Mountains, SPICMACAY and me

‘Mountains are not sports stadia where I satisfy my ambitions for achievement, they are cathedrals where I practise my religion.On each journey I am reborn.’ That’s how Keyur Kapadia feels about mountains; that’s how I feel about SPICMACAY & mountains.
I have grown up reading text books which used the word ‘conquest’ when referring to Nature or Space or Mt Everest. As you get older, you realise that only a person who has never got lost in a forest or climbed a hill can write this. For if you really explore them, you would be overwhelmed by the grandeur and the mystery, and if anything has to be conquered, it is our fear-fear of falling and fear of failing. And when you have conquered these, you come back, a little more humble, a little more confident…..All journeys worth taking begin with some apprehension-for it’s a path you’ve never taken -in fact- there’s no path.You created it by taking the first step, hesitantly. And the challenges and risks too are the same. Be it on the highest ranges of mountains or through Virasat.

You plan a trek through Himalayas for weeks, pouring into maps and books, visiting tourism departments (whose staff has never been there, so can’t be of much assistance), deciding on alternative routes (for bridges may break , and landslides may occur),looking up transport details, deciding on rations, hiring of equipment, emergency measures for all eventualities (I nearly made a will once, but changed my mind when I found that I couldn’t decide whom not to leave my books with…..those are my only treasures) and the list goes on…..A meticulous planning of details….

And that’s how you plan for your journey through SPICMACAY. Both are inextricably intertwined for me. Both are fascinating processes. You learn, unlearn and relearn. And you are transformed after every trek, after every event.

Bahut khatarnak hota hai humare sapnon ka mar jaana. And so you plan to have a hundred programs for Virasat. And the journey begins. Meetings are held, a team created , resources are galvanized, itineraries are planned, institutions are visited, artistes invited, tickets bought, media called up, mails sent back and forth…… ………you reach a point when you can hear your ringtone though you distinctly remember you switched your mobile off…You move towards the goal, speedily and steadily .And then , you are told that the volunteer with the black male D sharp tanpura or the white lotus hasn’t arrived !You learn to manage the crisis calmly. Roadblocks become stepping stones – for character formation!

You feel stretched and you rejoice, celebrating this expansion, as you did when you reached Milam or Manimahesh or Pindari or Har ki doon.

Dr Seth says, the journey is as important as the destination. The variety of landscape that the treks offer is awesome ! The paths may be filled with mauve rhododendrons from Nawatapru to Chandrakhani pass or be arid and bleak, dotted with castle like rocks from Pokhra to Muktinath. Rivers may be in full spate at Kalimath or ribbon like near Leh. You may see snow capped ranges at Phalut or mist covered at Annapurna Base Camp. And the same diversity amongst the people you meet. A sadhu who took a bath in freezing waters at Gomukh (when merely dipping my hand made me feel that it was paralysed for a few minutes) or the ‘unschooled’ Mahesh, my guide who made sure no trekker littered the path, or newly wedded Manju of Bantoli (a village having only one household) telling me she wouldn’t reduce her life to cooking , “hum kaam karenge- bizness” or Phurba Ongdup, a young monk I met at Tendong monastery – what wisdom lay hidden behind all his actions………..All of them are a part of me.

The same happens in SPICMACAY. Sliding and slipping, holding on and holding back, letting go and letting in. Amidst the variety of challenges, it’s the people you meet who make you. They may be volunteers who haven’t slept for the last 72 hours who smilingly ask you if you are comfortable during the National Convention, or the artistes and gurus you meet who touch your life so deeply with their sadhana, or the children who fill you with enthusiasm and joy for they come without baggage and all is so fresh and new, or your team mates who walk the extra mile, when they see your spirits sagging …..and Dr Seth, of course, who , like Gandhi, leads by example .If asked, he too would say, ‘My life is my message’.

At 14,000 ft, when I look around at the vastness of the Himalayan ranges, I am filled with wonder at their sheer majesty, I also feel overpowered, and at times, I feel they are looking down at me and upon me. Then , when I shift my gaze , and see a small human settlement nestled amongst the hills, I marvel at the tenacity, courage and persistence of human beings .I have the same feelings when I think of SPICMACAY- in this world where ‘the winner takes it all’ .One feels the power of what is, and also knows what one man’s determination and constant effort can do. And when I feel that I have perhaps helped lay one more brick to this small house, to strengthen it, in the middle of the enormous ranges, I feel I have expanded .Just like the Himalayas, SPICMACAY not only tests me, it connects me with the world and with myself. And with each trek, each event, ‘I am reborn’.

Rupali Sachdev
Volunteer
Kolkata Chapter
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