Fingers crossed.. Can I ? Should I ?

Year 2020 and 2021 will remain etched in the memory for the pandemic which hit the rich and poor equally. We remained safe all thru the year 2020 but by March 2021 Chattisgarh became an epicenter !! Times were very bad and I was in a fix for a big reason – in Jan 2021 I had booked my self for a trek to Kashmir – @ Rs. 11 K for 9 days to see the alpine lakes of Kashmir in July 2021 with yhaindia.org !

By April 2021, Bhilai-Raipur got so severely affected by the Corona virus that almost every family saw death coming in. Near ones, friends, neighbours we had deaths all around. Except for essentials no one moved out of the house and so to think of the trip all the way to Kashmir was foolish even when July was away. Exercise, walks, cycling, all activities to build stamina for the trek came to a standstill 😦

By the grace of God, situation all around got better by May – June and by July first week I persuaded Husband dear to join for a quick two day trip to Srinagar and we booked our tickets finally. With aged Mom-in-law at home and our dog, one of us had to return fast. A trip to Kashmir was a dream which never materialized all these years… due to reasons we all know but now I was determined to make it happen… was I excited

My own physical training got escalated, I would walk nearly 4.5 km in 40-42 minutes now, followed by stretches, skipping, lunges, squats etc. Made essential shopping of shoes, dry fit pant, poncho, back pack. All thru I missed someone whom I could share my thoughts, compare notes. But I had none. No one among friends wanted to join the trek, also Kashmir sounded bad. No one in the family actually wanted me to go for the trek. There was lot of tension in the family other than Covid pains too. My hefty plans that I will do atleast 25 km cycling, walk 6 kms every day so that I can be fit to complete the trek…..none of that happened

July 28th 2021 – my reporting date at Sonamarg, Kashmir Great Lakes trek base camp was fast approaching. I packed by bag carefully, weighed and found it to be 4.6 kg to my greatest surprise! Wait ! That was not the greatest surprise actually .. hahahahaha.

We are supposed to have a medical check done – usual ECG, blood sugar etc for the YHAI medical fitness certificate. On July 23rd, I went for the ECG, got the report late evening. Casually i took the photo of the ECG graph and sent it by whatsapp to my friend – Dr. Shobha. She called me back quickly saying – Hey do you any breathing problem, sudden sweating issues, chest pain Mini? I said NO! Told her I am doing all these exercises every day and don’t have any breathlessness… and told her I am going for a trek so i did this ECG. She said Mini your ECG shows trouble and you cannot go for a trek unless a cardiologist checks and certifies. Get an Echocardiogram done and only if the doctor says yes – only then you can go!!! I replied – I will do it once I return from Kashmir! She said – No – you get an appointment with a cardiologist tomorrow itself!

I am 55 years old and I had never felt anything wrong other than a slight chest pain few days ago. But by the time I had an appointment with cardiologist to do the Echocardiogram I was feeling a pinching chest pain which I told no one. The second ECG on July 24th morning too showed variations and the cardiologist had said “I cannot give you fit certificate unless an Echocardiogram is done.”

On July 24th by 6 pm I was getting the Echo done. By now, i had called husband n number of times at his office to tell developments, and daughter had called thrice !!!While the doctor probed my chest, up down, center, left right….I was talking to myself -I never had problems climbing steps, no hereditary issues, no cholesterol, so why would anything be wrong… but told the Doctor I was really worked up.. bahut tension ho raha h! By 6.30 pm, my cardiologist finished the probing, asked me to get up and as I sat, she smiled and said you are okay – no problem with your heart and I literally was ecstatic. I felt so light and wanted to hug the Cardiologist… She gave me a certificate stating – This lady is fit to trek to Kashmir!

Phew ! Literally flew back home .. all chest pain vanished!! 😀

July 26th, 2021 we boarded flight with all the precautions for Covid, RTPCR negative report, Vaccination certificate, mask, face shield, and the apron for the middle seat – thanks Indigo. Flight tickets, Boarding pass, all papers were simply displayed to authorities – no exchange took place. The flight was full, no seats empty, all airports were doing brisk business. Flight attendants wore the disposable full cover..

I breathed easy. Felt good and alive to have crossed a major hurdle.. With husband by my side and not cribbing for putting up with all the trouble, I thanked God for the precious gift.

As soon as we touched crossed Delhi borders, my mobile network vanished .. Pre-paid sims do not work. Welcome to Kashmir!

Srinagar airport baggage belt decked as a shikara ..

to be continued….