Tripping on adrenaline: What is Nihir Parikh’s idea of a perfect holiday?
Music festival Tomorrowland and an annual ski trip remain key fixtures on the Nykaa.com CBO’s holiday calendar.
By Shannon Tellis, ET Bureau |
BCCL
Nykaa.com CBO Nihir Parikh is a natural adrenaline junkie with a passion for adventure sports – skydiving, bungee-jumping, white-water rafting. But the adventure sport closest to his heart: skiing.
He got hooked onto the sport when he mistakenly skied down a Black slope (usually reserved for experts) on his first day at Stanford University. At the time, Parikh had just mastered a three-hour beginner’s lesson.
“By mistake, while going down the slope, a friend of mine and I ended up in front of a Black (which is the most difficult level) instead of a Blue. We were supposed to go left for a Blue (slope) and right to a Black and we took the Black by mistake. We stood there for about two hours, at the end of which we said we either go down and die or we hike back up a mountain which we would never do. (In our mind) there was death both ways.”
“(Finally) we skied down the slope, doing very bad technique and survived a Black on Day 1. That was the day I realised how much amazing it was to ski. (Surviving that), I got complete confidence to try any slope. Post that I used to go between trees, I learnt how to do jumps and became fearless.”
Since that life-changing experience, Parikh has never looked back and goes skiing at least once a year with his wife, Janhavi who’s also a good skier.
Hooked on Energy
Another highlight of Parikh’s year is the annual music festival: Tomorrowland.
“My brother introduced me to Tomorrowland. I don’t understand music but I went there and fell in love. The ambience, the place, the music, it was absolutely phenomenal. You don’t need to drink, you don’t need to do anything, it’s just the energy. I got completely high on adrenaline just standing there. I loved it so much I kept going back. This year, I’m looking forward to collecting my fourth Tomorrowland band.”
He got hooked onto the sport when he mistakenly skied down a Black slope (usually reserved for experts) on his first day at Stanford University. At the time, Parikh had just mastered a three-hour beginner’s lesson.
“By mistake, while going down the slope, a friend of mine and I ended up in front of a Black (which is the most difficult level) instead of a Blue. We were supposed to go left for a Blue (slope) and right to a Black and we took the Black by mistake. We stood there for about two hours, at the end of which we said we either go down and die or we hike back up a mountain which we would never do. (In our mind) there was death both ways.”
“(Finally) we skied down the slope, doing very bad technique and survived a Black on Day 1. That was the day I realised how much amazing it was to ski. (Surviving that), I got complete confidence to try any slope. Post that I used to go between trees, I learnt how to do jumps and became fearless.”
Since that life-changing experience, Parikh has never looked back and goes skiing at least once a year with his wife, Janhavi who’s also a good skier.
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“We’ve been going every year since 2004 (except for one year when my wife was pregnant) and this year, we’re teaching our six-year old daughter to ski. We’re taking her to Chamonix for New Year’s and we’re really looking forward to it.”Hooked on Energy
Another highlight of Parikh’s year is the annual music festival: Tomorrowland.
“My brother introduced me to Tomorrowland. I don’t understand music but I went there and fell in love. The ambience, the place, the music, it was absolutely phenomenal. You don’t need to drink, you don’t need to do anything, it’s just the energy. I got completely high on adrenaline just standing there. I loved it so much I kept going back. This year, I’m looking forward to collecting my fourth Tomorrowland band.”
From Swiss towns to the quaint house boats of Kashmir, here’s where some of India’s bosses love to vacation.
In Pic: On the left is Ananth Narayanan, CEO, Myntra and on the right is Sebi Joseph, President, Otis India.
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