I was born and brought up in a small hill town called Kalimpong in northern India, situated near Bhutan and Sikkim. My father was in the tourism industry, organizing tours and treks, and during my school holidays, I used to accompany him on treks, which is where my love for the mountains grew. And not just mountains, come to think about it now, I was also inclined towards plants and used to come back home with plants to grow in our garden without really knowing what they were.