Page 6 - Seniorstoday September 2022 Issue

Cover Story
A Pilgrimage of a Lifetime
If you can really be with Kailash even for a few moments, life will never again be the
same for you, because it is a phenomenon beyond all human imagination,
writes Dr Sujeet Rajan
At the end of 2019 after finishing an
advanced course in yoga and meditation
(Shoonya Intensive) at the Isha Ashram
in Coimbatore, I decided I must travel to
Kailash with Isha.
Sadhguru said: If you can really be
with Kailash even for a few moments,
life will never again be the same for you.
It is a phenomenon beyond all human
imagination
I decided I had to go. After an extensive
medical evaluation and clearance in
February 2020, the Yatra was cancelled
that year due to the Covid pandemic. The
next year, Chinese Tibetan visas became
a challenge (with the India-China stand-
off on the LAC), and the Yatra was again
cancelled, much to my disappointment. Five
days before Sadhguru ventured on a single
pilgrimage with a group that year (2021),
I was asked to be the medical volunteer
for that group. I couldn’t believe my luck
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Roshan Jeswani
but the notice was just too short for me
- there was just too much happening in
the hospital and clinic with Covid, post-
Covid, vaccinations etc. So, I had to let that
opportunity pass (I still regret that).
Finally, the Kailash yatra happened this
year, from a new route that Sadhguru had
carved out in Nepal - a route that was never
really taken before. I was game and did
another round of medicals in March this
year. This included extensive blood work,
ECGs, stress tests, chest x-rays and lung
function tests. Isha doesn’t leave any stone
unturned here - your fitness is paramount
before making this trip.
Day 1
On a warm Sunday morning by Mumbai
standards, I landed into a more pleasant
climate at Kathmandu on the afternoon
of August 24, a day before beginning
a pilgrimage to Kailash. Given the