When the motto is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

“If it’s meant to be, it will be,” believes Vidhi Pai, a 22-year-old student of Film and Media at Annapurna International School in Hyderabad. Her dream was to go on a trek to the Himalayas and was frantically searching for opportunities online. She landed herself on a particular trek to Kauri Pass in the Gharwal Himalayas.

Going on a trek, especially all by yourself is a major challenge for anyone trying to do it the first time, especially if you are a girl. Vidhi, looked past this stereotype, broke it and went on to achieve her dream. She knew that nothing comes easy, and hurdles are a part of everyone’s journey. Eight years ago, she went on the same trek, which was a school trip. It was then that she realised, for something like this she had to be fit, build on her stamina and be physically and mentally stable.

Everyone said the problem was with her weight, and she wanted to prove it wrong. ‘I had to make sure I was fit enough for the trek without causing any harm to my body.’ For a person like her, she had to start training months in advance. Climbing up and down 20 floors at least twice a day along with her regular exercise was how her training towards her goal began.

Listening to negative remarks from her friends and relatives brought her confidence down. That’s when she started questioning her decision."Will you be able to do it?" would be the first question that everyone would ask. Questions kept hovering over her head. “Was I fit enough for this trek?”, “Would I really be able to do this all by myself?”, and “What will people think if I can't compete this trip?”

After contemplating over this for days, she ended up canceling her trip which she had already paid for, in January. She kept postponing it until April when, finally her sister, Vira Pai sat her down and motivated her to go pursue her dream. “It is a once in a life time opportunity and you have been strenuously training for this. Do not let it go,” she said. There was no looking back for Vidhi after this. All she could think of was how she was going to prove everybody who discouraged her, wrong. This fire in her lead her to go follow her passion!

She followed her school principal’s wise words, “Dare to Dream and Lead by Example”. This trek changed her as a person completely. Vidhi learnt the meaning of the words dedication, hard work, confidence and independence. Her outlook of the world changed. She started looking at the positive side of everything and became happier than ever. As filmy as it sounds, Vidhi describes her experience just like the movie, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

She posted this on social media when she finally finished the trek - "I first came did this trek when I was in school. It was the most difficult thing I had ever done. Years later, I'm back here and I haven't felt more alive. I'm going to be leaving a huge part of my heart here at the Himalayas, hoping to come back here again someday, away from all the chaos in the world.”