As we sat there on a rock last year around this time, we made a promise to ourselves. A promise to get back here with a group of people to help treat the ill. The dozens of ill people that roam around these villages in Uttarakhand, waiting for a miracle to happen.
Taking into account the huge amount of trekkers and adventure seekers this valley attracts every year, it pains us to realise that nobody ever tried to come to the aid of these villagers. It pains us to realise how inhumane and inconsiderate people are becoming. It pains us to realise that people have stones for hearts and it pains us to realise what this world is coming to.
So many sleepless nights were spent to turn this dream into a reality. So many sleepless nights spent thinking about how to help these people, as we strongly feel that if you are able to change one life for good, you have added meaning to your own life.
Holding on to that spirit, we organised a trek at Har Ki Doon Valley for doctors who believe in our agenda. The sole purpose of this was to help the people residing in the villages that fall in our way, by providing them with basic medical amenities and hopefully treating illnesses. Until now, there has been no medical facility available to them except for a first-aid clinic situated 15-20 kilometres away, accessible only through trekking.
We read somewhere that there was a hospital study done on more than a hundred elderly people facing death, and close to their last breaths. They were asked to reflect on their lives’ biggest regrets. Nearly all of them said they regretted not the things they did, but the things they did not do.
The risks they never took.
The dreams they never pursued.
The people they did not help.
The lives they did not save.
And we asked ourselves, would our last words be, “If only I had done it”?
Why do we exist? We are all humans born from the same five elements, and we are eventually reduced to the same.
So, we don’t know much, but we do know this: when we saw how big a difference a medical camp made; when we saw an old man crying with tears, displaying all seven emotions mixed into one; we realised that the only thing that matters is the impact you leave on the lives around you.
Now as we sat there on the same rock this year, we made another promise. A promise to bring a bigger group of doctors to this valley.