I remember when as a child I used to harass my parents and grandparents asking them incessant questions like “Who’s the best?” or “Who’s the most…?” much to their annoyance many a time.One such time I happened to ask my grandpa, “Aja, who’s the most powerful person on planet?” with the usual royal frown on my forehead. My grandpa replied with a typical Professor Dumbledore – like smile, pointing his index finger towards my grandmother who was merrily peeling peas singing a Marathi song. “She is the most powerful on the planet” he said. I was expecting him to say something like “Bill Clinton” or “Vajpayee” or the scientists at NASA or ISRO but this answer was totally unexpected. Aaji? The most powerful? Seeing my perplexed expression, grandpa was kind enough to explain: “Not aaji…I meant any woman…she is the most powerful person on the planet – she has the power to make or break a family and families have the power to make or break nations. Women are naturally gifted with courage whereas men have to develop it over time and hence women are, by instinct, never afraid to fail or fall in love.”

I could never truly comprehend what my grandpa had tried explaining to me until I met Prerna for a trek in Himachal Pradesh when I was 23 years old. It was a five – day trek where we were to cross the Hampta pass at 14,500 feet above sea – level. I had conveniently chosen a ‘menstrual – free’ week for my trek since the thought of menstruating while climbing and descending was unimaginable to me. Prerna was a part of the group with whom I also happened to share a tent. She was a petroleum engineer with loads of fascinating travel experiences and had a vivacious personality. At our first campsite pit stop, after we had settled down with our tents and were done with lunch, she cornered me and whispered, “Hey do you have a pad? I think I have got my chums.” I always happen to carry them with me even during my ‘menstrual-free’ weeks and so I gave her one and said, “Hey didn’t you anticipate this? You will have to go back home right? You’d better inform the trek leader right now.” Prerna however seemed pretty calm about the whole deal and standing near her tent at 10,000 feet above sea-level, she said, “No way man – I am doing this trek…..my date was due next week but this happens to me very often and I am not going to let it ruin this experience…jo hoga dekh lenge yaar (whatever happens we will handle it buddy)!”

Immensely impressed with her courage, I made a mental note of occasionally asking after her well-being during the trek. She was lucky enough to find sanitary napkins from a few other female trekkers as well. The next day was very tiring with seven hours of hiking and occasional climbing to do, but Prerna was undoubtedly the heart of our group. The funniest jokes and loudest item songs would come from her, interspersed with the occasional breaks she would take due to menstrual cramps. And mind you, she was always ahead of me during the entire trek including the time when we had reached the snow valleys and the meadows.
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On the third day, which was the most exhausting one since we were crossing the Hampta pass at 14500 feet above sea – level, she developed a stain on her track pants (which weren’t dark coloured unfortunately) and suffered a shortness of breath due to the increasingly high altitude. Our trek leader offered to send her back with a sherpa and a mule, but she flatly refused saying, “I am fine – just give me a Diamox (a medicine usually trekkers take to avoid high blood pressure at high altitudes) and some oxygen.” The trek leader gave her the tablet and two oxygen puffs, after which she said she was fine. After he left, she said, “Hey, remove that brown sweater of yours…I will tie it around my waist.” And so she did and completed the third day successfully, which according to me was a significant achievement. On the last day, I couldn’t stop myself from asking her – “How the hell did you manage to do it in that condition?” to which she said, “If you keep thinking about it, it will always seem like a big deal but if you avoid thinking about it then you can enjoy every bit of the awesomeness around you to the fullest; it is all a matter of your perspective.” I was inspired by her attitude towards life and since then have never checked my ‘menstrual calendar’ while deciding to go travelling. Prerna is currently pursuing her MBA and also leads
Himalayan expeditions occasionally to experience “awesomeness to the fullest” as was rightly put by her. So all you girls out there – don’t let periods ruin some of the most wonderful days of your youth – we are lucky enough to have advanced sanitation methods and sanitary napkins to help us live the dream – so do not avoid, cancel or delay such beautiful experiences. Have the courage to live out your dreams and let nothing come in the way of that!

MitaliAuthor: Mitali Narurkar

 I am a 25 year – old healthcare advertising professional who loves to eat, travel and meet new people and explore new cultures. I am particularly drawn towards mountains and love them immensely – especially the Himalayas!

Editor: Divya Rosaline

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