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Through the ages, India has been the land of profound journeys, sandalwood and saffron. A spiritual quest for those looking beyond fame and fortune, for a higher purpose. Those looking to move past their sense of disconnection, loss, pain or confusion. And those open to exploring new definitions of happiness. A land where answers to complex questions can be found in the simplicity of its life. India has always welcomed the seekers and offered them a chance to experience something bigger than themselves, something that grounds them and reboots them.

Some people climb their Mount Everest indoors, in their jobs, in their relationships or even in their health. Others head outdoors and pit themselves against nature at its most unforgiving. In raging rapids, spine-chillingly steep summits, uncharted ocean beds and even gravity-defying free falls from dizzying heights. India’s 105 km long Chader Trek on the frozen Zanskar river at -25 degrees in the Himalayan ranges of Ladakh has attracted nature tourists from all over the world, for decades. Rafting on the violently turbulent rapids in River Tons in Uttarakhand, mountain biking down the sheer canyons from Pang to Rhumste in Ladakh and many other adrenaline-popping journeys like these are the legacy left behind by naturalists like Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and George Mallory, who showed the world how human willpower could tower above the highest peak in the world.

The body, they say, heals with play. The mind with laughter and the spirit with joy. We have known all three with abandon, as children. In moments of play, we were giants and superheroes, space travellers and dragon slayers, presidents and celebrities. We had no reason to think that we couldn’t be whoever we chose to be, so pure was our conviction and so strong our imagination. Somewhere along the road, the critic in all of us awakens and banishes that happy little child. The critic is
cynical and discouraging. And as we grow, the cynic becomes our constant companion, reminding us just how small we are and telling us that dreams are nothing but  a whimsical waste of time. We start planning how we spend our time, packing every moment with agendas and to-do lists, leaving no room for daydreaming or impulsive spontaneity. We forget the magic of wishing things till they come true. We let go of wonder and awe, two things that our soul needs to stay well. We turn into shells of

If your life has been a mindless drift on the lazy river of autopilot, chances are that you are not a subscriber to conscious living.

Parents teach us to love our siblings and friends. Religion teaches us to love fellow humans, as we love ourselves. But no one teaches us how to love ourselves. In fact, from childhood, we are presented with goals to aspire to, that we believe will make us more lovable. And when we fail, we are left feeling inadequate and unlovable. As we grow, we face conditions and checklists drawn up by teachers, employers, partners, children and society at large, and off we go, eager to meet the expectations of everyone around us. We struggle to tick all these boxes, often succeeding but feeling joyless, hollow and still unloved. We have not been given a moment to explore who we are, what we want for ourselves, what nourishes our souls. And therefore, in being true to someone else’s checklist, we end up being untrue to ourselves. We lose ourselves.

The strong aroma of coffee being brewed can transport you in a nanosecond from the Italian coffee bar you’re standing in, to your grandmother’s courtyard in Tanjore. The traditional hypothesis about the sense of smell in humans being poor compared to animals is challenged on an ongoing basis by scientists who study the mysterious workings of the brain.