The week after I tore my Achilles Tendon…..

Day 1, Dec 8  : “Conflicting Emotions” 

This was the day when a harmless split second move on the badminton court turned into a world of pain. A quick google search of the symptoms declared it as an “Achilles Tendon Rupture.” That’s the one injury that the coach said was “serious”.

I brushed it off, thinking, “Nah, can’t be that serious.” Hours later, a visit to the hospital confirmed Dr. Google’s ominous diagnosis. Yep, it was indeed an Achilles Tendon Rupture, and the doc said an immediate surgery was the only recourse. How does one of the strongest tendons just decide to snap like that on a random day?

Despite this unexpected plot twist, I found myself oddly cheerful. I mean, I was feeling like a legit “sportsperson” proudly sporting a “sports injury.” Brandishing around big words like surgery and physiotherapy..Just another day in the life of a pro sportsperson. 😉 

Day 2, Dec 9 : “Shivering Shivers” 

The surgery was scheduled for 10am. I was wheeled into the Operating Theater in all positivity. However, the moment I hit the OT, a sudden chill crept up – probably because it felt like like a refrigerator inside, or perhaps it was just the nerves kicking in. Too many things happened at the same time – my chest was wired up to check ECG, my arm was fitted with the BP machine, my back was being poked by the anesthesiologist.  I had other scary thoughts — my leg was going to be cut and stitched.. BRRRR. They finally gave me something to make me drowsy to stop me from craning my neck to see the screen where my surgery was being ‘telecast’. Fast forward 1.5 hours, I rolled out of there, still in good spirits. I was more or less in Lala land until 8 pm when the anesthesia finally wore off, revealing a world of pain.

Day 3, Dec 10 :  “Feeling Indulged” 

After a restless night which ended with a powerful painkiller, I got up feeling unsettled. When the pain didn’t return, I started looking at the brighter side of things. I had my husbands’ full attention and felt so pampered having him constantly at my beck and call. How often does that happen?

The girls had a dance performance which was being taken care of, without me. My mother had flown in from Bangalore as soon as she got to know about my surgery. I thanked my good fortune (and my wonderful mother) that my household was running without me and my girls were taken care of.

The good vibes were pumping through me so much that by the time the physiotherapist came to visit, I had already written, directed and starred in an epic sports movie. The story? An injured badminton player (yours truly), comes out of a debilitating injury, and is unable to play badminton again, so she shifts focus to another sport, trains hard and ultimately wins an Olympic medal. What an unusual storyline huh? Ha! 

While all this was going on in the hospital, my daughters had other important, existential questions – “Can we go to Thailand even if you can’t come?” 

Day 4, Dec 11 : “Self-Victimizing” 

I got discharged from the hospital and was back home in the evening. Real life was not as inspiring as my epic sports movie anymore. Every step (or hop) on the walker required monumental effort. Getting from the living room to the bedroom made me break out into sweat, that too in Gurgaon Winters! Even though I kept saying, “My upper body is going to become super strong and my left leg is going to become super toned with all this hopping”, I did not shy away from playing the victim card. Water, food, everything was handed to me. I was not asked to move one inch for anything. Rather, I didn’t even make any attempt to move. I was jittery about the stitches, about the cast.

Word had spread in my family and I was getting calls asking about what happened. I sounded like a broken record — telling the same story multiple times. It was just another day when I was playing baddy, I heard a pop sound, thought the shoe’s heel gave out, but the shoe was fine and it was actually the tendon which had snapped.. No, I did not fracture my bone..No this isn’t a ligament tear. Yes there is something other than the bone and ligament called the tendon. I didn’t know what a tendon was too.

Also in my quest for more thrills, I got the coach to send me the CCTV footage of my court. The footage of the exact moment when I transformed from a ‘normal badminton player’ to a “pro-athlete”. So now everyone not only heard, but also got to witness the visuals of this story. 

Day 5, Dec 12: “Depression”

The next day, my inner chirpy voice started fading. Bitter cynicism soon took over. It must have been the frustrating inactivity of the last 4 days. Tears sprung out of my eyes, at odd times, without warning. What did I do wrong? What could I have done to avoid this injury? And why did I need to eat all these meals when I am not burning any calories? Will I ever be able to play badminton again? Will I be relegated to behind a sports spectator all my life? What about the vacation I was planning? How long will I be stuck to the bed/couch?

A much needed visit by my friends at night, cheered me up enough for a peaceful nights sleep.

Day 6, Dec 13: “Hope Returns” 

In the morning, the cloud slowly parted ways in my mind and I had this epiphany. My schedule had always been full with my fitness routines, fulfilling orders for my books, random to-do lists, household chores, dropping kids to classes. Now my calendar looked wide open. I had been given the precious gift of time. I could read novels without disturbance , I could write with full attention, I could listen to new podcasts, I could start a new meditation routine. I decided to start writing a novel. A story about  – guess what? A badminton player who gets an Achilles tendon rupture and her life experiences after that. I wonder where I get these creative, unimaginable ideas. Hmmmm. 

Day 7, Dec 14 : “New Feelings” 

With my new found time, I finished reading a Young Adult Mystery novel and wrote around 500 words. I was also doing a lot of soul-soothing online retail therapy using my completely fine hands. Amazon, Myntra, Nyka ki Jai Ho! 

Later that day, I had a planned doctor’s visit. I had not seen my legs after they cut it, stitched it, bandaged and plastered it while I was zonked out in the Operation Theatre.  As they unwrapped my legs, I was curious to see the stitches, how big were there? How long was the cut?  When finally I set my eyes on it, it didn’t look as scary as I had imagined. Yes, my leg and foot was swollen, discolored and a little grotesque, but not as bad as I thought it was be. Ofcourse, I was already mentally selecting the cool tattoo I would need to cover the scars.  The doctor took one look at the stitches, said it is healing well and made an exit. I caught him before he left asking the question that I had been wanting to ask ever since I got injured. “Can I travel to Thailand?” The doctor nodded and said, “Sure, you can go today if you want!”  My spirits soared hearing this prognosis. 

The rest of the evening my mind was in a whirlwind and I went into action mode. Should I rent a wheelchair, a mobility scooter? Were the hotels wheelchair friendly? Did the AirBnB have steps? How do people travel in flights with casts? It was late by the time I slept after doing all my research. 

Day 8, Dec 15: “Clarity Strikes” 

It was one of those days when I did not do anything special, but clarity decided to barge into my brain. Maybe it was the excitement and nervousness of the impending trip. I resolved that I was going to use all the other working parts of my body to get moving more. 

“Alexa, set a reminder for every hour from 7am to 11pm” 

“What is the reminder for?” 

“Charu, Time to Move Around”

I felt better moving around. I felt active. My mind kept saying, “I need this practice to travel to another country”. Hopping around on the walker felt easier. My arms looked like they had gained strength. My left leg looked toned and strong. My skin looked clear and happy with the proper diet and good amount of sleep I was getting. Yes, it felt like all of this happened in that one day 🙂

Day 9, Dec 16 : “Too Busy to feel anything” 

The upcoming trip was throwing many challenges. The wheelchair would be provided at the airport until the stairs leading to the airplane. How will I walk up the stairs then? They won’t assign a seat with extra legroom because an injured person can’t sit in the first row or in the emergency aisles. What would happen if my leg became painful and swollen because of sitting in one place for 4 hours? What if I am not able to get to the beach at the resort since wheelchairs are not allowed there? Everything else took a back seat. I asked Alexa to shut up a couple of times. I finally removed the multiple reminders from Alexa. It was beginning to get annoying with everything else going around me.

When I informed my friend that I was coming for the trip finally with my injured leg, she said ‘You have cracked it. This is your ideal type of vacation where you don’t have to come into the water, you don’t have to go shopping, kids will be taken care of! You can sip cocktails and read books all day..’

Sigh. That does sound like every introvert’s dream, doesn’t it?

Bhrigu Lake Trek – September ’22

Himalayan treks are incredible – the feeling of serenity that you get during the trek combined with the feeling of accomplishment once you complete the trek is unmatchable. Last year, after my first Himalayan trek, I had vowed to go on one Himalayan trek every year.  

This year, I chose to go on the Bhrigu Lake trek for two reasons:

1. It was only 4 days long (and I needed to get back in time for my daughter’s Half Yearly exams) and it fit snugly amongst all the other school events that I had to attend at my girls’ school. 
2. It seemed to be slightly tougher, than the last trek (Kuari Pass) I did in 2021 and yet not so tough that I will be struggling (and cursing myself).

PC: Indiahikes website

My fitness levels and training were not too consistent this time around and I was half-doubtful whether my fitness screenshots will even be approved. But once it got approved, a week before the trek, the excitement started seeping in. I was packing, I was dreaming, I was ordering things last-minute for the trek, I was planning the travel to get to Manali, my parents (bless their souls) arrived to fill in for me. The week flashed by quickly and it was time for the trek. 

Day 0

I, along with a dear friend, who flew in from Bangalore, reached Kullu (an hour before Manali) at 10:45pm. It was a good day, comfortable drive, good conversations except for the traffic jam near Mandi..which took us more than an hour to get through. We checked into Hotel Kullu Valley View and I was so happy to have a bed that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. 

Day 1

We reached Manali in the morning, a lodge near the Indiahikes basecamp for other treks. After a not-so-brief briefing about all aspects of the trek, what to expect, etc.

We rode in a car till Gulaba, a village an hour away from Manali and started our trek from there. The initial 30 minutes felt tough. It was a constant ascent, the bag on my back felt heavy and I was trying to catch up with the impossibly fast guide assigned to our group. I then remembered the pearls of wisdom from my previous trek leader, Leo – ‘Find your pace, find your rhythm’. I slowed down a little and suddenly felt way better. We reached our first campsite – Jhonker Thatch (10385 ft)  within  1 hour 35 minutes. It was almost dark by the time we reached our tents. It was a comfortable night, temperature was moderate and the sleeping bag felt really cozy. I slept peacefully. 

Day 2

We trekked from Jhonker Thatch to Rola Kholi (12590 ft). 

We could see the gorgeous views around our Jhonker Thatch campsite finally. It never gets tiring to see the green valleys and those beautiful, steady, towering mountains around. 

We started our trek to Rola Kholi after breakfast around 9. The skies were clear when we started. We were climbing through green meadows, with the valley and mountain views staying with us at every step. There were adorable tiny flowers which broke the green regularly. 

We were constantly ascending and needed breaks regularly to catch our breath. We were happy to reach the Rola Kholi campsite by 1:30pm. 

While having our lunch in the dining tent, we could hear the pitter patter of battering rains outside, which turned out to be hail storm. We made our way to our tents in our wet shoes (which got left out of the dining tent by mistake) and were holed up in our tents for the next four hours. We did brave it out for a brief 10 minutes though, when my friend and me decided to wear our raincoats and “experience” the hailstorm. We went out with our rain gear and phone only to be pelted by the tiny ice-pebbles. We captured some of these moments on the phone though, so we were satisfied. The hailstorm lowered the temperature unexpectedly. I now needed all four layers (Thermal, T-shirt, Fleece and Down Jacket) to keep me warm and even these didn’t feel sufficient lying inside the sleeping bag. Everything felt wet and I couldn’t get to sleep easily. I kept wondering when I will sleep on a nice, dry, soft bed with a nice, dry, warm, blanket. 

Day 3

The mountain gods showed us love on Day 3 and thankfully showered us with sunshine and clear skies. It was the summit day. We were going to be trekking to 14009 ft and back today. I was especially excited that I had to climb with my tiny day pack and not my entire 9-10kg bag. 

The trek started off with a moderate ascent over the meadows. There were going to be three ridge walks and a supposedly tricky boulder section on our way to Bhrigu Lake. I especially enjoyed the ascent on the boulders, balancing myself and finding the right boulder to place my foot. We finally reached the Bhrigu lake, which itself was not as gorgeous as the other things around – the clouds, the snow capped peaks hiding behind the clouds, the green meadows, the valley views. We had a beautiful activity of writing a postcard to someone we love describing our emotions after having summited till the bhrigu lake. We stayed for 15 minutes and then started our descent. I felt the strain of climbing down more than what I felt while climbing up. We reached back by 2pm with hot lunch waiting for us (the pleasures of trekking with indiahikes). The highlight of the evening, though, was an active, fun game of dodge frisbee with the other trekkers!

Day 4

Descend back to earth. It was a continuous descent back to our starting point, Gulaba. Surprisingly, this was the day I found the toughest. My shoes were snug and hence my toes kept banging the front of the shoes, causing unbearable toe pain! I removed my shoes the last 100-150m and walked with my socks. It felt so so good to remove the shoes. Learning for my next trek – listen to india hikes and buy shoes one size bigger!

The Bhrigu Lake trek was short and sweet – Four days long with short treks during the day. The views are as beautiful as any other trek. By the time you start missing your bed, you are already on it! I have vowed to now get my daughters along and introduce them to the mountain experience. Till then, ciao!

3 reasons why Leh should be on everyone’s bucket list

A Leh trip was never on my bucket list. Why should it be? I would ask. I had witnessed the gorgeous, snow-capped majestic mountains of Himalayas and could not think of anything else that could beat that. We drove from Gurugram to Leh earlier this month and it was a drive of a lifetime. The roads were for most part, good and the views, even better.

I now stand humbly corrected – driving to Leh HAS to be on everyone’s bucket list. Here are three reasons why:

• The ever changing colors and landscapes
  
  Driving to Leh is a multi-sensory experience. Your eyes get to feast on an abundance of colors – starting with various hues of greens down in the valleys and up in the mountains,
  the soft light browns of the sandy ranges, the wind-whipped strange structures on reddish brown mountains, the off-whites and browns of the desolate More plains,
  the powdery whites of snow sprinkled around the mountains, the hard-set white snow majestically flanking the roads and
  the dark browns and grays of imposing rocky mountains.
  
  Oh and I haven’t even gotten to the water bodies yet. The rivers which chaperone you most of the way, sometimes lazily slithering around, sometimes fiercely gushing in full force, sometimes carefully crossing the roads in small streams, sometimes falling from great height, sometimes branching out into several small tributaries, sometimes beautifully merging into other huge rivers.
  And when you get down from the car just to dip your feet in the ice-cold water – your sensory experience reaches nirvana!

• The thrill of reaching incredible heights
  
  Ladakh is all about formidable heights – the 4 super high-altitude passes we crossed were Baralacha La(16,500 ft), Nakee La (15,547 ft), Lachung La (16,616 ft) and Tanglang La (17,842 ft), each competing with each other in terms of height.
  Everytime you reach one of these high-altitude passes, you feel this thrill just being present there at that immense height. And each time you see a sign saying – the world’s highest cafe, the world’s highest go-karting, the world’s highest zipline, the world’s highest motorable pass – you truly feel on top of the world!
  

• The joy of the unplanned little things
  
  The joy of a road trip is genuinely in the unplanned little stops that you take. The route was so breathtakingly scenic that we couldn’t help stopping time and again just to take in the sheer beauty around us (and click photographs, ofcourse). We went off-road a couple of times – climbing amongst the rocks just to find a way to dip our feet in the ice cold water – an experience I can’t forget.
  Finding a trail off the road which took us to this gorgeous green meadow with herd of horses calmly grazing. The two adorable baby colts prancing joyfully along with their mothers is a sight I am going to recall whenever I need a happy memory.
  Coming across a frozen lake just when we were disappointed at having to turn back without seeing Pangong lake, was another unexpected highlight.

By the time we reached Leh, we thought nothing can surpass all that we saw and experienced till then – how can there be a better landscape, you think and then you encounter this valley with its rugged terrains, beautiful monasteries and imposing mountains that flank the valley from all sides.

We truly got Leh’d.

You know you are an Introvert Mom if

Introvert Moms. Almost sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? A Mom who enjoys being alone? How dare she? or rather dare she even try?

The lucky introvert mom who gets time for herself

Here a some things I have done over the years, very characteristic of my introverted self.

You know you are an Introvert Mom if

• You make your 6 year old call and schedule her own play dates. Because you hate picking up the phone and calling people. But it worked out so well, in the end.
  *Patting myself on my back*
• You pretend to read something on your phone very seriously, so that other moms don’t come and chat, at the play area. I do that anywhere where there is a chance of small talk – doctor waiting rooms, elevators, school gate.
  Thank god for smartphones 🙂
• When you move cities, your biggest concern is about how YOU will make new friends. You know your extroverted children are not going to have a problem.
  Sniff. I am so going to miss my friends.
• You struggle to understand how your daughter can talk continuously for 30 minutes about K-pop. You are also wondering how you got here, after asking, ‘How was your day?’
• You ignore and pretend to have missed the messages about any mom get-togethers in your child’s school Whatsapp group.
  Why would anyone want to meet complete strangers?
• You try desperately to get your children to be besties with YOUR friend’s children. It just makes your life so much simpler.
  If your friends don’t have children, then you need to get out there and make new friends who have children (by that I mean, ping someone on whatsapp and chat with them until they become your friend, ofcourse)

My fellow introverts, which one of these have you done? Do you have anything to add to this list?

I tested positive for COVID and couldn’t stop smiling! How weird…

I tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday. The moment I got the ‘dreaded’ sms, there was a flurry of activity and emotions. 

My 7 year old started crying since she thought I was a goner. 

My 10 year old one went through all stages of ‘grief’ in those 5 minutes — she first refused to believe it was true and checked my phone several times to see if I was lying, then she got angry with me and screamed at me for getting the virus, she then begged me to get tested again, she shouted that her life is over since she can’t meet her friends, and finally accepted it by asking ‘Can we play an online game now?’

Lucy, my dog, was barking continuously. At some unrelated noise outside the door. 

My mother called me and screamed at me saying it is all my fault. Why? Because I mentioned to her earlier that day, ’I have a feeling I will test positive’. So obviously I brought it upon myself.

My husband suddenly moved 10 feet away, wore a mask and asked me to isolate myself. This – after I roamed freely around the house for 4 days when I actually had worse symptoms. 

As for me, I had a big grin on my face. I felt a strange mix of happiness and guilt. Isolation would mean carefree me-time, writing time, binge-watching show time! Plus I was physically feeling good. This could be good for me, I thought. No maids, no help at home? Well, not my problem, is it?

The next morning was blissful. I was free from household work, free from waking up the kids and getting them ready for school, free to do whatever I wanted – in the confines of my room. I wrote my morning pages without interruption. I made content for my Instagram page, without interruption. I opened up an old, unfinished blog post and finished it, without interruption. I opened a old story I wrote and edited it, without interruption. Does this what Atul’s work-life feels like, I wondered. I felt productive and powerful. 

Soon enough, I was dragged back to earth by a knock. It was my husband, requesting me to end my isolation. The mountain of vessels wasn’t going to wash itself, was it? 

My Covid ‘Honeymoon’ came to an abrupt end. 

Lucy Stories: What happened in April 2021 that we decided to get a puppy home (and more)

It was the beginning of April 2021. My daughters had been asking for a puppy for a while. It was the in-thing to have – so many of their friends had pets, so why not them? They also promised me that they will walk, feed, and take care of a puppy pretty much on their own. I was a little skeptical about those claims, especially since I had given the same promises to my mother when I was 8 years old and never fulfilled any of them. I still feel sorry for my mother, who had to scrub our gutter-loving Bittu clean, almost every other day. I liked dogs, but I did not trust my daughters and I did not want added responsibility on myself. 

I don’t know why I succumbed. My daughters probably wore me out by constantly saying ‘Please Please’ and asking ‘Why not?’. Suddenly, all logic flew out of the window. I still blame the looming lockdown – I was probably spooked by the thought of the four of us locked in a house, getting bored and going crazy. I have no clue why I thought adding a puppy to this mix was going to solve that problem, but I finally gave in to the demands. 

The discussions then began. Starting with which breed we should get. I did not want to ‘buy’ a dog and hence wanted to adopt an Indie but the girls wanted the cute, soft-toy-like ShihTzu. We also debated on which gender to get – the girls wanted a male puppy (they had heard from a friend that male puppies were more playful!). I was okay with any gender but was more uncomfortable with the thought of managing a female dog’s heat cycles at home. It was finally my superstar-of-the-pet-world aunt who convinced all of us to adopt a female Indie. So, female Indies are largely ignored and seldom adopted. The human and the dog world aren’t so different after all. Our hearts melted. It was all settled then. We were going to adopt a female Indie puppy, not more than two months old – since we wanted them as cute as they can be. 

(As an addendum, I have to say that my ‘very-scared-of-and-not-comfortable-with-dogs’ husband did not have much say in any of these discussions, since he was outnumbered and also outdebated several times by our persuasive girls.)

I started the search for rescued puppies on Facebook. I joined a couple of Pet Adoption groups. There were posts everyday about rescued dogs and puppies from every corner of Bangalore!

I came across a Facebook post about a dog being injured while pregnant and hence having a C-sec delivery of her litter. The four puppies all needed homes. They had cute names – Brandy, Coco, Sonam. Amongst the photos, was this adorable-looking light-brown colored puppy whom I and my daughters fell in love with instantly. 

The facebook post which captured our hearts

We went to visit these puppies over the weekend, intending to only talk with the foster parents, find out what is required to bring a puppy home and how we need to get ready for it. 

There is something about a puppy that soften’s anyone’s heart. That soft fur, the innocence in their eyes, the way they cutely flop around with their cute, soft paws. I fell so hard for this puppy that at the end of our meeting, I blurted out, ‘So can I take her home with us right away?’ 

My husband later said he was so shocked at that question that he glared at me, and that I was so blinded by the cuteness that I ignored him completely. Our house was nowhere ready to welcome a puppy – it was not puppy-proofed, we didn’t have any puppy accessories yet – bed, bowl, chew-toys, etc. So I am thankful that the foster parent said, ’No’ and that they will drop her home in a couple of days, once we are more ready. Phew! 

We got back home – crawled around the house checking what the puppy could reach and bite, what needs to go and what could stay. We made a small makeshift bed with a towel, ordered food bowls and some chew toys. 

By the next day, we felt ready to welcome this pup into our homes and messaged the foster moms to come drop the pup home. It was Maarvi who decided that this pup’s name will be Lucy. 

I joined the 5am club! Really?

I was never an early riser, right from my childhood. To be clear, I would wake up at a not-so-bad 8:00 am, but the rest of the household, including my annoying brother, would wake up at 5:00 am! Suffice to say, 8:00 am was considered abysmal – my family would say, “It is almost afternoon, Charu!“. I was the butt of all jokes and called lazy by all. I started feeling that waking up early was just not in my DNA. I tried setting alarms but then would end up sleeping through all the noise it made. If I did managed to wake up, I found myself snoring the next minute. I used to crib all the time “Whatever I do, I just can’t wake up early!”

I resigned myself to being a late-riser. Waking up before 8:00 am? Never..Ever..Can Not .. Will Not Do! 

Eventually, I got married and to my great fortune, my husband was a late-riser – a much later-riser rather. Suddenly, I felt virtuous and superior getting up at 8 AM – the time considered to be almost afternoon by my family. My husband would struggle to get up at 9:00 am. I would smirk and smugly say, “I come from a family of early risers“.

And then I gave birth to two girls, within a gap of three years. Now you might think, ‘Finally, this woman’s luck has run out – cranky babies will set this woman right‘. But alas, (and thankfully) my daughters slept through the night for the most of their infanthood life. I could continue the run of my 8:00 am awakening. Big Phew. 

So then what could have possibly made me a 5:15 am riser? What made me an early morning person who started preaching to all, the many virtues of being in the 5 am club?

It all started with something very simple but elusive for a mother – wanting me-time. I wanted to enjoy my morning cup of coffee while reading a newspaper. But was that enough of a push to get me out of bed at 5:00 am? Not really. I could achieve that by getting up at 7:00 am. Well the push or rather kick, came from signing up for my first ever 5k run. Point to note – I am or was in no condition to be a runner. I was in fact the opposite of a runner (a lazer?) I hated running and undoubtedly thought that my body was only made for sauntering. So I HAD to train for it because I couldn’t do 200 metres without huffing and stopping. I needed 45 minutes in the morning for this training. So I started getting up at 6:00 am. My morning routine was set. Wake up – change into running clothes – have coffee – go for a run – read the paper and then jump into the madness of the household ie. screaming at the kids to wake up, getting them ready for school, making breakfast and all that followed.

And then came a time when I wanted to become a children’s book author and I needed more time to write my stories. I couldn’t do that during the day because of the aforementioned household madness. I needed mental space and peace and quiet to unleash my creativity. So I decided to move my waking up time to 5:15 am. That gave me a solid 45 minutes more to do what I wanted to do. It was blissful. I started enjoying that dead-of-the-night stillness and quiet. The whole world seemed to be asleep and I felt some kind of blissful freedom to do whatever I wanted, without any interruption or disturbance. It got addictive!

I have to share that it hasn’t been easy for me to get up early. I was never the type to say, “Regardless of what time I sleep, my eyes just open at 6 am”. I need an alarm clock. Actually, I need 2-3 alarms on my phone and my mobile kept at a distance from me so that I can’t hit snooze. And it happened because of the discipline of the previous night. I needed to say No to watching something on Netflix after the kids went to sleep. I needed to resist the temptation to read one more chapter on my kindle. If at all I slept 15-20 minutes later than 10:30, I ended up sleeping right through my 5:15 alarm. I would get up flustered at 6:30 or so, hurrying to catch up with everything. On most days though, when I woke up in the 5’s, I sailed through the whole day with a sense of accomplishment.

Off late, I have had an epiphany of sorts – Why should I let life STOP me from doing what I want? As in, I shouldn’t wait for the whole world to be asleep to get fit. Or wait for pin-drop silence to get on with my writing. Yes, the 5 AM Club is a beautiful place and I love it, but I also need to become passionate or disciplined enough about things I want to do, to be able to do it any time of the day.

Are you in the 5am club? Do you want to be? Or do you never want to get there? Let me know 🙂

What to pack and Tips for the first-time Trekker

Trekking in Kuari Pass

Since it was my first time on a Himalayan trek, I was quite apprehensive about packing right and wondering about all those “what-if” scenarios. I was super anxious about carrying extra, unnecessary weight (since I was going to be carrying my own backpack) and also about missing something that might be needed. So here are some quick tips for all those first-time Himalayan trekkers.

Firstly, take everything from the packing list mentioned on the IndiaHikes website. Rent whatever is possible to rent. It is more economical that way. Apart from the list there, here are a list of items I thought would have been super useful:

• Do carry a power bank, to capture those gorgeous memories. You will want to look back at the photos (with you in them) every now and then.
• Don’t forget woolen gloves and woolen cap (apart from the balaclava and the weather proof gloves). At night, you feel suffocated in the balaclava, yet you want your head to be warm.
• A Mouthwash would have been a good addition. It was too cold to brush and put that freezing water into our mouths, so we just went without brushing for 3 days! The mouthwash might have helped the fellow trekkers :))
• On that note, a pocket deodorant would be nice too. We won’t be taking baths anywhere during the trek, so why torture your fellow trekkers with your natural body odor? Actually, we are so layered up that noone can smell anything, but I am sure you yourself won’t mind a nice, light fragrance while you trek.
• An extra pair of open toed chappals/sandals definitely helps. Since taking the trekking shoes off and on every time you get out of your tent, out of and into the lunch/dinner tent is annoying.
• Carry chikki, dry fruits etc as pocket snacks. Was good fun eating them and sharing them with everyone during the trek.
• A 2 liter Hydration Pack that I bought was one of the smartest buys I made. It really helped to not have to stop, take out those water bottles and drink water. The hydration pack has a tube coming out of the pack, which is very handy and convenient to drink from. It doesn’t take much space either, so that is a bonus too. As I trekked, I just kept
• A day pack (smaller 20L backpack) will definitely help too, even if you are not offloading your bags. Especially if there is going to be a summit day, where you come back to the same campsite.

Lastly, Make sure you take out an hour’s time atleast two months before the trek to get into a fitness routine. It will really help to enjoy the views and have an overall amazing experience during the trek and later too with no post-trek aches or pains. I was pretty consistent with my routine of yoga, running 2-3kms and doing cardio, HIIT, strengthening workouts. They really helped! I never felt exhausted and post-trek, did not end up having any aches or pains.

5 things I want to do before I turn 40

It is funny what propelled me to write this post. It was a post which I wrote 15 years, when I was a mere child – just 23 years old! It was titled ‘10 things I want to do before I turn 33‘ (Click at your own risk!) I cringe and laugh now at the crap I wanted to do. Becoming a Hindi serial vamp was such a big deal for me. Can’t fathom why now!

Anyways, I am 37 years and 10 months old now (No I will not call myself 38 so soon) and have totally recalibrated my priorities. I think I am sorted now but I am pretty sure 50 year old me will be laughing at my immaturity too. Nevertheless,

Here is a list of 5 things I want to before I turn 40

1. Get to Everest Base Camp / Annapurna Base Camp

Annapurna Base Camp trek. Look at those peaks!!

Once you do a Himalayan trek, you become a lifelong yearner of more Himalayan treks. The view of the mountains, the feel of the pure, chilly air that you are breathing is just incredible. I want to do one trek a year and then get fit enough (physically and mentally) for a longer stay at the Himalayas with a ABC or EBC trek!

2. Have a published novel under my name

I do have four short story books for Children, which I self-published last year, called the Beaming Child Series. They are available on amazon. But I have also just started working on an idea for a longer novel which I am excited about. *Crossing my fingers*. Hope to see it through!

3. Have more than 20,000 followers on my instagram page

My dream destination on Instagram!

Instagram is growing like crazy and will continue to exist for the next 3 years I suppose. Anyways, I want to jump in on this trend! I currently have 500 followers on my instagram page which I want to grow. I talk about a lot of interesting parenting topics and would love to include mom self-help tips too.

4. Learn and become an expert at a musical instrument

My doppleganger with better hair playing the flute!

There is something about listening to an instrument which makes me forget myself and feel immersed in the experience. There are some specific instruments which do this to me – Flute and Violin. Violin sounded quite difficult to learn so I have zeroed in on the Flute. I want this incredible chance to express myself in music form. According to my old list, I wanted to do this 15 years back too! But I never chose (yes I am sure it was a choice and not a lack of opportunity) to do so till now.

5. Look and Be my fittest best ever

I am happy with the consistency in my fitness routine. I am comfortable doing my slow running and clocking 2-3 kms everyday. But I think it is high time I UP my game and move ahead. I am still not entirely sure what this will look like – a flat stomach, six packs, being able to run 10km easily, going for a half marathon, being able to do 50 burpees nonstop, whatever else. But I want to be my FITTEST self ever! I want to keep going the extra mile (figuratively) and push myself every week to do something new.

So that was my 5 things to do before I turn 40. Do you have a list of things to do before you turn 20, 30, 40 , 50?

Ciao!

Incredible experience of my first Himalayan Trek – Kuari Pass

There is something about nature in its purest form that fills my heart with a kind of joy that I just can’t describe. I had done some amazing treks in and around Karnataka back in 2006 and 2007 – Dandeli forest trek where we spotted a cobra, a very adventurous Railway Track Trek in Sakleshpur, and a couple of other mountain treks but then life caught up..Marriage, Children. Vacations then became something that will ensure our children are busy (and won’t keep asking us “What should we do now?”). So we zero in on the no-brainer – beaches where their itinerary is pre-decided – beach, breakfast, pool, beach, pool, lunch and so on 

The point of the last two lines being that my heart and mind craves for the mountains. That slight chill in the air, the green forests and various green shades sloping all around, the sight of the tall mountain peaks. Aaaahh.. So when a close friend of mine told me about a Himalayan trek that she is planning to do, I jumped on the opportunity. We booked ourselves onto IndiaHikes organized Kuari Pass Trek. I loved how organized and professional IndiaHikes was! The sheer amount of information that came our way to prepare for the trek was incredible! With all that ammunition from IndiaHikes, I felt prepared to embark on this journey.

Below is a brief itinerary along with some photos from the trek.

Day 0

We travelled from Rishikesh to the base camp, near Dhak. It was around 265 km but took around 12 hours because of the number of stops we made. There are a lot of road widening projects going on, because of which vehicles are routinely stopped, the mountain broken into causing a bit of a landslide-like scenario, with rocks and stones rolling down the mountains onto the roads. A JCB is on standby to clear the roads but it is a 30-40 minute wait and we were stopped 3-4 times on our route.

We also came across five sangams – where two or more rivers merged. They were mesmerizing to watch – the different colors, blue, brown, bluish brown all joining together in a gush!

Dev Prayag Sangam – Alaknanda and Bhagirathi combine to become Ganga

Towards the end of our drive, we spotted some snow covered peaks peeking out from behind the brown of the mountains. My heart leapt getting even a small glimpse of those gorgeous white peaks and the exhaustion of sitting in the car for so long transformed into excitement of starting this trek.

Day 1

After a good briefing session on what to expect and many how-tos – how to tie shoelaces, how to use the trekking poles, how to carry your backpack, we started on our trek. We had our super-fun, walking-encyclopedia of a trek leader with us – Leo. We began from an altitude of 6900 feet from a village called Karchi. Almost as soon as we started our ascent, stunning views greeted us – the snow capped mountain range and tabibeua rose trees(that look like cherry blossom).

We walked through a beautiful Pine Tree forest and did our first IndiaHikes ritual – Hug a tree, spend time with it and tell your deepest darkest secret to that tree! I loved this exercise. I latched onto this big wide pine tree which had a lot of moss covering it. When I hugged it, it was soft and it felt like I was hugging a strong, protective grandfather. I felt out of breath during the ascent on Day 1, but I realised what I was doing wrong – walking too fast to catch up with the front runners. Our trek leader, Leo’s words still echo in my mind – “Find your pace. Find your rhythm.”

Enjoy the views, find your pace and your rhythm and you will reach your destination in a much better state than ever. We reached the Akhrotghetta Campsite at around 2pm. The campsite was at 10500 feet and was alongside a gorgeous, bare, lone walnut tree.

Here are some pictures from Day 1.

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Day 2

We began our day at 8 am with a team event where we were split into 3 teams and had to use the Gaia app and a GPX file to find our own way to the first break point. Lots of learning during the activity about self, about the route, about others. It was definitely interesting to see the group dynamics in this activity. I loved how our group was into immersing themselves in the experience of just being there and not being competitive. There was a change in scenery with the Pine trees giving way to the Golden Oaks and the Rhododendrons.

As we got closer to our campsite, we started seeing snow on the sides and were very excited to be so close to this pure white magical entity. We finally reached our Khullara Pass campsite at 11,100 feet altitude. Our tents had snowy slopes as a background and the gorgeous white peaks in front of it. What a way to live.

IndiaHikes is passionate about its GreenTrails objective, which is to leave the mountains cleaner than we find it. So we did a quick 20 minute cleanup of the campsite and the surrounding areas and collected 22kg of garbage which people left.

That evening had even more magic in store for me – my first snowfall. It looked right out of a fairytale..Beautiful white flakes falling on you. Paradise! BTW it was also my first sub zero experience. The night temperature fell to -2 degree celsius! It was seriously cold. We were well layered but sleeping in sleeping bags for the first time so sleep was pretty elusive.

Some snapshots from Day 2

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Day 3

It was our summit climb day today. We were climbing to 12500 feet and coming back to the same campsite. The adrenaline and excitement of getting to that altitude totally compensated for the sleep deprivation!

When we got out of our tents in the morning, we were greeted by a campsite full of frost and tents peppered with white snow.

We started our ascent amongst fresh and old snow.  We started early, so the sun was just beginning to shine bright and the snow was still hard enough to walk on. The sights all around were incredible. I felt like I was in a different world, living a parallel life. Wherever we turned, it was white and full of snow! Beautiful mountain peaks looked upon us at every stage. We reached the summit and had lunch at the top. Another beautiful IndiaHikes ritual awaited us – writing a letter to myself congratulating me for the incredible feat. That was a beautiful, emotional experience.

By the time we started our descent, the snow had started to melt – which meant that we couldn’t put our feet on it, without falling in. I slipped on ice several times and fell through 3 feet of snow atleast 10 times, but managed to get up and keep walking till I reached back the campsite. I got my periods and had a bad migraine, but nothing could keep me down as I looked, every few minutes, at the beauty of the mountains (and popped in a paracetamol :)) .

Pretty captures from Day 3

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Day 4

The previous night was even colder than before, at -5 degree C! Again, I couldn’t sleep well and kept getting up every hour. But so was everyone else, so I assumed it was normal.

It was the last day of our trek and we had the longest day ahead of us. We covered all terrains on our last day – we started from pine and golden oak forests covered with snow, saw the stunning Nanda Devi, went onto a beautiful lake called Tali lake, reflecting the entire mountain range , moved ahead on an exhilarating ridge walk where we had to walk in a single file and then ended up on a brown-green meadows with just a hint of spring flowers.

When we finally reached Auli (the popular ski destination of India), it was quite underwhelming. After seeing the stunning beauty throughout the trek, we felt like we landed with a thud back on earth looking at the number of tourists (and the trash they leave behind)! The trek had come to an end. I had mixed feelings – I did want a soft bed, hot water, clean clothes, but the gorgeous mountains had imprinted themselves in my brain and beckon to me everyday.

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PS: I did not want to make this blog too tedious to read, so I did not mention all the super fun and precious team activities we did – Gratitude circle, the fun warm up routines and stretching routines, the interesting card game some of the fellow trekkers taught us (President Shithead!), the Lighting a fire team activity.

And I can’t finish this post without being super grateful for the IndiaHikes support staff and the guides. We crib so much about the lack of sleep, walking on snow and ice and about the weights on our backs. The kitchen staff used to be up way before us in that freezing cold, to prepare our black tea(which was yumm) and the breakfast and on some of the days, the lunch too, all before 8am!!

The guides we had with us were incredibly helpful – Anil bhai and Sohan bhai..How they must have laughed at us gingerly walking on ice and being scared to proceed while they bravely walked everywhere, giving everyone a hand, without a thought. Writing about all this is making me so nostalgic and I can’t wait for my next trek! 🙂

PPS: I loved the subtle value-adding touches that IndiaHikes had at different junctures. From the tree hugging activity, to the gratitude circle to the letter we wrote to ourself sitting at 12500 feet. These are the moments you remember for life and which make you want to keep coming back to IndiaHikes to trek with them.