Beyond the Mountains

Every event in life has a context. We are encouraged to take decisions based on the context and the options which present themselves. Right from my school days, I had taken keen interest in trekking and mountaineering. At various stages of my life, I availed of the opportunity to go for treks, attended rock climbing program at Nuh organised by Delhi Mountaineering Association and also enrolled for the Basic Mountaineering Course at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute at Darjeeling in 1983. I couldn't finish the course because of sickness. My love for mountains started with the school trips at my alma mater Modern School where I got exposed to trekking in and around Nainital and Dalhousie (Khajjiar, Chamba). Passion for the mountains has been a constant theme of my personal life. So, when the opportunity of the Expedition 2 to Margan Pass (13000 ft) presented itself, I had no hesitation in joining along with 10 other students from 1st and 2nd years of the MBA program at Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi. This was a milestone for me. I subsequently led the Expedition 3 to Sach Pass (15000 ft). The learnings from these real-life events were life changing. The lessons learnt were to shape my corporate career which was to follow after the MBA Program.

During the expeditions, you go through real life experiences which help you to test and improve your leadership skills. The expeditions were like a leadership laboratory on teamwork, risk taking, project strategizing, resourcing, planning, inter-personal conflict resolution and crisis management. Needless to say, at a personal level, it was a humbling experience.

I have shared these experiences with various generations of students at FMS in the form of a case study, hoping that someday they would benefit from these lessons. I could have written this book earlier in my life but I would have perhaps missed out on the leadership experiences and formal leadership concepts which I have learnt along the way.