KNEE DEEP IN WHITE, powdery snow at 3,657 metres, I leaned on my trekking pole for support, gasping for air. Behind me, a few of my fellow trekkers were still struggling to cross the icy-cold stream that I had just managed to jump over. Ahead, many had queued up, holding on to a thick rope in an attempt to cross over one of the many alpine glaciers. I was at Balu Ka Ghera enroute Hampta Pass in Himachal Pradesh, trying hard to stay focussed. But my partially foggy brain wandered off yet again—to the shooting pain in my hamstring that was slowly numbing my right leg, the mammoth mountains that were making my life problems feel insignificant, and the misgivings about making it to the summit!
The Lesser Himalayan ranges pierced the sky in the backdrop, a gentle brook babbled over giant rocks, and the makeshift bridge running over it made
