Into Thin Air- "To The Base Camp & Back"

I Don’t Understand…..

Why Would One Want To Experience Breathing The Wispy Winds? Suffer From Amputating Frostbites, Feel Asphyxiated With Or Without An Oxygen Mask….

Why Would Someone Silently Permit His Own Body Eating Itself To Survive? Feel Groggy & Hallucinated In Mind Like A Slow Child….

Why Would Some One Want To Tempt His Or Her Own Death? Temper Its Ego, Irritate It, Annoy It & Challenge It To Play The Game Of ‘Who Prevails In The End’?

Why Would Someone Want To Leave The Warmth Of His Bed & All The Loved Ones Behind At Sea Level To Embark On An Expedition To Surge An Altitude Of 29000 Feet?

Why Would Someone Want To Reach The Roof Of The World?

Why Would Someone Want To Climb MOUNT EVEREST? The Book ‘INTO THIN AIR’ Quickly Gives Me A Rejoinder As If It Is Reading My Write “Neelam, Because It Exists.”

Is This Attempt An Outcome Of Indefatigable Desire For Public Attention? Months, Weeks & Days Of Slow, Arduous Maneuver To Reach The Mountain’s Top & Then Once You Attain The Goal You Spend Less Than Half An Hour Clicking Few Pictures Vetting Your Victory & Experiencing Exhaustive Exhilaration Coupled With A Trepidation Of Imminent Long-Haul  Descend.

Someone Has Rightly Said ‘It Is The Journey That Matters More Than The Destination’. But What Kind Of A Journey Is This? “An Obvious Triumph Of Desires Over Sensibility.” An Idea Of A Guilt-Stricken Maverick Human, Trying To Undo His Past By Enduring This Penance.

Before Reading This Book I Was Determined To Experience Mountain Climbing. (Not The Snowy-Chilly Ones But The Arid Brown Ones). But This Book Turned Out To Be A Scanner It Did A Reality Check On My Effervescent Idea.

For Starters I Can Walk Endlessly (Provided I Have Music In My Ears) But When It Comes To Climbing I Get Breathless On The 10^th Stair; In The Given Circumstance My Abode On 6^th Floor Is Nothing Less Than Mount Everest To Me & I Have Never Scaled It Yet. I Have No Desire As Well……

At An Altitude Of 18000 Feet And Above I Would Remain Immured In My Sleeping Bag, Become A Frostbitten Frozen Vegetable & Without The Supply Of My Staple Diet & Ginger Tea In My Dimming Mind I Would See Ghosts Walking Around Me.

As I Ascended Above The Clouds; Near The Stars, Sun & The Moon & Descended Abruptly On The Sea Level While Opening & Closing This Book I Have Made A Strong Resolve That If I Ever…Ever Venture This Shangri-La Like Place In My Life It Would Be ‘To The Base Camp & Back.’