Hues of Earth: 2016

All of us have dreams hidden deep down in our hearts somewhere. And in all the busyness and compulsions of life, many of us either never realize how badly we want them or never get an opportunity to take a step towards achieving them. I was fortunate that I got the chance to do what my heart had been aching to do.

It has been a little over one year since I left my job as a banker. And as I reflect back on the time I spent travelling and writing, I feel so content. All this while when I was trying to find myself all over again, I got to thinking about the reasons why it took me so long to take this step; to follow my heart.

Thanks to my parents, since childhood, I have gotten everything one needs to grow personally and professionally. From getting into the top colleges of the country to working for the best of the banks in the world, I had it all. Then why was I not completely satisfied with my respectable lifestyle. After a lot of introspection, I realized that the answer lies in the same sense of security that I found myself surrounded with since I was a kid.

In India, we as kids and teenagers often don't face any challenges where we have to fend for ourselves as we live in a bubble; a bubble protected by our family. We live our lives, do regular stuff, but the lack of challenge slowly molds us into people who are not major risk-takers as we never have had to fight our own battles. There was always someone to fight them for us. And by the time we are ready to fend for ourselves, our brain is streamlined to think linearly, in a guarded manner as we have been doing all along.

As we hardly ever made our own decisions, faced our own fears, dealt with our own failures, we never got to know ourselves; our strengths and weaknesses. Every comfort that we get too early and easily in life simultaneously takes away our capability to face some hardship; whether the comfort be physical or emotional. By virtue of living in such a protected environment, many of us never face situations where one has to sail close to the wind or skate on thin ice.

After going through this transformational journey, I feel a lot has changed in me. If I am to pick one, it would be this: It is just fine to opt for a different path when faced with similar life situations as faced by your friends, partner, cousins, relatives or the super successful guy/girl next door. Very few people might support you when you need them to. I was lucky to find my family standing with me in all my decisions. It is all right if people around you do not understand your choices sometimes. It's your life and you know what your dreams are and where you aspirations lie!

A lot of people have inspired me (and still continue to inspire me) during the course of this year either in person or through their blogs. It gives me immense courage to know that there are people just like me who have taken their life in their own hands and are living it on their own terms.

This write-up is as much about my own journey as it is about my heartfelt effort to reach out to people just like me who are still thinking whether to go for their dreams or not. It's our life, our choices, any sacrifices that need to be made along the way would be our too; but so would be the rewards and experiences that we gather along the journey.

As someone has rightly said:

"The cost of not following your heart, is spending the rest of your life wishing you had."

I hope each one of you, at some point in your life, is able to live your life the way you want to and not the way you have to! I am thankful that I could do what I wanted to and promise myself to never let go of my dreams and aspirations. Our dreams are only so far away as taking a step towards them!!

January 2016.

Chadar Trek.

Trip's never done before moment: Walking on a frozen river and enjoying freaking cold weather :)

I never knew I would be visiting Leh for the third time in my life (and twice in a 6 month period). The link to my previous blog on Leh: And the love affair continues... My date with the mountains of Leh !!. This trip was about raw nature, extreme cold, stretching my limits both physically and mentally and above all doing what I always wanted to do: surviving temperatures upto 30`C on the wrong side of zero. Making great friends was a pleasant surprise as I often travel alone and take time in forging bonds of friendship.

As if -30 could stop us from posing :-)

A familiar face, a trekker worth her salt :)

There was no let down on the CRAZY quotient...

This piece is not meant to make you want to do the trek. Chadar is much more than a vacation or a getaway to blow off steam. I will let the article flow much like the trek unfolded for me: full of uncertainty, colors, ups and downs and straight from heart (to be fair it felt like nature let me inside her heart).

I was expecting snow all around me, more like landing on a sheet of snow. But on final approach while landing, I remembered that Leh is a cold desert. It rarely rains or snows in Leh. The terrain underneath was mostly brown except for hill tops which were snow clad.

A leisurely sunset :)

The experience starts with the cabin announcement - "The temperature outside is minus 10`C". The airport greets you with blankets instead of curtains on doors and windows. I saw rucksacks more than suitcases, youngsters more than elderly people, sport jackets instead of formal suits, sunblocks instead of makeup (no offence ladies :)) and much to my heart's content, mountains instead of malls, and all of this meant one thing and one thing alone - The trek was ON :). Most airlines stop flying to Leh in winters. Only GoAir and AI have some flights to cater to trek enthusiasts (or maniacs) like us.

To trek on the frozen Zanskar river had been my dream for many years now. And I consider myself quite lucky to have been able to experience it in person. A lot of effort and preparation went into the trip. But I always knew it is going to be worth it. And boy it was :).

At the onset... Our group :)

It is very easy to book the trek through any agency. There are many options online. I did it through GIO Adventures and they surely knew what they were doing. The details and logistics of the trek are not very difficult to figure out and your agency will definitely help you out with most things. I will not touch upon that much (please get in touch with me if you need pointers in preparing for the trek in terms of logistics, preparation and/or arrangements) and go back to the aspect where it touches your very soul - at least it touched mine in a way I never thought anyone ever could.

Chadar, to me, was also about capturing the amazing Leh night sky in my camera. Not being able to capture the Northern Lights in Iceland (In search of the Northern Lights: Iceland - The land of Fire and Ice) still haunts me and this time I was sure as hell to turn the tables :). Waking up at 5AM to freezing temperatures just made it that much more fun (and freezing). The chill, ice and the narrow passage between the mountains enhanced my senses and increased the charm multifold. Thankfully my friends were there to help me often as using a DSLR and tripod in such conditions becomes a tad bit easier with some help. I loved the sky there and I loved my camera for clicking what I could not see with my eyes in pitch dark conditions (with the exception of the bright and the beautiful moon).

My first good-ish high exposure night click with a lot of help :)

The orange glow atop mountains is the moon-light :)

Walking on a frozen river was a first for me. From the moment I set foot on the icy surface and started walking the winding curves deep into the mountains with sun playing hide and seek, I knew that a part of me is going to stay here forever. And I am going to come back someday looking for the same :).

Walking towards the unknown...

Such an inspiration, lone patch of green amid hostile conditions... Felt so lucky to even have spotted it :)

Every place I go gives me something unique that no other place before that has given, be it a memory, a sight, a friend or an experience. At the same time, it keeps a part of me in exchange. I guess that's how the world works :). It's amazing how close such places are to us yet how far away from everything material we feel when we actually reach there. Being away from mobile, laptop, wify and whatsapp can be one hell of a detox.

Just when we thought Chadar is easy peasy :)

Visual of the trek for me: Breaking the dominance of ice around with such panache...

Chadar gave me a sense of freedom, of breaking free. The feeling of never letting myself being trapped in self-constructed enclosures again. And I will never forget that. That's my promise to the icy river, the snow clad mountains and the curvy passes in return for the peace and tranquil they gave me. I started my trek in a happy frame of mind. I came back ecstatic. And I could not have asked for more.

Some brave souls took multiple dips in super freezing water. Hats off :). The expression on their faces was priceless. I chickened out and just put my head under water instead of a full dip. Next time for sure :).

Before the dip expression. Post dip only Kavita knows, wanna elaborate? :P

Pagalpanti bhi zaruri hai ;)

That was food for soul. But that doesn't mean I did not have a blast in the traditional sense of course. In fact, WE had a blast in nature's lap. I leave you with pictures that speak for themselves :)