Call him a maverick, an individualist or a rebel – Sanjay Rao has lived by his own rules and set his own standards. A chance tryst with paragliding in 1996 was all it took to fuel this intuitive Piscean’s unbounded enthusiasm and he set up Nirvana Adventures soon after, with the idea of developing Kamshet, an area he has had a presence since ’92, as a flying destination.

When Sanjay learnt to fly the teaching available was a far cry from what Nirvana offers today. There were few tired old wings floating around the country, no radios and instructors came in the form of travelling pilots. In his endeavour to create world class paragliding facility in India he attracted to his side an awesome team that he nurtured and guided along the path to the skies. Sanjay forged links with the world free flying community to set systems & standardized training. His knowledge of the area and his relationship with the local people has been instrumental in opening up the area for flying to the Indian and International PG community.

Sanjay’s friends know him to be a great cook, an effortless organizer and a party animal.

A true adventure enthusiast, Pendu’s tryst with paragliding also began in 1996 almost 2000 kms away from Kamshet in the Himalayas and he has been a part of Nirvana Adventures since its inception. An avid mountaineer, he has extensively trekked the Western Ghats of India and has para-trekked and flown some of the most elusive peaks of the region. Since 2000 he has made it to Billing in the Himalayas every year looking for active thermals in the big mountains, flying with world class pilots and honing his skills. In 2003, ‘04 and ‘05 he took part in the Pre-PWC held at Billing in association with the Paragliding World Cup Association (PWCA),recognized by the FAI as a 'Category-II Status' in international ranking. In the 06’ Nikolai Experience Cup he ranked 4th in the international category and 2nd in the Indian category. He has done SIV in Turkey and an Acro course in Nepal.

Calm and patient in his demeanour, Pendu is a great teacher and motivator.

Yogi hails from the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal. At 17 he left his remote village high in the mountains of Nepal to look for adventure in the big city. A chance meeting with Sanjay Rao led to him working at Kamshet. Yogi took to flying as a fledgling takes to the air. He has been living and flying in Kamshet since 1998. He has watched the weather daily since and is finely in tune with it. He is greatly admired for his kiting skills and his easy ability to handle his glider in strong winds has earned him the title of ‘sky-god’. Pilots flying at Kamshet invariably prefer to wait and watch until Yogi takes off and assesses conditions before spreading their wings.

Yogi has been flying tandem since 2002 and has piloted over a thousand tandem flights. The joy and exuberance with which he flies, teaches and enjoys the sport is delightful to see.

A native of Karanjgaon, the location of our favorite Shelar site, Ravi has watched us fly since the first day we stumbled upon this site in 97’ He joined Nirvana Adventures in ‘03 as a part of our scheme to involve and impact upon the lives of the locals. Months of rigorous training under the watchful eye of the senior crew as well as his own keen observation over the years have made him a competent pilot. He loves to fly and is a proficient tandem pilot too. Ravi often accompanies visiting pilots to the flying site if the team is busy at another site with students.

His quiet self assured calm is infective on the ground handling field and students he supervises are quick to relax under his able care.

Astrid manages the marketing and administration from the Bombay office. She grew up in a little village by the sea in Mumbai and traces her ancestry back to the original inhabitants of Bombay. She graduated with honors in Ancient Indian Culture and has had a successful career in advertising & film making in the city for 10 years. Somewhere along the way her dream and that of Sanjay’s merged to create a vision that most others thought was fantasy. Today Nirvana Adventures, her garden at Kamshet and her son take up much of her time. Astrid also runs Native Place, a purpose built guesthouse that doubles as a residential paragliding school at Kamshet inspired by the sustainable, ecology conscious homesteads of village India. She networks with the BNHS and other conservation organizations in the areas of nature education and conservation.

She reports on the nesting of the endangered vulture population in Kamshet to the Peregrine Fund. She is also a freelance travel writer.

In 2000 Manoj returned to Mumbai after a 2 year stint of film making in the exotic Middle-East. He reacquainted himself with Astrid an old colleague and got involved in creating an all new web presence for Nirvana Adventures. A true blue Taurean, Manoj achieved this mammoth task with the steadfastness of a bull before turning his attention to flying – his passion and dream since childhood. Very soon he exchanged his daily fix of ‘Flight Simulator’ for weekends of the real thing, paragliding in Kamshet. Today he is an integral part of Nirvana Adventures - Webmaster, technical advisor and a valued friend. Manoj runs Taurean Venture a future media company based in the city and is engaged in web designing and filmmaking.

Manoj is a classic case of a boy with a dream to fly. Fondly called ‘wizzman’, Manoj is another significant pillar of the nirvana team.

One of Nirvana Adventures pillars, he is the main man at the guesthouse. Always smiling and ready to please, Pushkar is a good cook and a people’s person. He takes care of the daily running of the guesthouse and will organize anything you need. It is his beaming face that greets you when you arrive. He does not fly solo as yet but loves acro and XC tandem flights. When Phillipe, a visiting pilot, flew him tandem from the Lake View site to Shelar, he whipped out his mobile phone in-flight and proceeded to organize some tea at the landing field and a vehicle to transport them back to the guesthouse.

Pushkar has created a niche for himself with his perpetual good cheer and his relationship and interactions with the locals.