Falling in Love again ...... .Gita Rane

It was a day like any other day. Long, hectic,routine and boring . I was trudging along home when an old college friend caught up with me. He was full of news and we merrily exchanged notes on all that had happened over all the years after college. The chance meeting, left me feeling nostalgic but a little disturbed as well. One thing he had said was, “Where is the old bubbly Gita?” He said he could hardly believe that I was the same trim, athletic & enthusiastic Gita from college! Was I so different now?

The best remedy for those who are unhappy, bored, lonely & stagnated is to step out of their everyday lives and rediscover themselves. This thought occurred to me when I realized that in the daily rumble & tumble of my life, I had forgone & forgotten all that I loved doing!
As it happens so often, asking the right question can lead you on to the right path, the same friend happened to refer me to become a member of the YHAI group(Youth Hostels Association of India). This is a wonderful Non Profit organization, which organizes various camps,trekking & other adventurous sports activities all over India

I was finally ready to let go of my comfort zone and challenge myself to dare to be different! It wasn’t all that easy as there were still feelings of fear of the unknown, fear of leaving the entire family and moving out all alone, also there was a fear of not getting the right support. Other very serious issues were that I was overweight and I had asthma. “Asthma and trekking?” I wondered. But with all the positive support that streamed in from my family, office colleagues and friends my fears were quietened slowly.
And then the day arrived when, as the great Nike has recommended, “I just did it”!
I left for my trek to the land of eternal sunshine: GOA! The journey began with a sleeper coach bus, where there was too much fun, singing and laughter to get any sleep!
I felt myself melding easily with all the others who had come on this journey with their own personal quest, for fun or just to get away! As the mammoth bus, lurched its way out of the city, I felt some of the stress and tiredness that Mumbaikars live with everyday, slip away. No office, no housework, no looking for rickshaws to get home for a whole week… what a joy!

The dawn of December 25th 2007 was one of those perfect mornings, where I saw my life change and get richer. I reported at the Goa Base Camp, which was a giant ground, dotted all over with tents. Since it was only the first day, it was meant for reporting and relaxing.
The next day was for acclimatization (quite hectic!), jogging at daybreak followed by physical exercises. With the thought of “Where is the old bubbly Gita?” racing through my head, I pushed myself to get involved with all the activities. Only later did I realize how much fun I was having doing it!

The next day was for rock climbing and rappelling. Rock climbing and me? Well that day I realized that there is much more to life that what we assume to know. I had never had a better time than scrambling over rocks and giggling over slipping & falling…I was 6 years old again!(as old as my Son Atharva)

On 27th Dec 2007, it was time for our batch of 51 members to march forward and trek to the heart of the jungle surrounding Goa! Our batch was G-11 and we proudly created a slogan, “Kashmir se Kanyakumari, Bharat hai sab pe bhaari!”

In the entire camp, from dawn to dusk, we walked and walked, sometimes passing through lovely palm groves & sometimes through sun kissed waterways. The Sun branded us with a tan seal of approval and made some of us go pink and brown while others dark brown!

With all the walking and discovering landscapes, most of us decided we had to sample the water sports activities, as all the colorful parasailing boats dotting the horizon were too tempting to resist! Parasailing was a great breath taking experience and I felt that I was talking to the wild wind on the seventh heaven!. Being up there in the air on your own was so invigorating! With adrenaline pumping in my head, I boldly undertook water biking which despite being a high-speed sport I got the hang of it immediately! The day ended with the whole gang of us taking off into the sea on a banana boat ride and giggling endlessly, every time someone lost there and got dunked in the midst of the deep sea!

The actual forest experience was truly enchanting. The forests were really dense. And so the atmosphere was dark and clammy. The rugged beauty of the Western Ghats totally took my breath away!We had to reach the tip of the mountain, which was at times very steep and very difficult to climb,We had to halt very frequently to control our fatigue.We had to pitch up tents and stay overnight in the middle of the dense forest,. A pretty thought when one is reading about it but definitely scarier for someone who has to live through it! Especially for me because I have always been afraid of the dark. But the dark forest with natural dim moonlight, seemed to cement the bonding and sociability within our group further. Everyone sat together, ate together and walked back & forth in the tent site. By that night, I had forever been cured of my fear of the dark. The warm bonfire with a lovely group of people and their happy singing voices in the middle of a huge forest drove away my darkness phobia!

As the trek came to a close there was a new light in my eyes, a new smile on my lips and a spring in my step! I returned to Mumbai tired, happy and charged up at the same time!
Just a week away doing new things had completely refreshed my tired body and soul.
Being together for so many days, created a very special bonding and close affection towards each other. My heart will carry the precious memories of this experience forever.

If you are jaded and stuck in a rut, the only way to get back the enthusiasm is to get up and get moving!

To sign off, all I can say is I have fallen in love once again, by changing myself.
Change loves brave hearts. Become one today and you will not regret it. And now I am off to plan my next trek. Hope to see you there!
***********Thank You***********