Thanksgiving for the trek !

People who venture to trek up from Gauri Kund to Kedarnath might have noticed and paid heed to one aspect : while many middle aged men in their early to mid forties choose to make the distance either on ponies or in palanquins, you often find bent and arthritic infirm old women doggedly walking along the path with grim determination on their faces. Where do they get the sudden unexplained resource of energy from? While the well-heeled true to the expression don sturdy trekking shoes bolstered with woolen stockings, their heads covered with scarves and balaclavas, you find these rustic devotees with none of these apparels – they just have their faith to take them there and bring them back safely.

Something like that only can explain my recent achievement of trekking up the Kumara Parvat / Pushpagiri peak. Anyone who has seen me recently at close quarters would definitely be aware of my utter lack of physical fitness and body-shape to undertake an arduous trek. For months I’ve not been going for walks, nor have I been exercising to keep up any semblance of fitness. I am quite overweight and in addition have a wheeze. In trying to keep pace with a friend during a walk recently, he noticed how I was gasping for breath and advised me that I should not be straining myself and perhaps should just rest adequately. So in spite of being aware that I was totally unsuited for it, I ventured up the peak spurred by a spiritual purpose, and ardently seeking the blessings of the Guru. Yet when the target was accomplished and I returned home with life and limb in tact and with only stiff legs, I felt like appropriating the credit totally to myself. Do I tend to forget how much of divine assistance I get when I do a task that is clearly beyond my capabilities? In fact do many others do a similar thing too? I quote from the book “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman where a composer describes those moments when his work is at its best:

“You yourself are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don’t exist. I’ve experienced this time and again. My hand seems devoid of myself, and I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there in a state of awe and wonderment. And it just flows out by itself”

“His description is remarkably similar to those of hundreds of diverse men and women – rock climbers, chess champions, surgeons, basketball players, engineers, managers, even filing clerks – when they tell of a time they outdid themselves in some favoured activity. Athletes know this state of grace as “the zone,” where excellence becomes effortless, crowd and competitors disappearing into a blissful steady absorption in the moment".

Anyway God, I don’t know about others, but I offer my thanks for the wonderful trek!