I have to confess, I'm not a very physically fit person. I'm not obese or underweight but I'm just not as fit as an athlete. In the past one month, things have changed quite considerably. I'm now much fitter, slimmer, stronger and to a large extent, darker. Attending Mountaineering School has changed me, quite considerably. One of my teachers at the institute rightly said, " Yeh Mountaineering Institute hai, Yahan se aap badl ke jaoge " ( This is a mountaineering institute, you will change when you leave ). I have to agree with my teacher at the institute. I have changed considerably and now I look at things in a new light.
There were forty-eight of us from IIT-Bombay. Some of us were as fit as a fiddle while some of us couldn't run five hundred meters without stopping at least five times. Now, I can say with confidence, we all can trek at least ten kilometer in a day on a hilly road with a twenty-five kilo rucksack on our backs. Mountaineering is not easy. It is a tough man's job ( or woman ...). So,Who made us 'Shaktiman' in one month ? It has to be our instructors and our grueling schedule which included getting up at five in the morning and many more shocking things.
The forty-eight IITians were joined by students from Thapar college of Engineering, Patiala to make the total around sixty-six. None of us had any previous background in the field of mountaineering. Nonetheless, in the twenty six days that passed, we had done most of the things a mountaineer does. The most difficult part in all these days has to be our toilet at the base camp. I can count at least five stories related to our toilet at the base camp. Also, I forget to mention, we never had a toilet at base camp. Keep Guessing what we did !!
My next part includes the stories of our one-month self discovery....
Keep waiting !
