A Mixed bag of thoughts: Rasika and Muthu climbing and conquering mountains together #couplegoals

Rasika -Hampta Pass trek

Take away from life all the extras we have added in, like our comforts, our ultra modern and jet setting lives and all the gadgets that we are now surrounded with and what do we get? A life where we focus on our needs and less on all our wants. And our needs are basic - food, clothing, shelter, love, companionship and bonds that go deep and mean something. Still, we all are caught up with keeping up with the Jones' and getting more and more materialistic. In all that crowd, amongst us, some people wake up everyday with simple and meaningful purposes. One would immediately think I'm going to talk about someone who has lived a whole life and now is changing to a simpler life, cause , yes that definitely happens. But, I'm talking about a young woman, just 33, Rasika . Rasika is a Yoga Trainer and Chakra Healer and a lot more. But above all, Rasika is a simple soul who lives a life of self-discipline and self-love.

Rasika on Hampta Pass trek

In the year 2015-2017, Rasika was doing her MSc in Yoga in the S. Vyasa Yoga University in Bengaluru, India. Sometime that year, her friends from earlier days came up with this idea of going on a long trek. However, this trek was not a trek where one goes to the closest hills over a weekend. The trek that her friend had suggested was a trek that was organised by an actual trekking company called IndiaHikes. They needed to be fit enough and prove they were fit enough to be allowed to participate in the trek. The idea of doing a moderate high altitude trek at 10,000ft was thrilling, but none of the group was actually expecting or ready for that much investment at the given time. Rasika found herself being pushed by the group to do the trek as according to the others, since she was studying Yoga, she surely was already fit enough. Well, according to Rasika herself, she wasn't ready. Just walking uphill from her hostel at college to the college building was hard work. The course focused a lot on theory and apart from the 1-2 hours of yoga in the morning, there was no other physical activity. Soon, they all decided they were not ready and Rasika pushed the idea of that kind of trekking somewhere to the back of her mind. And it was of course quickly forgotten as life took over.

Rasika and Muthu on Harkidun trek

In the year 2017, after her MSc in Yoga, Rasika met and later got married to her husband Muthu. Little did she know that he would literally lead her back to the mountains. As theirs was an arranged marriage, getting to know each other better started happening after some months into the marriage. Getting to really know how each one behaves under stress and not in their comfort zones was what was to follow. Because, you guessed it right, they planned a trek together with IndiaHikes. Rasika's husband was into a different kind of fitness, but back then like her was not fully into it yet. They had a common goal to work towards now. They chose an easy to moderate (above 10,000ft) hike to Kedarkantha in April-May, i.e. Spring-Summer. They began their preparation. Every morning they would wake up at 5:30 and carry their water bottles and walk for 2-3 kms. They had to show that before the hike they were capable of walking 5 kms in 35 minutes. They would have to record their work either on the Nike app or Strava. This was because in altitude and with bags on their backs, they needed to be capable of continuing with the group. With a lot of hard work back then, they managed to do 5 kms in 38 mins and got accepted to the hike. Only once they actually got in did they realise the investment required. Not only does one need to be fit, but there are some essentials one needs to either rent out or possess (like the jackets, gloves, headlamp, beanies and a good backpack each). Since they were enthusiastic and looking at doing this as a couple in the long-term, they actually bought most of the material and spent a lot of money doing so. So now, they were tied solidly into the idea of going and completing the hike. There's always a drop off point where if one pays for the service, any extra material that one can't carry on the back is carried up by the mules that IndiaHikes use. However, Rasika and hubby didn't choose that option and suffered the 8-9 kgs that they each had on their backs for the first day of the trip. They realised how hard carrying the bags was on the strong inclinations of the route and quickly chose to offload the next day. The 4 days of actual walking was one of the most beautiful experiences for Rasika till date. With the beautiful summit Sunrises and the Starry nights where the entire galaxy seems to be present far away from polluted cities on non-cloudy days, she realised that being outside is really her thing. She discovered and unlocked a new layer to herself. After this trip, we can say that Rasika and Muthu really started their real fitness journey.

Harkidun trek

They met the C.E.O of IndiaHikes and several other like-minded people. They decided that every year they would go off to the mountains together like a pilgrimage of sorts. Thus preparing for their trips became a sort of 'tapasya' (a sort of penance or intense focus or meditation) and they worked on a strict fitness regimen. They started preparing months in advance mentally and getting ready for that trip which would soon happen. They worked out together every morning for a couple of hours and then some. Their second trek or hike was the Chandrashila and Deoriatal with Tunganath temple - the highest Shiva temple in the world (Spring- Summer 2019)- easy to moderate at 12,800ft. Their 3rd trek was Harkidun and Ruinsara tal (Spring-Summer 2022) moderate at 11,700ft. They were capable of carrying their bags of 10-15 kgs themselves the entire journey as their fitness regimen and lifestyle had really started paying off big time by then. However in this trek Muthukumar got very sick and he still had to finish the trek despite not being able to keep down any food.

Kedarkantha

Some treks were cancelled during the COVID years and then in 2023 the trek Rasika was waiting for i.e 'The Valley of Flowers' was cancelled due to road blocks caused by landslides as it's a Monsoon trek. The cancellations continued into 2024 when a Kashmir trek she was to go on got cancelled, but Rasika waited and prepared and continued her lifestyle. By then it was clear for Muthu that trekking was not something he wanted to do anymore. But, the preparation and exploration of fitness continued for him too. He now works out with the mudgar (A mudgar is a type of mace historically used by Indian warriors and wrestlers for strength training and as a weapon) and lifts heavy weights. Finally in the Monsoon of 2024 (August-September) after all that waiting and anticipation, Rasika went on a trek to the Hampta Pass in Himachal and they crossed a zone from Kulu to Spiti Valleys. This is a moderate trek at an altitude of 14,100ft. It's 6 days(with 4 days of walking and 2 days of arrival and departure).

Chandrashila and Deoriatal trek

Tunganath temple

Tunganath temple- highest Shiva temple in the world

In the Monsoon of 2025, she finally did a moderate trek to the Valley of Flowers which is a Unesco Heritage site of naturally blooming wildflowers at 11,300ft. She got to see the Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara, the highest Gurudwara in the world at 14,200ft.

Harkidun and and Ruinsara tal

Rasika loves outdoor camping and star gazing. She says she once got to see Jupiter and Mars and several shooting stars. She loves finding herself away from her comforts of electricity, free supply of water and other such things because that makes one value everything one has in daily life even more. After the climb, the organising team keeps the trekkers awake to avoid altitude sickness getting worse and so they have the best time playing board games and sometimes cricket and throwball. This is a great opportunity to make friends. This has brought Rasika to meeting several people, especially older folks who are super fit and are setting her up for future trekking goals.

Hampta Pass

Hampta Pass night view

Hampta Pass

Rasika says that going to the mountains is her calling and everyone should find theirs. For her the mountains teach us to be humble and savour every step, however painful, that we take to appreciate its beauty. There are naturally blooming wild flowers to be seen, some mythological sites to discover (the guides will show you where the Pandavas - heroes in Indian mythology -were supposed to have stopped for example). Every new experience on the way teaches us something about ourselves. Something that was hidden or something that we didn't think ourselves capable of being able to do. And of course the several challenges make it like a perfect slice of life, we learn and we overcome them like in our life. Rasika goes back on the treks with IndiaHikes because she appreciates many of the principles they follow. She appreciates the therapy sessions that are held on camp and also the huge sustainability efforts the team constantly puts in. The fact that every bit of trash is brought back down to the plains and sent to the correct recycling spots keeps the mountains as they are supposed to be. Clean and pristine. The IndiaHikes team also uses bio-enzymes instead of soap that everyone uses to wash the dishes they carry and encourages people to avoid using packaged food and does not use any single use plastics.They are mindful to how resources are used around by using bio wastes to use dry toilets in the campsites instead of wet wipes and water. Rasika even started using menstrual cups after seeing the team advertise their use, to reduce sanitary waste and says it's one of the best decisions she has made. Not to forget that IndiaHikes provides good food and hospitality.

Valley of flowers

Valley of Flowers

Rasika especially encourages someone who has a sedentary lifestyle to try trekking once. Activity will become second nature as you start preparing for a trek. And activity is a way of life for her. Rasika is a practitioner of Yoga for general fitness and therapy for lifestyle disorders, of Acupuncture, Reflexology, Face Yoga therapy, Medical astrology, Yoga Prana Vidya a.k.a Chakra healing or pranic healing for curing many minor and major ailments. Along with her husband, she works out 6 days a week and every Sunday is a 108 Surya Namaskar day where they perform salutations to the sun. As a couple they are investing in their health and promoting Self love and Self care. You can contact Rasika at rasika.b.iyer@gmail.com as she works online for all her disciplines with people all over the world.

Rasika's aim is to make people she knows build healthy habits that are sustainable in the long term. She hopes to guide them to make these habits a part of their lives. Thus preventing ill health instead of having to get rid of disease later.

Trekking has made Rasika resilient physically, mentally and emotionally. She has the strength to face it all thanks to the mighty mountains who teach her to be strong and down to earth. Standing on the summit of a mountain, one is forced to forget one's ego and realise that everything is transient. This summit climb has come with a lot of effort and it's not guaranteed again. Being so small in Nature means our problems are even smaller and so we can stop cribbing and start living.

What I find endearing about the couple is that even though they are in a world that is so digital and so into social media, they have chosen to stay away from that kind of exposure. They live simple lives and they teach us that simplicity is real, tangible and achievable. No stress, no FOMO (Fear of missing out), no comparisons and no distractions. I applaud this couple who have their focus on the right stuff, such as growing and celebrating togetherness and living a life with simplicity and respect for themselves, their bodies and their environment.

#IndiaHikes #kedarkantha #deoriatal #chandrashila #hamptapass #trekkingislife #trekkersdream #stargazing #valleyofflowers #tunganathtemple #Hemkundsahebgurudwara #harkidun #ruinsaratal

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