The Background :
This story belongs to the era when I was at the epitome of my trekking journey. On 8th of July, 2018 we Mumbai trekkers had organised a mystic trek to tahuli which is considered as an offbeat trek.

The Ascend :
We kicked off early morning from Kalyan as it is a long trek after having our breakfast. We commenced our trek after a brief round of introduction & crossing few river streams with good teamwork. Climate was pleasant however the climb was bit harsh for the newbies to cover such a long distance. We summit the final pinnacle by 1:45pm.

The descend :
After having our delicious lunch & photography session, we started with our descend through the lush green dense jungle. We were lagging in terms of pace as one participant happened to twist her leg & had to carry her down cautiously with utmost care. All went good until I decided to inspect a small waterfall, so that all can relax for a while.

The incident :
I analyzed the route from above & it seemed approachable with bare minimum risk. As I started getting down along with my bag a huge rock somehow managed to sneaked in from my right side & landed straight on my right foot. Due to intense rainfall in past few days the rocks were loose & ready to crumble down any moment. There was no reaction time whatsoever to get rid of my leg out of the way. It was indeed a very painful situation & for a second I thought that my fingers were crushed.

The effect on me:
I knew that I had damaged my fingers badly & I had to assess my injury immediately. Having taken all those efforts to reach there, I decided to take a snap of the mighty waterfall as memory before returning to the general public. I was scared to hell after that incident & cautiously took my foot off the ground & ensured none of the other rocks were coming my way again as the confidence level was a bit shaken. Somehow with great difficulty I came up & warned others of going down there. Few people saw that rock crumbling down & settling in the waterfall as it had created a nasty noise. I could sense something is wrong with my fingers & I sat down for a while. I informed Sonali & Devina about the incident & they were also shocked. Soon my mehandi colored shoes turned red & that was an early sign of bleeding & danger.

The strenuous walk to base village :
Without giving any thoughts I rushed towards the base village which was still around 3-4 Kms away from that spot (Perhaps this was the biggest mistake committed by not seeking immediate medical attention on the spot). Somewhere I knew that once I remove off my shoes I won't be able to walk down the remaining distance & that would make the situation even more worst for all. Immediately after walking down few steps, I could feel the pain within & could spot the bleeding stains on my shoes. Both Sonali & Devina were frightened & were literally speechless looking at it (bolti band ho gayi dekh ke). But I must say that they both supported well & ensured that I reach the base village safely with minimum damage.

The Aftermath :
Now the mental game had started & I knew that I just have to keep on moving towards the start point of the trek which was still out of sight. Soon when I entered a river to cross, few bubbles of blood popped up & alarmed me of something fishy going inside my shoes. Since long distance was still pending to be conquered, I started to divert my mind from it by cracking lame jokes as I was left with no other option (Deep inside my mind: control majnu control to the pain). A 42kms marathon race had helped me to develop my mind strong enough to conquer such exhaustive situations in life. I ensured to apply minimum pressure on my right leg during this long walk, maybe at times by dragging it along the ground. This added extra strain on my other leg thereby forcing me to go slow by taking few small breaks.

I couldn't sense my right legs fingers now as almost entire blood from that area were drained off. Once I saw my destination in front of me, my pace gradually increased & heaved a sigh of relief. Soon I reached the base village by carefully escaping the muddy patches. The most important task now was to remove off my shoes & check the intensity of my injury.

Inspection report:
As soon as I peeled off my socks gently I could only see my skin detaching from my finger & no major blood clothing or injury as such, which wondered me about the excessive bleeding. Then there was a Twist in the tail until I turned my leg upside down to witness a deep cut below my index finger which mounted my tension & worry to reach home. First thought that ran through my mind was to explain this incident to my parents & convince them to allow me to keep this passion alive. Soon our medical boy Pranay arrived with the kit & got my initially dressing done which went smoothly. Soon other members also had a closer look at the injury who were unaware of the incident.

The return journey:
Aroon gave me a lift till kalyan on his bike. It started raining as soon as we reached kalyan where we were in search for a clinic/hospital for the treatment. My bestie Kartik then came to the rescue & took the charge from thereon. One of the most painful part was to take 2 injection nearby the wounded area & get those 3 stitches. I screamed twice or thrice as it was very painful for me. Finally I got discharged from the hospital to return home where Kartik accompanied. Obviously my parents were tensed at home & I had to convince them that it was a minor accident.

*The take away from this incident:*
1. Seek immediate medical attention rather than delaying it to worsen things. Its is always ok to ask for help in such situation.

2. It is of utmost important to wear proper trekking shoes in jungle for any season as protection is priority.

3. Never underestimate nature or be over confident in life simply because you have mastered the art.

4. Always safety first in life & avoid taking unnecessary risk as accident don't knock your doors it just happens & then it might be too late to realize our mistake.