My Story: 'What Mountains Will Teach You, No Classroom Ever Will'

I grew up in the picturesque valleys of Kashmir. My love for mountains began at age 5 when my Dad took me hiking to Amarnath cave at 13,000 feet. As militancy and violence spread across Kashmir in 1990, I was forced to leave my home.

"I remember the day when my Dad handed me a wooden ice axe and said, "You are stronger than what might happen here. As mobs came marching towards our home, I stood motionless and frozen in fear holding that ice axe with tears rolling down my eyes."

Down the years, the same ice axe became a symbol of my strength and defiance, which once took me to Amarnath Cave as a child and shaped my life as an aspiring mountaineer later. Although my father is no longer around, I can still feel the power of the grit he passed on me and the words he whispered still echo in my heart. "What mountains will teach you, no classroom ever will."

'My Love For Mountains'

The father, whose shoulders carried me once like a lion cub as we roamed free through the mountains of Kashmir, infused the love for mountains and hiking in me at a very young age. He had always dreamed that I would take up mountaineering one day alongside my medical profession. His lifelong wish was to see me learn the craft of mountaineering at the prestigious Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi. Alas, he succumbed to ill health a few years ago. I lost him to the clutches of diabetes in my very own ICU. Being his doctor and daughter both left a deep scar on my psyche.

During the darkest of times, I dug deep down and spoke to the mountain gods. In return, my father's face smiled back through the fleeting clouds. He reminded me of my immense willpower. Was I the same girl who fought death and returned to life after being comatose with a near-fatal head injury? The girl who studied night and day to become a Doctor.

'Embarked On Long And Tumultuous Journey'

That's when it happened. I mustered all my strength and love for my father and embarked on a long and tumultuous journey into myself. I took a break from my professional life to fulfil the dreams I had weaved together with my father. I undertook a 250km trek on foot to Kailash Manasarovar in Tibet as a tribute to my father's legacy. In those harsh bone-chilling conditions, I found solace and a rejuvenated will to live and survive. It gave me closure, and I could feel his ethereal presence, guiding and nudging me in the form of a gust of wind or trembling of a wildflower.

Breaking Life's Barriers

As a head injury survivor and having risen from near death to breaking life's barriers, I am training and aiming to climb Kang Yatse 1 at 6496m mountain in Ladakh in August 2022 with a future vision set on climbing the mighty Ama Dablam peak in Nepal at 6812m next year. My goal is to help raise awareness about diabetes, mental health, and head injury rehabilitation. If successful, I will be the third Indian woman and first from Jammu & Kashmir to summit. I will also be the first female Indian Doctor to scale this peak. Ama Dablam is known to be a technically challenging mountain and considered to be tougher even than the mighty Mt. Everest.

I climb to prove that we are stronger than the challenges that life throws at us. I don't care for the record books but for finding the depths of innate strength that we all have. With this climb, I also aim to honour the memory of my father.

As a head injury survivor, I am deeply motivated to highlight the plight of mental health issues, head injury rehab, Diabetes and women empowerment. There are days when I feel unsure about myself and the world around me makes me think that as a woman, I'm inadequate and not strong enough.

In those times, I flip through the letters my Dad wrote to me and it goes, "One fall doesn't make one a fiasco."

If you, too, have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@thelogicalindian.com