Chennai
Former African President Nelson Mandela once said: Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. This quote created a huge impact on 22-year-old mountaineer Vaishak JP from Mangaluru. When he was 17 years old, he joined the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports in Manali, and completed the basic course in mountaineering. But what’s unique with him is that he primarily guides visually impaired for trekking and other adventure sports.
While working at a rock-climbing station in Bengaluru called Equilibrium Climbing Station, Vaishak saw a visually challenged person hosting a session for differently abled individuals at the centre. “After seeing the session, I started thinking about why we cannot make adventure sports accessible to all people. At the same time, a group of visually impaired students from an NGO called Adventures Beyond Barriers Foundation (ABBF) approached us and expressed their interest in trekking.
“I realised that adventure sports like mountaineering, trekking, etc are meant for everyone, including those with all kinds of disabilities. I quit my job at the rock climbing gym and joined ABBF. The organisation promotes inclusion by enabling persons with disabilities and able-bodied people to participate in adventure sports like mountaineering, scuba diving, marathon, paragliding and cycling, together,” says Vaishak, who is popularly known as The Trek Guy.
It was a life-changing moment when ABBF’s founder, Divyanshu Ganatra (who is also visually challenged), asked Vaishak to be his guide for the Mount Kilimanjaro summit. “But before that, we went on a 550 km cycling expedition from Manali to Khardung La. It was a great learning experience for me. I got nurtured by a great team at a young age — I learned how to handle differently-abled people, about inclusion, accessibility and understood more about adventure sports,” adds the mountaineer.
When you are trekking alone, you can move at your own pace. But when you are climbing with a visually challenged, you have to look out for another person as well. “You have to be attentive... it is more like a partnership. While guiding blind people, elbow movements and body language play an important role. When you’re climbing uphill, your elbow would automatically move up and the person you are guiding understands that you are moving up. When you descend, elbow goes down. If there is some obstruction on the path, I move my elbows away. If it is a narrow path, I keep my elbow close to my body and the person understands that they need to be right behind me,” he explains.
So far, Vaishak has conducted more than 30 adventure camps for able-bodied, visually challenged, cancer survivors and amputees.
“It gives me a sense of satisfaction to see their happiness when they enjoy the gentle touch of a cool breeze,” he says.
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