#day8 #mountaineering series #ontherocks #team
When life gives you such a rope, just hold on to it!
Just as we were getting into the course, we were divided into ropes. That’s what they called teams at the Mountaineering Institute (NIM). The division was completely random, I just got lucky!
My crazy Rope seven people became my constant companions. We ate, climbed, camped, complained, stretched, sang, struggled and slept together.
Take One
The course was tough and demanding. I would fall and get up again. But I didn’t get up alone. It was these people who cheered and got me up. The ones I knew will be by my side. That trust, which I didn’t recognise then, was just starting to build and would be something far deeper by the end of the course. But even then I had started taking liberty of pulling my team member’s leg in a way I only take with people close to me. (of course, I had some favourites :P)
We used to relish and savour our meals together and talk excitedly about the climbs we could and couldn’t do- it increased the joy, made us learn and forget the pain. In fact the well-earned food and the company was what I looked forward to the most after a day spent out on the rocks.
Take two. This is the closest we are getting to a good shot!
After the satisfying meal, we were done. Just ready to collapse. We sneaked in some fun moments and some (mostly failed) attempts at a siesta. Our eyes would begin shutting, burnt cheeks feeling the breeze, and ears hearing the soft rustling of the pine leaves above us. Ahh magical. Just then we would be startled by the sharp, piercing sound of a whistle- time for fall in and lectures!
Some of us still had the talent to not hear it and had to be shaken awake. Rest assured, by the time we reached, all the most coveted spots had been taken- the spots where we could lean against the rock or a tree. Such joys.
The lectures were just what I had fantasized about throughout school. Us outdoors, surrounded by the mountains, learning practical, usable stuff, under the cool shady canopy of a tree. Surreal right?
It was almost like that. There were also things I did not imagine. Yes, there was the cool shady canopy of the tree but only above our instructor. From where we sat, we were blinded by the sun glaring down at us. We sat there with squinting eyes and looked at the instructors, removing poking pine needles and shifting our tired legs every now and then. Well we sincerely tried to concentrate, fighting hard to keep our eyes open.
Sometimes, my eyes would be nearly closing, notes and handwriting slowly converting to gibberish that even I couldn't fathom. Thankfully with sun shades, no one could tell if the stillness was out of concentration or sleep. (I have never had more appreciation for sun shades, seriously. )
The only thing that gave it away was when you would suddenly jerk, or your head would go down just a little more than required. And if that happened, ‘Ladkiiii!’, typically our instructor would call out. And there was a question coming your way for sure!
I can say with confidence, every person in the course had such a day more than once. I for one, had quite a few. Honestly, I would still be listening, albeit subconsciously!
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Beautifully captured.