In November’2016 Somit messaged asking if i wanted to go rock climbing with him to Sanjay Gandhi National, without any hesitation or doubt i said yes. I wondered born and brought up in the Himalayas I’ve never explored climbing in this form. I got so excited that i could barely sleep, like it used to happen in the school before we had to go for picnic.
Next day around 6 in the morning i rode 25 kms from Powai to Sanjay Gandhi National park on my red Continental GT. After buying entry tickets to the park i met Jigna, Somit, Farzeen, Joel, Dhwani, a lady and her two children. We again had to ride 6 kms in the park towards Kanheri caves where we were supposed to climb. I was already in love with the place, amidst concrete lay this dense forest which was home to ancient caves where Buddhists monks meditated somewhere around 5th century and 6 tigers.
After we parked our vehicles Somit opened the trunk of his old Toyota Corolla, took out a coil of static rope and few carabiners and said “this is illegal so quietly just walked down that trail”. I was thrilled to hear that because after so long i would be doing something which we weren’t allowed to. On asking he said that earlier climbing here was allowed but the conservationists said that it may spoil the caves so they banned but we were not climbing in the caves, we were climbing some boulders.
On seeing the nursery boulder it looked pretty easy, specially when those young children did it with not much difficulty. I took pride in my gym training and went close to the rock, it was about 2 feet bigger than me so technically in 3 moves i should be on the top, i thought. I held two very solid juggy handholds kept my foot on a small ledge and stood up, for two seconds it felt easy but as i was ready to catch the next handhold i felt fear rushing in my brain. I was just a feet off the ground but the fear of letting go instilled in me that my muscles got pumped and i had to came back to the ground.
I was in a state of confusion and shock, never in my life i had expected myself to be that pathetic at something. My ego was getting crushed more and more when i saw those young ones climb more easily than before. Even though they were looking at me generally i felt they were mocking at me, i felt embarrassed and wanted to get out of that situation. Every try was making my life hell and then Somit came to me.
He said “you’re using too much muscle, it’s not a game of muscle but mind. Mind over matter.” Those lines got stuck in my head but i still couldn’t reach the top. Though somehow slowly and slowly i was enjoying being there, it felt as if my body was opening up, i felt freedom and happiness in every inch of my body. I had let go of how good or bad i was, my being there was enough for me to be happy and enjoy the sun rays piercing through the trees, laughter of my fellow beings and my defeat over myself.
Soon time came for us to depart and i realised we were there for six hours and it felt like we had just come. Just before leaving the area Somit said “we should thank the rock because it let us climb and learn”. Kissing with my parched lips and touching my sweaty forehead to the rock i thanked and said my goodbye.
While riding back there was a smile on my face, even though i hadn’t achieved anything i still had achieved victory over myself. I had learnt to just smile and be happy.
Today after more than 3 years i look back and see how caged i had become of the walls i had created around myself. How rigid and attached i was to my thoughts and beliefs that i feared of letting them go but i thank to my higher self that i accepted the process of unwinding all i knew.
Though unknown it was the beginning of my journey to the “summit”.
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Alpine Husky 