July 3, 2025

Lying on the floor of the tent made me feel like a princess in a fairytale. Specifically, I felt like the princess in the ‘Princess and the Pea’ story. For the uninitiated, the princess is unable to sleep a wink the whole night because of a single pea placed under her mattress. In my case, it felt like someone had lined the whole mattress with peas. The thick, cloudy sleeping bag failed to conceal the roughs of the ground and the smell of pain balm was almost a physical presence in the tent.

Unable to sleep, I wondered why I’d signed up for this Ranisui Lake trek in the first place. My brain, a little murky from lack of sleep, still managed to chalk up three reasons it’d been a stupid idea:

1. Even my most flattering acquaintances would describe me as ‘unathletic.’ While I regularly exercise and practice yoga, it is for the limited purpose of being able to eat pani puri and handmade pizza whenever I crave it.
2. I fear virtually every insect (with the exception of mosquitoes, roaches and ladybugs). I can’t bear to see even plastic spiders.
3. As for nature and greenery, I’m quite content observing the few potted mints that line my balcony. My disproportionate fear of spiders keeps me from standing still at parks long enough to observe the greenery.

Perhaps, the trek, which was near a place in Manali reminded me of YJHD. And I (like Naina,) just wanted a break from the routine. (Weird, I couldn’t relate to my namesake Aditi).

Now, there were some good times. Basking in the comforting scorch from the campfire they set up one evening. Gulping piping hot soups and coffee in the hopes that some of the heat reaches down the throat and into the stomach. The card and outdoor games we played on the campsite where the cold and wind forced us to make unlikely friends and cutthroat competitors. The 30-second relief when one finally manages to zip up the sleeping bag and lies down horizontally for the first time in the day.

There were new experiences- combing the tent for insects and taking turns to throw them out depending on what scared whom. I was in this regard, I found, most resourceful in finding the material with which to escort the insect out. Finding that one almost always has the strength to take one more step despite the exhaustion. Finding that one can live without running water, electricity and feeling one’s face for three whole days. We even ate a bit of the clean snow we could find - it tasted exactly as it ought to- like shaved ice. I was reacquainted with certain muscles in my body and the fact that they can ache. Dopamine and other happy hormones flooded my blood alongside sugar from the chocolate bars, coffee and juices.

The Ranisui lake itself, was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It was the exact colour I’d imagine Devi Ganga wore the first time she saw King Shantanu on her banks. For the uninitiated, it was the palest blue lined with silver that looked almost white unless one looked carefully.

After the trek was over, I reminisced about the times I considered returning without completing it. The greatest joy was realising that I’d done something I deemed impossible for me- a Himalayan trek.

But I suppose the verdict of whether it was worth it lies in the question- Would I do it again?

Well, I did go for another trek (non-Himalayan, no camping) about 10 days after I completed this one.

So, yes?

I don’t know. Maybe the lack of sleep affected my decision-making.