But an elementary fragment of that story, that has been silently weaving at the back of my mind has been seldom shared..
After we were humbled by the massive Garhwali Himalayas, we took a stroll in the Kotagoan village, which was also our base village and our homestay accommodation.
From this uphill Himalayan village, you could witness the sun shower the Swarga Rohini & Ranglana peaks in all its hues. Little houses of wood made for ideal housing for the villagers as it would keep them warm & protected from the harsh winters.
If you stood on the road, you could see the river Tons flowing in serenity downhill & quaint little houses with a temple dedicated to Khush - one of the two twins to Sita whose reference is in the great epic Ramayana!
As we strolled , we spoke to the villagers, understanding their way of life. Of course we were immediately in awe of their skin. The women - the complexion of their skin was as white as milk, a natural red tint on cheeks and they draped beautiful woven woolens. Their beauty could give the French a run for their money!
And when we complimented them, they were but shy. A few moments later, probably having inferiority complex by looking at us - who were (we) dressed top to bottom in city clothes & jackets , coyly they said, ' No, you girls are beautiful'- which felt like you are prettier than us! To them we were these shiny , prim & propah city girls! Only if they knew , that we needed so much for our upkeep
As the sun set on the horizon we walked back towards our homestay- a thought lingered - what is it with women and insecurities ?
While we were descending from the Kedarkantha top, we met so many young women, who with tensed temples asked, 'Hey, would we be able to do the trek ? Go all the way to the top ? Being fat won't be an issue, right ?
That minute I wanted to hug them tight! How could they know? For this was my thought trail at the start of the trek! With content & super motivation, we exclaimed 'yes, you of course can!'
Why do we doubt ourselves so much ? Why are we always insecure about that one thing that's not right- be it our teeth, nails, nose, body shape, endurance , fertility... you know the list could go on..
We tend to immediately jump into a pool of self loathing. A constant need of validation always lingers around us. Maybe women were bred that way ? Or they adapted to their surroundings with time, like good docile homo sapiens?
All I understood this trip is that the higher you climb the mountain, the insecurities seem far below in the valley....
As my fellow trekkers would say ' baby steps ' ; for the lesser weight you carry on your back, the more mobile you are
Ah! Women and Mountains are connected in more ways than we thought, right ? 😉
