Women normally looked as a weaker sex definitely is not something I believe in. The strongest thing in existence is in believing in yourself and when a woman takes to this attitude, they come out as the strongest of all.
Sharing a personal incident here to which Kulwinder, Vineet and Lalit are a witness to, this is about a hiking trip to Stok Kangri (20200ft) Trek in August 2015. We landed in Leh and were stranded at the starting base at Stok village due to heavy rains, which is unusual in those parts. Two days later when the rains subsided a little we started our trek to Stok Kangri base camp. The stream which we had to cross midway to reach our base was flooded and water was gushing at a speed where it was almost impossible to cross it. At this point our trek guide pointed out the only possible way to reach base is to climb the huge rock wall of abt 45-50ft. We had no rock climbing gear, no safety measures, one wrong move and no second chance, one could be seriously injured or dead.
I looked at it and the first reaction was NO. Would want to thank my buddies here who said why not, of course, you can. I closed my eyes and thought for a second. So many thoughts running in that brief second, thoughts of my kids always believing in me, my husband banking on me for anything, my parents and family always reminding me how strong I am…yes yes I said, of course, I CAN…fears giving way to strength and my belief, and belief of everyone, family n friends coming together giving me further confidence that one can do anything if I wants to. I did it without a hitch. It was a moment which makes me realise always that strength is not just physical or emotional, but also a determined belief in yourself. My strength is to believe in myself first which further enables me to strengthen my family and loved ones and keep them all happy and smiling. A PROUD MOM, A PROUD WOMAN I am today!
This story was shared by Vandana in 2016 as an entry to the #strongtothebonecontest by Horlicks and GurgaonMoms and was one of the winning stories
Vandana Singh Mishra is Travelpreneur, Traveler, Observer, Naturalist, Writer and an Explorer. She is the founder of Travandyz that promotes escapes such as climbing expeditions, trekking, road trips, river running, kids trips, family active & leisure vacations and more in and around Indian Himalayas(mostly).
