don’t agonise enjoy the damn walk
This is the story of Miss Bindu Katikithala. Our 52 years young vanar.
“I have been a regular walker since I was 22; and trying to entertain my dogs by running along with them has been another very fulfilling exercise, besides cycling and some running which I have started after joining Vanarshala, and taking the stairs up whenever I can.
Two years ago, Vanarshala happened to me and along with it came a way of life I find I may not trade for anything else. It was rediscovering my self- mind and body.
Recalling the experience of the only mountain I climbed in my life, let me share a few things I learned from what I would term an adventure. When the offer to climb Kilimanjaro came my way, I was just getting comfortable with my fitness training with Vanarshala. So before I embarked on the adventure all I needed was a nod from Aman, the gentlemanly traceur of Delhi.
Kilimanjaro taught me the virtue of patience. It is mind above matter when the physical overwhelms. This is my take away. Pole’ Pole’ – slowly slowly, the chant sustains you through the six day long walk through a surreal land of rain forests, heathen moor land and alpine deserts.
We prepare ourselves as adequately as we can before the climb commences. But in an activity which requires a million things to fall in place exactly as they have to and at the right time, the role of luck is pretty high. But that is not gainsaying the importance of physical fitness. I wanted to summit , yes! it was very important for me to do it, but I was determined not to let that thought undermine everything else. The destination was important but the journey was even more important. As I set off for Kilimanjaro sounding a wee nervous a friend gave me priceless advice “ Don’t agonise .. enjoy the damm walk”.
I took the Machame route, which took me 6 days.The summit push started at 12 midnight on the fourth midnight or early hours of the fifth day. Anxiety doesn’t let you rest and full suited up I started the climb in pitch darkness with the head torch and the milky way above to guide me like all other climbers. The five kilometer push took me 8 hours with a spectacular sunrise framing the horizon at Stella point. Uhuru peak- the summit is another hour’s walk away…. But the fact that I had reached Stella point egged me forward to the last point.
Once I reached the summit I pulled out my Vanarshala T-shirt I stuffed into my backpack and had a picture clicked with it. It was my tribute to Aman. After I came down and sent him the picture it was a surprise for him as well as team Vanarshala. They did not ask anything of me. But I knew that I owe this experience to Aman. I needed his validation before setting off. Summit or not, it didn’t matter. All I needed was his assessment of my ability and preparedness and his affirmation was the green signal.
I’m perhaps not the only one who feels that but for Aman a lot of us may not be doing what we secretly cherish and dream of achieving but shy away because we fear the challenge.
For someone so young, I have rarely seen a person who can instill so much confidence in others. He suffers our failings and hubris, yet doesn’t lose hope in us!
He has remarkable people skills and as an instructor constantly learning from everything and everyone around him.
Vanarshala definitely has enhanced my quality of life and the three mornings I am at Lodhi gardens every week, are mornings spent in an alternative universe of stretch and squeeze, run and twist…far away from my humdrum existence.