Women of Himalayas

I have been wanting to write this blog for a long long time….. Finally the moment is here!

Trekking in the Himalayas has helped me to visit or be in the remotest of Villages in the States of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and also villages in the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Having worked in a Trekking organization the last couple of years, has given me an insight into the culture and also had an opportunity to be in a few villages for a couple of months or so because the villages were starting point of a few treks.

What really got me to write this blog was to share about the immense Power, Humility, Love, Resilience that these women portray.

I was in a beautiful Village in Janglik, Himachal Pradesh for leading a trek called Buran Ghati in the year 2023. The place seemed surreal; nestled in a lush valley surrounded by Maple, Chestnut, Pine trees and ofcourse the Apple orchards were a sight to behold in the village and the outskirts too. It seemed to be of a place where I could just BE, write my heart out and soak in its beauty forever.

On one of the days as I was coming back from the trek, I came across an old lady probably in her 80s with a huge load of wooden logs on her back. I was stunned that at this age she was carrying so much. I asked her why aren’t her family members here to help. She replies, “They don’t bother to come! I have a Son but he doesn’t do all this!”

I felt a pang of anger within me, how can anyone send an old lady to get a load of logs weighing around 30kgs!

She smiled at me and I smiled back. And she hobbled on her way and I went on my way to the Basecamp.

The following week I was exploring the village with a colleague and we had the heartiest conversations with the women working in the fields. They spoke about their families also enquired about ours. They had no qualms on missing out on anything. Their happy faces said that they had accepted their lives for what is!

When I had been on a trek in Nepal or in Meghalaya or Arunachal Pradesh, I saw women taking the lead in taking care or running of the restaurant, homestays and it felt like they were rocking it.

And umpteen number of times I have seen Women working in the fields high up in the mountains, cooking food, feeding the cattle, taking care of the young ones, milking the cows, fetching firewood from the dense forests filled with wild animals, fetching logs / leaves for the cattle during Winter, sowing seeds in the fields, harvesting, well the list goes on. I have also seen a young woman run a dairy and sell the products to nearby cities and she is running it on her own and that’s something which makes me salute the women power.

And I haven’t seen men take up all these tasks!

That’s the truth which is right in my face and I don’t know what to do!

I feel this is a start where I am voicing out my feelings of Anger, Hopelessness, Guilt, Sadness, through this blog.

I did mention about the Power, Humility, Resilience and Love these women hold. I truly feel that are these feelings personified in how they are and how they are leading their lives. There is a smile no matter what they have been through or going through!

Well I have spoken about the Women in the Mountains but I am aware of the struggles the women go through here in the cities and villages in the Plains.

What can I do to bring about the Change?

Is it necessary? Is it relevant? Is it in my scope of things to change?

All of these questions are staring in my face? I don’t have an answer yet!

Do you?

Please feel free to write back and let me know your thoughts.