Reboot

It’s about three years since my last post. A lot has happened since then. The difficulties I experienced on that trip were an early sign of a specific cancer that took several months to diagnose. It resulted in a major life-altering surgery and many months of follow-up treatment that consumed most of 2014. The process of physical rehabilitation and conditioning is an ongoing one, and my health continues to be something that needs monitoring, but with a lot of support from various quarters, I have regained moderate fitness levels. On a happier note, during the same period, Ishan was born, who as of this writing, is not quite three years old but is already a veteran of three trips to the Himalayas.  

Apr 2016: Ishan in Binsar, Uttarakhand

Soon after I was back on my feet (in early 2015), I was yearning to see the mountains again. So in April, we made a leisurely trip to Kashmir, visiting Srinagar and Pahalgam. Since Ishan was barely a year old, and I was just adjusting to life with a single lung, we restricted ourselves to sightseeing and easy walks and eschewed anything but moderate altitude. It was a nice trip, a lot like my memories of vacations with my parents when I was a kid.

Apr 2015: Twin peaks over Pahalgam. No one seems to know what they are called

Around the same time, I started on a very light running routine and slowly started rebuilding strength and endurance. I very tentatively did a few hikes in and around Bangalore with gradually increasing levels of difficulty: Turahalli forest, Shivagange, Nandi Hills, Mullayamgiri. Alongside these, I was able to train for and run distances of up to 10 km along with the amazing folks at Runners High (in Bangalore), but using a conservative form of the run-walk method espoused by Jeff Galloway. 

Dec 2015: The trail up to Mulayamgiri in the Western Ghats is mostly non-exisitent or overgrown

None of these were easy, but I realized that I needed to mentally separate how much of the challenge I was experiencing was due to reduced aerobic capacity versus poor fitness. The latter was after all something I could work on; and I did, largely thanks to encouragement from my pulmonologist (the very wonderful Dr Rajani Bhat), the team of oncologists at HCG, my group of friends and coaches at Runners High, and my wife. It was at times tough coming to terms with how difficult things were that at one time were so much easier. But at the same time it was uplifting to realize that I had been given a second chance, and at those moments I was able to channel my sense of gratitude to nip any bitterness in the bud. 

Through 2015-16, my running improved in fits and spurts, when not interrupted by bouts of flu (my immunity is still poor, and Bangalore’s raging virus epidemics don’t help). Earlier this year Ranjita Ishan and I took a road-trip through Kumaon (visiting Binsar, Munsiyari and Mukteshwar). At Munsiyari ( a surprisingly large town that’s not easy to reach) Ranjita and I took turns hiking while the other watched Ishan. It was my first real hike in the Himalayas post illness. I was elated to complete about 20 km of hiking on a perfect weather day, which included hiking up to a gorgeous meadow at about 11,000 ft called Khaliya Top, featuring splendid views of Panchachuli, Nanda Kot and various other peaks of the Kumaon region. I was quite slow going up, and breathing pretty hard, but according to locals that I met, I was making good time compared to the run-of-the-mill tourist. The positive side of my slow pace was that I spotted a pair of Monal in a tree and watch them riotously fly out from the branches as I trudged past. At the top I spent some time reflecting on the past couple of years, drinking in the sunshine and the views. Then I ran all the way back to Munsiyari. 

May 2016: Panchachuli peaks from Munsiyari

Back in Bangalore, following the same run-walk strategy, I gradually ramped distance up to 21 km around August in a training run, and after that decided that I was ready to notch it up a bit on my next trip to the mountains.  Santhosh and I decided it was time for another group adventure in the Himalayas, but toned down (compared to our previous trips) to account for a couple of kids (aged 3 and 9) and my new limitations. So in October 2016, we ended up in Chopta, Uttarakhand, for a cold, but thoroughly enjoyable week. Stay tuned!