Category Archives: Health

ABC Trekking -# 1 Excitement Ahead!

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Come 16th November, I will be out for for my next expedition. This time it will be a a trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) in Himalayas in Nepal which will last till 26 Nov 2018. The Annapurna region is regarded as one of the best trekking destinations on the planet.

Three years back, in end April 2015, I planned for this expedition. But just a week before I was to leave, there was a severe earthquake in Nepal, killing almost 10,000 people. All tourist activities were closed. Next 3 years kept me busy in other expeditions like Drive from Road to London, solo drives to Iceland, Yellowstones in USA and Candian Rockies. I am now attempting to trek ABC again. Like the trek to Mt Everest BC, again I will be trekking all alone, of course with a Sherpa as a guide.

I wish the various authorities consider the energy level as a criteria to assess the abilities of a person rather than the age. Some of the initial challenges I am facing are due to my age factor of 73+. I expect to resolve these issues in the next 2-3 days and be ready to commence my journey on time.

I hope to share my excitements and anxious moments with you as I keep moving.

In the meanwhile I certainly need your good wishes and blessings for smooth completion of my dream.

Road to London # 5 – Fitness Matters

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The decision was made. But, but, but….  Would the group be comfortable to take a 72-year old person on such a trip? After all, it is a 2-month long trip with lots of potential for things to go wrong. Each participant’s fitness is key to the success of the trip.

I realised the importance of this particularly when I organised the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in 2010. There were at least 4 people (out of 98) who had difficulty in adjusting to the high altitude. Emergency arrangements were required and two of them had to make an early exit. The other two took an additional day to acclimatise. But again separate arrangements had to be made for them to join the group.

When travelling in groups, transparency on health issues is extremely important. In the same trip, one of the participants was shy and did not mention his discomfort (health-related). This proved fatal. We lost him forever.

My co-travellers ought to know my age from the outset. I was determined that if people from the group had reservations about my age, I would organize the trip for the two of us, myself. My contingency plan was ready.

Tushar and Sanjay

I called Tushar and Sanjay to tell them about my driving trip to Iceland last year and about the trekking expeditions I had made after 60 years of age.  They appreciated my enthusiasm and said that I didn’t even sound like a senior citizen. They were happy to have me!

It is the spirit and fitness that matter and not age!

While both Pushpa and I have been lucky to enjoy good health, we do take special efforts to stay fit. Often fitness is a topic of conversation in many social and even business meetings.  Every one has their own “funda” to maintain fitness.  This includes diet, regular walks, playing proper sports, etc.

Normally 6 to 8 in the morning I keep busy with my yoga meditation.  I don’t even take phone calls during these two hours.  Art of Living needs special mention here in maintaining my health and boosting my spirits.  Sri Sri Ravishankarji’s Sudarshan Kriya has been a part of my daily, morning routine for the last 9 years.  Similarly, Pushpa does her own yoga and kriya routine.

As far as diet is concerned, we come across the popular quote, “”Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper!”  However I have been following for the last few 40-50 years, “Apple a day for breakfast, two chapattis for lunch and a full for dinner.  For any reason if I am awake till midnight, a midnight snack is not uncommon!  This works for me!” Pushpa, on the other hand, has her own diet regime which includes fasts and carb-free days.

Never sleep immediately after lunch is the normal advise.  I somehow got accustomed to a regular nap or relaxation of 10 to 15 minutes immediately after lunch.  This keeps me fresh and fit the entire day.

Considering my lower back spondylitis, cervical and knee joint problems, 15 years ago, doctors advised me to discontinue playing sports that involve any sudden jerks. I got back home and sobed. I couldn’t imagine life without my regular dose of squash. After a week or two, I begun to feel sick.  I restarted playing squash and recovered.  Of course, I restricted it to 2 or 3 times a week.

Pushpa’s knees took a heavier toll so she had to stop trekking. However, she is extremely disciplined about her therapy exercises and does whatever walking/other yoga her knees permit.

That aside, both of us love our 2 to 6 km a day walk.  This has gone a long way in keeping us fit.

We’ve maintained this routine for the last 40+ years, that it doesn’t feel special any more. We listen to all fitness advice and pick what we think suits us best. But whatever we did, we maintained regularity.

The main factor though I think is I try to follow timeliness as sincerely as is possible, be it is food, exercise, sleep or wake up time.  This consistency is the secret to good health, according to me. Further, we give more importance to listening to our own bodies compared to external advice.  We follow what suited us the best even if it meant exactly contradictory to norm.  Stubborn as it may sound, it works!

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited  : Meeta Kabra

Road to London #2 – A Unique Attempt

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I am writing to request your thoughts, comments, blessings, cooperation and support in an extraordinary adventure that I plan to undertake…

…that of self-driving a distance of 20,000 kms from Mumbai to London, over 68 days through 16 countries and 100+ cities!

…that of chaperoning my 9-year old grand daughter along with my 63-year old wife through a long, once-in-a-lifetime journey covering off-beaten tracks, rugged mountains, deserts and sand dunes, dense forests and snow, high altitudes, heritage sites, highways and cities!

Before you say more about risk and raise concerns (and thank you for that!), please rest assured that this is not my first endeavour into adventure (my close family will attest to that!). I have been an adventure-thrill seeker through my life, especially after the age of 45

  • At the age of 70, in 2015, I self-drove 8+ days through Iceland’s rough and risky terrains, with my wife and then 7-year old granddaughter. This included some glacier walking as well as snow mobil-ing.
  • At 65, I organised a group of 90 pilgrims to Kailash-Mansarovar for a charitable purpose. It is a journey many dream to accomplish at least once in their lifetime. It is also considered extremely difficult and life threatening.
  • In 2009, my wife and I were the first Indians to land at 90° North and float on a sheet of ice. There is nothing to it’s north and that spot on earth has no longitude, no time-zone.  It was all to experience the place where the Sun and the Moon rise and set, only once a year!  We were on the only nuclear powered vessel capable of navigating to this place.
  • We also challenged ourselves to participate in the ritualistic “polar plunge”. Not stating the obvious, but this act is considered (silly and) fatal if one stays in for more than a few seconds.
  • In 2008, at 63, Mr. Peter Hillary, Edmund Hillary’s son personally inspired me to take the Mt. Everest Base Camp trek, considered demanding and deathly. I trekked with only one sherpa for company (i.e. it was not an organized group tour).
  • In 2005-06, my wife and I also travelled and trekked through all of South America (including staying in the dense Amazon forests) and set foot on Antarctica, where the most common inhabitants are penguins and the temperature of -30°
  • In 2004, my wife and I climbed to an altitude of over 19,000 feet to perform the Mt. Kailash parikrama (at ages 60 and 51). This was without any guided help!
  • 25+ years ago, in 1988, I drove my family from Mumbai to the top of Badrinath temple (now in Uttarakhand) in a Honda Civic. This was 5,500+ kms of heart-throbbingly bad roads – especially for a stick shift, sedan! (If you are aware of the Indian road conditions today, just imagine what they were almost all those years ago!)
  • A little before that, in 1987, my wife and I drove from Oslo through the broken roads of Nordkap to experience Norway’s Midnight Sun.

This is a glimpse of the many thrilling, exciting and hair-raising adventures I have been lucky to be a part of, but I would refrain myself from getting nostalgic here! After all, over the years I have travelled to 55+ countries whilst my wife has visited 43.

Academically, I am a qualified Chartered Accountant as well as a Cost Accountant.  However, I have been a first generation entrepreneur for most of my life. In 1986, I quit my (then) 18-year old professional career in the Middle East to come back to India and start on my own.

My learnings in life – personal and professional as well as my travel experiences and expeditions are (slowly, but steadily) being documented on my blog (please write to me if you want to get updates on e-mail).

In fact, I plan to capture my upcoming “driving expedition” on a day-to-day basis, perhaps even on a real time basis (using a GoPro camera).  Our expedition will cut across India, West to East, crossing about 10 states including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.  Once we cross India, we will pass through Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, and finally the UK.    It will be the rarest of rare travels – not to mention the various challenges we will face driving through such varied landscape.  This event is expected to create a record in Limca Book of Records and possibly be a Guinness World Record too (I am in conversation with them on this front.)

However, more importantly, this road adventure is personally very dear to me because I intend to spread a personal message that “age is no bar if your mind is determined and your body taken care of”; That, if one keeps themselves fit, age cannot hold you from extra-ordinary feats – be it a child of 9 years, a grandmother at 63 or a grandfather at 72.

Over the past few years, I have seen and read about kids and adults living their life more as an obligation, coupled with neglect of their health. People have almost forgotten to “live” their life…not realising that in the end, it is not the years in your life that matter, but the life in the years!

It goes without saying that such an adventure involves a lot of planning and budgeting, and as such, we are looking for “like-minded” individuals or organisations who believe in our belief and are keen to participate and partner with us; or if you know someone who would be interested. If you are, please do write to me at the below details and I would be happy to sit down and share additional details. Your assistance and cooperation will help create awareness as well as generate interest, curiosity and perhaps inspire others!

I am hoping that with your support we will be able to spread the message to an even wider audience! The flag off is currently scheduled from Mumbai at 1000 hours on 24 March 2017, when we embark on this journey, hopefully able to create an extra-ordinary story and memory! You are most welcome to come and join the celebration and wish me luck!!

 

Badri Baldawa

Cell: +91 987 000 1177

Email: badribaldawa@gmail.com