Mera Dil Kahin Pahado me Kho gaya

 My mom always asks why I climb different mountains when all looks same.

I asked myself the same question and never got the answer 😊

I started climbing at age of 11 and that too all alone. It was just the curiosity to see what is there on the other side and to get the top view of my city. Also from the top I used to get the view of airport runway where flights used to land. That view used to give me dreams, dream to travel on the plane one day. After school, I just used to walk and climb the mountain bare foot. Sandals and slippers were luxury at that time for me. Time went I never knew that this small curiosity would be called as my hobby later. I sometimes used to bunk school just to climb any near by mountains (I am not recommending anyone to bunk school 😉). In the later stage of life when I started going to college, I got some friends who had similar inclination. And the story continued..

The reason I decided to pen down my experience is, I have seen people totally rejecting mountain climbing just because they think their body cannot climb. Body can be trained, once mind is influenced. And I just want each one of your mind to get a bit of influenced somehow. Deep down I want each one to experience mountains and not necessarily reach the top. Reach till whatever point you can at your own time and then start descending. Mountains make you feel you are a step closer to nature. There is peace, serenity in the mountains to say the least. Mountains are not just for greenery, you would be able to see diverse creatures on mountains. Different kind of birds, animals , insects, reptiles. When we hiked to certain mountains in the Himalayas, we were amazed to see how locals stay on mountains, do their daily chores, synch with nature. Climbing mountain gives you totally different experience.

My upbringing is from a part of India where nature has gifted mountains in abundance. If I start hiking each mountain every week, I still wont be able to complete half the mountains of my place in my lifetime. 

In todays competitive digital world we always think just the binary way. Either Good or Bad, Successful and Unsuccessful, Accept or Reject and the list goes on. And we unintentionally apply it to every aspect of our life. We are so focused on the final result we tend to forget the intermediate process/task we put our time into. And the same is applied now to trekking or mountain hiking. We are so focused on reaching the summit that if we don't achieve it we feel we have failed ourselves. Also we have almost forgot living our life without time limits/constraints. Since childhood we were and are taught to complete everything within stipulated time limit. And that has continued and percolated so deep in our conscious that time is always ticking in our mind in every task we do.

Climbing mountain is the one of the best meditation one could ever have. But due to the current social culture imbibed in us, we tend to carry the same mental behavior while climbing/trekking similar to what we do in our daily corporate life. If we decide to climb the mountain we want to reach the summit either way and as soon as possible. We try to compete with the friends/colleague we are going with and in a way we hide the strain/stress we feel and the we are not able to enjoy the entire process of climbing.

As earlier mentioned I feel climbing mountain is a meditation. You have to first realize, know and accept your body conditions. Not all creatures are same. And that is the beauty of Nature. There should be no urgency and compulsion on reaching the summit. Realize its not binary that you either reach the top or don't climb at all. The process of climbing is the most beautiful part of the trip. If you feel tired take rest as much as you want. Again make yourself realize there is no urgency or time limit. I have seen people do take rest and then suddenly feel there is enough to climb so with that urge they take less rest and they stretch themselves beyond the limit. So again do you realize you have set a target and time constrain in your mind. You just have to overcome this. That is the part of meditation. Also don't compete with your colleague/friend or feel less worthy. Everyone has their one pace. And there is no compulsion to reach the top. Enjoy the rocks, trees, birds, trees, waterfall, nature around you. Feel your body, your lungs, your heart, the cool breeze on your face, the chirping sound of birds and sound of leaves in your ears, sweet pain in your legs. Just give time to yourself and to nature. Try to focus on the magnificent creation around you including you yourself.

At the end of the trip it could be a case that you have not climbed to the top and you might have to descend before it gets dark. That's totally fine. You were closer to nature. When we are in lap of nature, we should forget our egos. Mountain climbing as a task today are used to satisfy ego by people due to social media. They take pride in reaching the summit and uploading the same on various social media. Taking pride is fine but if your focus was just to reach the top then you have just climbed to satisfy your material ego. There is thin line between ego and pride and we usually cross the line.

Reaching the summit has its own satisfaction and happiness, but that should not be the sole purpose. Once you get to know the small techniques of focusing on your breathing while climbing you would be able to attain higher altitudes. The process would take time. For that you have to start small and you should enjoy the journey rather than the destination.

All said, as a concerned citizen would request each to avoid mountain littering . Carry your own bottles. Don't throw plastic in the mountains. Avoid loud music. Avoid alcohol. Respect wild life privacy. Respect local culture.