Trek to Naneghat and Learning for Life!

I lead a sedentary yet 24x7 lifestyle of a consultant. I like to indulge in epicurean delights. This lifestyle is perfect to make me an indulgent sloth during the weekend. Last Saturday was different, I decided to push myself and enroll for a company trek. Travel is my only respite from the rigors of the corporate life and I decided to make most of my last month in this state. I did some basic research online on the destination Naneghat and non-nonchalantly put in my application and fee. My co-located coworker friends, thought I was far too quick to take an independent decision and we quickly realized that  it wasn't going to be fun if some of us do not go together. So I left it to them to decide the fate of my application. Either all were going or none. Luckily all of were prompt to organise ourselves and met on time for the T-day. Only thing was, that Mumbai rains were playing havoc since Friday night and were showing no signs of halting. 

On the day of the trek, I realized that too many people like me wanted to climb Naneghat at 3000 feet! It was a relief to see some familiar faces too. I was a bit sleepy from last night's movie marathon and my overall laziness was evident from the fact that I decided to wear my worn out Nike pair instead of buying some specific trekking footwear. So far so good, except I had no clue about the actual trek conditions. As my co-trekker, Karsten writes in his blog : it started as if it were a walk in the park to become more tedious.  Ultimately we had to walk through a steeply rocky and slippery pass to reach the peak.  The peak was a rendezvous with the clouds!

Image from: Sanket Sangwikar's blog

Learning from the Trek:


1. You are on your own, even if you are with people with the same goal. 


You may or may not be alone, but you are on your own. Each of us are responsible for our own actions and their reactions or implications. We learn this the hard way but I think if this fact is embedded in our minds, we trust ourselves and our judgement far more than if just think "Oh, I am bound my my circumstances or dependent on choices of X, Y or Z."


2. You can far do better than you think. 

There is a  general tendency to under-promise ourselves and avoid "raising false hopes" with oneself. Self- belief is one thing and the capacity to generate self- belief in adversity is quite another capability. Yes, you may fall sometimes, but you have outdone your beliefs in the past more times than failure! Isn't it?

3. The last mile is the toughest

Atleast for me,  I thought I did pretty well, considering the conditions, but I was drained when it came to the last mile. I was the most stressed at the foot of the peak (was feeling cold, hungry and wet). And there came the help from friends. The motivation they gave me to carry on and see the zenith was worth mentioning!

4. Timing matters

I wouldn't say we were well equipped for contingency. We started late around noon and reached the peak in 3 hours or so. While coming down the hills, it was sun-set already and we found ourselves huddled in a group, with only one torch in between 10 of us!We had no guide with us and no maps, compass or equipment. We just had our primordial instincts to rely upon. As one of my team mates put it, we realised in time we are lost, for our own good. It was timing that we quickly found our pathway (run over by rains) and got back. 

I am glad, I trekked. I am glad I could experience the amazing surprises that life brings to us!

Second Freedom Struggle and Beyond

I never thought I'd see this so soon. A small portion of my heart also never believed that especially the apathetic and heterogeneous Indian mass, erroneously clubbed as the "Great Indian Middle Class"  would be part of the uprising so openly.  Better late than never? Is this the beginning or the culmination of crescendo against the long- standing state oppression? Like most of us, I was unaware of the shape, form or timing of the movement, but I must confess I was discomforted since the past few years by the fact that we as citizens are being too tolerant of the state's growing power over us. Did we too easily accept the struggles of living in a "closed" country? It is possible that we have accepted that we are subjects to be ruled forever: first by colonialists and then by our own chaotic and oppressive authorities. Yes, we are "opening up" our economies and societies, but are we being too confused about our vision for the nation? We are not only a mixed up economy but also a mixed-up nation? Are we undermining our own power and restricting our progress by being less ambitious about the future of our country and the humanity? Do our leaders share our vision of a progressive nation or implicitly work towards keeping us divided, state- dependent and poverty stricken?

For long now, the common Indian is sick of being pointed out as a perpetrator of corruption. So we have been hearing solutions like “Don’t pay bribes” or “Stop Corruption” where he/she feels lost, misguided and completely left in the lurch. This angst combined with the pangs of a growing economy where wants are becoming needs, the rich and well- connected reap the benefits of globalization and marketisation more than the poor and marginalized. These processes are themselves not responsible to get us to this state, but we have been made to believe that they are . In my opinion the reason is that the state has an incentive to keep its subjects dependent and subjugated.  This further pushes the common folks to seek recluse and fan the rise of a cult figures like Anna Hazare, who were previously not understood or scrutinized.

The prompt gagging action of the government and diametrically opposite sloth-like response on being answerable to the citizenry has been the greatest disappointment for me and many others I am sure. Of course the protesters understand that the PM or the government doesn't have a magic wand for removing corruption but he or his government needn't wait for their voices to fade away to be answerable to a nation of a billion!

So I am keener on the fall-outs of the entire episode at this stage. Will we as a nation take this as a turning point and re-define the destiny of the nation? Now, the questions should extend further than just “Do you support Anna or not?”, “Do you support corruption and if not why don’t you protest at Ramlila ground?” It is a time to critically analyze the value addition of the web of bureaucracy and bulky government intervention that we have inherited/ created since the past century. It is a time to enunciate our vision for the nation and realize that the state will oppress the citizens at their cost till we have an aware, sophisticated and proactive citizenry that moves beyond fasting and sloganeering. It’s not to say that we should be condescending w.r.t. these common forms of protest, but let us extend constant constructive debate and due participation in civic, lawful and peaceful processes.

There is no doubt that today, the voice of the people is neglected once the elections are over or when laws or policies are drafted which will concern them. Isn’t this the peril of democracy that once we choose our representatives we find ourselves meek partners in the functioning of the government? Is the demand for “a more direct democracy” feasible when we need to implement a “ functioning democracy” first? How then will we seek greater participation and proactive role in public life?

Though it is definitely the virtue of democracy that we have many avenues available as citizens to be heard, to choose advice and even criticize our choices. The disappointing scenario will be that the junta will be further disillusioned with the “system” and withdraw its participation from grass-root level activism or boycott civic rights such as voting.

Will this nation of young and youthful people, hit the skepticism soon or will it choose to keep questioning those who are there to serve their causes? Will the government aid the nation towards peace and prosperity rather than exert a coercive power over the day – to –day life of the common Indian? Are we bracing ourselves to ask and answer difficult questions?

Learning the Importance of Moth Balls, Suede and Pinch of Salt

Melting Clocks by Salvador Dali:  Art History Guide

Time is a healer. Time is a teacher. Time makes you learn lessons. If you don't learn them , they get repeated. So I try to learn in time. I try to buy time. But it melts. Dali painted the "melting clocks". How profound!

How true were the fun proverbs in school "Life is like an ice-cream, lick it before it melts away." And its all about time. At work, you enter the "time card", you cross the maddening streets of Mumbai to reach your home in time. And time finds you behind it always. You find time for yourself on weekends, and others who have time for you. Time is money in this buzzing city and elsewhere. "You don't have time for me/us/them."

When I escape this city, I have to catch my flights in time. And there was a time, when I'd book trains and buses, but now times have changed. Time has again become money. I buy more time, to spend it elsewhere. I save time. I do 3 things at once.It's been a while, since I wrote here, time has melted away. Time has made me understand that my parents worked so hard all this while...I learnt why small things matter and coagulate into bigger ones.. issues/problems/crises...all different manifestations of change with time.

Well now, It's time to sleep and then wake up. In between is when I'd rule my world. Suddenly, I had so much of it at once that I didn't know how best to utilize it. I shared it, but they wanted more of my time. I tried to earn time by buying appliances, gadgets and fast food. I am still trying to think about the lost time and how many times I have been asked how well I manage it!

Well, do we have a choice? Whoever we are, we share 24 hour day, and that's all we have. Well, we don't know how long we will live...we just have no time. Just one life. Max it. Live it,learn. Because time melts. Times' square, and all we have are pieces.