#Day37 and it comes to a close. #NIMAS BMC journey ends with a beautiful sunset from the skies…

#Day36 #ZiroValley One last day of travel before I board the fight to #Bangalore. Sunrise from Pani Yalang, Walk along the wet paddy fields, a visit to #NaaraAaba vineyard and, while strolling around Ziro Music Festival ground…

#Day35 #ZiroValley. Finally #travelling in #ArunachalPradesh not as part of the course. While the Ziro music festival is over and colourful fields with paddy is harvested, the place still some offers splendid attractions.

#Day34 As expected Travel_Arasan won first place for best in physical fitness (running, climbing). I was to travel to Itanagar and then #Ziro valley. Bus service disrupted and I had to run around to manage to reach Itanagar on time. Last minute hiccups. #ArunachalPradesh #Travel

#Day33 Writing exams overlooking the valley and sunrise was nice. And it was time for some group photos.

#Day32 Written exam on #mountaineering basics. Many were preparing as if they were writing #UPSC qualifier. I am writing one after almost 15 years. We also had an artificial wall climbing test. #Rockclimbing

#Day31 Travel_Arasan (Instagram) shot this video for his reels soon after i finished the 8kms run. #Tamil

#Day31 It was time to further descend and go back to #NIMAS campus in #Dirang we had to run 8kms in 1 hour with the 20kg load. I finished in 63 mins, better than half the crowd. Kudos to
Self. After that again 4-5kms #trek. We got network and pouring messages made the last
Mile a difficult walk.

#Day30 With freezing temperature in #NewMelling #Jithang And #Mago many had skipped taking bath for weeks. But some of us didn’t mind the cold river water. So it was time for river crossing, a way to forcefully get students take dip in cold water, besides teaching #mountain life. Fun time/Team
Work.

#Day29 Instructors worried about the situation. They repeatedly asked me if everything was under control. The chief instructor felt that nothing could change in India, if those getting trained for army comes with such divisive mindset. #Hindi imposition and sense of power control over it, was real.

#Day28 A North India student mimicking a Northeastern student over his tone of Hindi, turned into a clash. Students too sides. #Language turned them into fight mode. I was witness to it and made sense of who’s right and who’s wrong. It was settled down after the NI student apologised.

#Day27 It was time to learn casualty rescue drill. New Melling, with rocky terrain became our new glacier training area. Our rope instructor shared how the death of his trainers in #mountains, stuck by an #avalanche, had stopped him from
going on any #expedition. Know when to pull back.

#Day26 Long day of #trek. 32 kms with 20 kg weight, the team started to descend. Instructors took a chance based on our capabilities. We completed. I was tired, but discussing politics with like minded people and sharing #travel journeys kept me going. Knee pain aggravated, yet I didn’t give up.

#Day25 The snow capped mountains was sparkling at night. We were closer to Tibetan borders. The group trekked further to acclimatise as part of daily routine physical exercise. Our rigorous ice craft training started at the base camp. #Mountaingears #Mountaineering #ArunachalPradesh #NIMAS

#Day24 Survival day. We had to set up a makeshift shelter from the available resources in the woods and survive with limited food, water and clothing. Due to bad weather, it was confirmed that we’d not go to Merathang #Glacier. First batch in 3 yrs. Mules and horses had died up in the mountain.

#Day23 Finally the sky looked clear and we travelled to Jethang base camp at 13000ft. By now we were used to carrying weight and rucksack wasn’t a pain anymore. We set up tents. I had my first coffee after nearly 70 days.

#Day22 We are informed that it’s been snowing uphill, 3-4 ft, and our heavy snow boots wouldn’t help. We were warned that, if weather turns worse or rains continue, perhaps our #Glacier training may not happen. Disappointment all around in the camp. Erratic weather.

#Day22. It’s Karnataka Rajyotsava. Mind wandered. Thoughts of family, friends, colleagues came for the first time. No power to charge
Phones. No books either. I cleared the #bloodpressure test after failing initially. Thanks to the institute for testing many times before going to #HigherAltitude