I have long believed in the power of the mountains to teach you the basic lessons of life. What it takes to do difficult things and how to do it with humility and with a sense of wonderment. My long years of being in the mountains gave me enough and more opportunities to experience all the three things in abundance. About three years ago, my daughter, like all 15 year olds, was struggling with issues of focus, commitment, hardwork and so on. As a parent I could see her struggle and also see her make efforts to overcome them, not very successfully, though. AJ is a very intelligent, smart and self-willed woman and she wanted to do things her way and therefore all my efforts to 'help' boomeranged rather pathetically. Thats when I brought in the big gun. She was always passionate about the outdoors and camping and trekking but she had never summitted a mountain. I sowed that thought in her mind and then let it germinate. A few months later she wanted it bad enough to commit to the rigorous physical training that was needed. We trained together for many months, we sweated, challenged each other, pushed our limits and a lovely time. Six months later we left for our attempt of the 19,200 ft Rudragaira peak. As we entered the valley that would lead us to the base of the peak AJ held my hand and smiled. And i thought the mountains had already done their job. She had showed tremendous focus, a lot of commitment and a huge amount of hard work and the fact that she felt confident and happy meant she had figured out the connection. Mission Accomplished at one level I thought.
As one gets higher up a mountain things get exponentially tough, its bitter cold, one is always tired, one's appetite goes for a toss, headaches, irritation, the works. On top of all this AJ was naturally nervous, afraid and a bit lost. So I hugged her a lot, we talked and joked, discussed movies and played word games. I distracted her as much as I could and kept her occupied in the long hours one has to spend cooped up in a small two man tent. The rest of the time we climbed higher and higher. Five days later, at 2am in the morning, in pitch darkness we began our summit attempt. Eight hours later, exhausted way beyond words, giddy and happy we stood on top of Rudragaira. She leaned close and said something. The wind blows really hard on summits and her words flew away bit I read her lips "Dad it was really worth it". Mission Accomplished.
What part did I play in all this? How did I add to this? By being there. Not just in person but in the entire sense of the word, my soul, my heart, my mind, my experience, my knowledge, my skill, every little thing I had ever learned. Every thing came along.
