Night or Day

Many years ago , the Oxfam Trailwalker caught my fancy. It was being talked about as a fund raiser walk.

Having grown up being exposed to NGO’s, fund raising, Red Cross, Oxfam, I was familiar with the work that was being done in the social sector. The fact that it also combined some physically challenging activity got me interested.

To be able to participate in any event, requires long term planning! So it was that the first year I decided, I could not do it.

The next year, got myself a team and enthusiastically raised funds. That by itself was a challenge, convincing friends and family about the cause. Convincing myself that it was important and working with colleagues, soon to become friends through this activity. It was all good fun!

The walk was well organised and the trail was challenging. We learnt a lot of lessons on holding things together, making decisions as one, understanding strengths and working on it! We were interested in doing it all over again!!!

The next year a new team, wonderful support crew and an amazing planning and training program! The fund raiser was even better with a record 2 day in reaching the minimum target all from within our company! This proved to us that what we were doing was not in vain, there were still people who believed in our cause.

The walk this time was even more fun, with a wonderful team, a great support crew and lot of conversations!!! Them I can still count on as friends for a lifetime!!! Night time walks, bearing the brunt of the sun, supporting each other, sticking together!!!

So it was that Mumbai beckoned me, this time teaming up with classmates from many years ago! Not the young bunch I was used to walking with! But definitely wiser, stronger in mind and body!

We did not train together, responsibilities keeping us apart! But constant messaging kept the momentum going!

We had the best support from our support crew which was initially a classmate and her husband, she roped in two of her friends who had experience of the trail! This helped us immensely in getting us ready with all we may need.

We managed two training walks together, 2 at a time! We were told to train on trails, on hills, we did what we thought was a hill and a trail!

We walked, cycled, played football, ran, got our body ready for the 100 kms!  I made our target plan for 33 hours, since the trail was considered tough and we prepared ourselves to meet the time! We had big plans for partying that night!!

We thought we were ready!

We travelled to meet our support team and start on our journey to the trail start point.

The place we stayed was in the middle of nowhere! It was beautiful, we were excited!

We started early the next day, reached the start point late, but did not bother us, we were out to have fun!

The trail was a challenge from the starting point! It started with an ascent and walking on narrow ledges!

The sun rose early even in the western ghats!! We were assaulted by the morning sun even at 10:00 AM . This was a new kind of heat for us from Bangalore facing the sun after weeks of clouds and rain!

There were old and young walkers, not all looked fit or prepared for this kind of climb! It was a struggle, even the 10 kms taking 4 hours!!!

We thought the topography would change, but no, we continued walking on rocks, climbing up and down, every step a challenge, slowly turning into frustration!

The sun was merciless, the trail was unforgiving! We tried to have conversations, but failed to carry it forward since we were marching on in single file!

Having walked the Bangalore trail walk route, we had expectations of company, villages, people, signs of life! Here we were left on our own to  blindly follow arrows and ribbons! The map lay unused, untouched! It was of no use! There was no network connectivity, no GPS connection.

The checkpoints were very functional, with minimal support!  Hot water which is a necessity for most walkers was not found at most places, getting a hot cup of tea was a luxury. Not many beds to stretch out for a much needed break!  Insufficient tents, chairs!!!

What was good was the availability of physiotherapists to give our aching muscles a good stretch! They were the miracle workers! Never have I used the support of physios in all my years of running, walking and participating in such events! I did here, twice!! That speaks a lot about how much of punishment my muscles were undergoing!

The food was good, available immediately! Our support crew did not have place to sit at most places, which was a sad situation because they needed rest too to with all the running around they were doing to help us!!

We were hoping to walk through the night to escape the harsh sun, but felt the sun was better than dark! It was safer, we could see where we stepped, if the path existed !!  Night or day?

We did try the night walking, left us tired, frustrated, sleepy,stressed and scared! We managed a short nap to help us get back on the trail!! Our minds were slowly zoning out. Legs were giving up!  I wanted to call friends to keep talking to me to help me get my mind back! There was no signal!! I was scared to talk to my co-walkers, my fear would get to them as well!! Atleast this way we could silently trudge on!! Could we complete?? Left it to fate!!!  

The next morning, after 50 kms, it was slightly better, with light!! A new day always brings hope! We walked on quietly, through similar terrains, eyes on the ground, feet firmly finding a place on the rocky stretches!! There was rarely sound of laughter, singing or talk on the trail, which I had loved during my past two walks!!!

The finish was getting close, but the distances seemed longer!! A 7 km walk took us 3 hours?????? And a lot more steps!!! And a lot of ups and downs!!!

The last stretch could have been made easy, we had already been subjected to a tough trail, we had proved it in 94 kms that we were made of a tougher skin, but no, the last 6 kms took us back into the treacherous trails, walking through the night, in constant rain, with no place to shelter, crossing slippery river beds! 

Did we receive a noisy welcome? No, the finish point was washed out in the rains, no place to sit for the tired walkers, the physios had packed up and left since they had not planned for such a situation!

There was no food to welcome us, the tea had become cold having been kept in the rain! The chairs and tent was wet and cold!

We did not care that our timing was registered wrong, we waited for certificates, all the while standing because no one cared that we should get some rest!!

What was obvious during the whole experience was to me it seemed that no one cared!! (This does not include our support crew or friends and family who were following our journey throughout and rooting for us) The trail was not considered safe, if there was any accident, getting to safety was not easy, getting medical aid was not possible, walking with an injured person would have been a mammoth task. Only on two segments did I see volunteers in tents.

During the whole walk, though we saw signage across the trail, talking about our ''walk for equality'', the cause could not be felt!! It felt more of a challenge than walk for a cause! Walking 100 kms by itself is no easy feat and to be able to achieve that for a cause is commendable!

Were they promoting the challenging trail walk – no the name is misleading in itself!! It cannot be classified as a walk,it was a hike, a trek of 100 kms!!!  

Was every person interested in raising funds fit enough to take on this trail? No!! So if I have the inclination to raise funds for a cause, Oxfam Mumbai is not meant for me, so it is the challenge which is given the priority?

I feel empty, I feel like something has been taken away from me, but I got nothing in return, and all I was expecting was a satisfaction of having walked 100 kms for a cause I believed in!  I felt cheated of the fun I should have been having and not left feeling scared of the trail!! In between it all, I started losing faith in humanity and trusting only the supreme power!

Cause or challenge?