Team Questrails
Manishankar Ghosh (Director)
Mani hails from picturesque Assam, growing up amongst the sylvan surroundings of India’s great North-East outdoors. The rolling hills, abundant wildlife, nature’s glory in all its splendor, imbibed in him the love for the great outdoors. Mani discovered adventure quite early in his life. He won the President’s Award as part of Bharat Scouts and Guides in 1987 and since then, adventure has been his middle name. After leading and being part of umpteen treks, safaris and adventure expeditions, could it have been anything else? More so when you consider his real passion, river-rafting. He has been a part of and led various river-rafting expeditions in the country, namely on rivers like Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Kali Saryu, Indus, the overwhelming Zanskar and the mighty Brahmaputra.
An MBA with more than two decades of experience in the adventure tourism industry, Mani is the co-founder of Questrails. Yes, he oversees and manages the operations of the company but if you expect to see him behind a sedate Director’s desk, you couldn’t be more mistaken. He is more comfortable handling client-calls hanging from a cliff-side or from the middle of a class three rapid. Besides that he loves to take the high road in the Himalaya.
Riju Raj Jamwal (Director)
Riju Raj Jamwal is a practicing lawyer and comes from a family with an abiding legacy of social service. He is an eminent lawyer, humanitarian, trainer, author & environmentalist, he has founded “The Riju Raj Foundation Trust” with the objective of working towards the general good of the rural community, social justice & to preserve the environment pan India.
For the past three decades he has been closely involved in adventure sports – more particularly in river rafting, mountain climbing and trekking. As a River Instructor he has rafted on most of the Indian rivers including Siang & Kemeng in Arunachal Pradesh, Indus in Ladakh and the Ganges & Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand. As a founding member of the Indian Rafting Foundation, he has conducted training programs in various states of country to encourage people to take up river rafting sport as a profession for sustainable livelihood and to serve the locals to preserve the river ecosystem.
He is a life member of the prestigious Himalayan Club and has to his credit the summits of several peaks and successful trekking expeditions in the Himalayan and Ladakh ranges.
Akeen competition shooter he has been conferred with many shooting awards at the state level and is a Renowned Shooter at the national level in the ISSF Clay Pigeon Skeet Shooting category. He has completed his Safety Course under the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA) in the United Kingdom and is a qualified Safety Course Officer in Shotgun firearms.
Riju Raj is researcher in nuclear energy law and a member of International Nuclear Law Association (INLA), a non-profitable international association.
Harish Kumar Negi (Senior River Runner)
Even after 30 years of white water rafting in rivers like The Ganges, Bhagirathi, Alaknanda (Garhwal), the Beas (Himachal Pradesh), Joint Army Expedition on The Lohit (Arunachal Pradesh), The Indus & the Zanskar (Ladakh), Teesta (Sikkim) and Chenab (Jammu & Kashmir), Harish is still like a child with a simple yet deep love for the river. He can spend hours by the riverbank (and he has spent most of his life there)and everyday is a new joy for him by the river.
His career that spans over 30 years started out in the early 80s in a camp, sailing from Allahabad to Varanasi. A summer job with as a white-water-rafting guide in Rishikesh with Tiger Paw Adventure and 100 day trips later, Harish turned a rafting guide and never looked back. He has been the Camp Manager with Camp RapidFire for more than 10 Years and has help build Questrails, a brand known for clients who never seem to have enough of adventure and of Harish.
Currently, you will find Harish mostly by the Ganges in Rishikesh. Asan Activity-in-Charge professional for Banyan by the Ganges (a property of Questrails), he oversees the activities ranging from rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, birding, waterfall rappelling and hiking.
It’s not just expertise that has children and adults queuing for time with him. Firstly, it’s his reverence for Nature that shows in the way he treats his every single trip be it alone or with a group; it is like a pilgrimage. Secondly, he enjoys what he does and with him, it is purely the heart following a passion with the enthusiasm of a child. His motivation is adventure and a respect for life experiences. That is why a trip down the water with Harish is pure joy, unbridled fun. No matter how scary it looks, trust Harish to make it safe. His open, engaging grin is all the assurance you need.
“Even after 30 years, the call of the wild is still as strong and tempting and interesting. Yes, the stress and the risks are huge. But then, Risk Management today is much more solid than when I started out. There is also the fact that people have become more sedentary and that can be a big hazard on trips. But we touch lives, we help make incredible memories and we carry on a tradition. We’re now into a second generation of guides—people who work for us are those whose parents I have worked with. But above all nothing can dim the joy of being out there, which is why I am still out here!”
Deepu Kumar (Senior River Runner)
Deepu is as old at Questrails as Questrails itself, and the rivers know him since he was 5 years old. Two of the best River Runners of the country – Riju Raj Singh & Harish Kumar Negi – have trained him, but the instinctive bond that he has with the rivers is entirely inborn. He has rafted on almost all the rivers of India and has led expeditions successfully. And river-rafting on dangerous waters is one of the safest things you can do in life with Deepu and also one of the most exciting. However, these are not things you will realize when you meet him. For Deepu in spite of all his achievements, is very humble (too humble, we think) and shy.
When he is on dry land, he is one of the main back-end pillars of Questrails.
Naresh Singh
Naresh is a keen rafting guide and safety kayaker with over 12 years of experience. He belongs to the valley of Tons. Whether it is his role as safety kayaker or raft guide, or supporting a trekking trip, he forms an integral part of our outdoor operation.
Deepak Mishra (Director – Outdoor Learning)
An educator by profession, a passionate photographer and off-beat traveller, Deepak – as his name signifies – loves to motivate the young generation with his inspiring experiences and mystical stories. He believes that learning is a lifelong quest and the frontiers are limitless. It’s all about daring, exploring, living fully and being in harmony with everything around us. Deepak has undertaken this earnest work of conducting adventure trips to deepen the outlook and also create a meaningful outlook towards life and raise spiritual standard of the upcoming generation.
In his quest for like-minded people and groups, parenthetically he got connected to ‘Questrails’ and was invited for a night’s-stay at Camp Bodhisattva on his way to Shimla where he was introduced to Questrails and its ethos. Later visits to Camp MegaTons and Camp RapidFire helped him understand the company’s philosophy which is much similar to his vision of promoting outdoor learning for kids, he decided to promote Questrails Camps and activities through his platform and later became an integral part of Questrails as Director for Outdoor Learning.