Journey- IIT Bombay

“With the falling of the leaves, the masks of green are stripped off the hillsides revealing the diversity and uniqueness of each ridge and valley, rock and stream, old shed and oil well hither to unseen. It is in the winter, when the hills bare their innermost selves, that we get to know them. Then in the spring, when the masks return, we can look at the hills as old friends few others understand. 

So it is with people. Most of the time we wear our masks. But during difficult times, during the winters of our lives, we shed the facades and reveal all the intricacies of the unique beings we are. It is in these moments that friendships are formed, and we experience one another as few ever will.”

-John Walker

Few days back I returned from a Himalayan expedition in Pindari Glacier of Kumaun region, Uttarakhand. It was totally a different life there. People had gathered from different corners of the world to an unknown place, to live together for next forty days in the demanding conditions of wilderness and to forge friendships like friends of childhood days.

But while thinking about this trip, my mind drifted slowly back in my IIT days. And a thought struck my mind, “Hey, even the life in IIT was also an expedition in itself! A long journey full of summit points, passes, gullies and at times deathly crevasses.”

In the freshmen year, all of us stepped in this gigantic glacier of IIT campus with dreams of conquering majestic peaks in the glacier. Some of us were weighed down by the splendor and magnificence of the glacier while some were enthralled to take any challenge they may confront. In the end, few of us could reach every summits they had envisioned with flying colors; while few just surrendered to the freezing colds and roaring storms of hardships and turned back. Few unfortunates succumbed to the horrifying hidden crevasses of addictions and misadventures, leaving everybody in nothing but agony and sorrow. But there were few, who on many occasions, trembled down the valley, stuck in the storms and colds and wounded by ice-falls but rose up again with a brave heart spirit and continued the journey until they secured what they chased.

In my case, the expedition was little different. Of course there were peaks that I had dreamed to chase. For me, the whole trip wasn't less about pocketing peaks after peaks but traversing the glacier day by day more. I knew not where ultimately I shall be. I didn't bother about what I will conquer and what I will fall short of. I only kept connecting the dots day by day. I kept hiking from one point to another enjoying the beauty and respecting the authority of the glacier. At times, I starved of hunger, fell sick in the storms and colds; enervated and fell on the grounds in trying situations; to be honest, occasionally slipped into the dark jaws of crevasses too.

But having said this, I always consider myself fortunate that I never succumbed to these obstacles forever. Someone has said, Obstacles in the path are not there to scare you but to make you stronger and if you want to achieve something then don’t run away from them but face them. I always believed that if you have faith in your capacities and hopes in your heart, someone will come to your rescue when you are trapped.

And truth to be told, destiny had always sent somebody for the rescue operations whenever I got stuck. When I ran out of food, they shared their meals and fed me. When I fell sick and wounded, they nursed me and took good care of me until I stood up again. When I was exhausted and fainted, they offered me water and guided me well through strenuous phases. And just when I could have fallen deeper into the crevasses, they belayed me up and at times didn't hesitate to teach me lessons in brutally honest ways.

As I see in retrospect, I don’t remember having climbed the eight thousanders of IIT glacier. Not that I didn't try to, but the truth is that, its the journey to our destination what shapes our lives; makes those instinctive & spontaneous decisions worth taking and reveals the hidden magnificent facets of our being. During the expedition, the dots didn't really mean any sensible artistic design to me, but now looking back, it’s a brilliant landscape with vivid memories and invaluable bonds of friendships.