures.
All the climbing walls that I've built for clients as a part of FeetOffGround, I've designed myself.
The Mini Mighty is a DIY-ready climbing walls designed for kids.
See the complete list here.
Some of the projects I've worked on
In as little words as I could, I've explained some of the work I've executed. And I hope to keep adding to this list.
Click below to take you there.