life is what happens...

on the other other side of fear.

Growing up, Gargi was petrified of the dark, speaking on a stage, dancing publicly, slimy things that moved and sneezing awkwardly. Apart from the awkward sneeze, she has had the (un)fortunate circumstance of facing all her fears head-on.

She now loves the dark. She's surprised herself by thoroughly enjoying scuba diving in the middle of the ocean in the pitch dark, with nothing but a headlight to pacify her limbic fear response. She has started out on summit day climbs at 3am on a glacier with just moonlight and a vast snow covered nothingness.

She has goofed up on the stage enough number of times to be comfortable with the initial lump in her throat when she sees a full quorum in the audience.

When it comes to dancing publicly, she has participated in multiple stage shows and swirled around in Garba fests, much to the chagrin of fellow dancers, only to get better... and eventually become a licensed Zumba instructor.

No euphoric story is complete without the audience shedding an eye at the protagonists triumph over her ultimate fear... and so, dear reader, hold your breath and arm yourself for a story that may sound like just another tale, but is no less inspiring than the epics of Amar Chitra Kathas. Just last week in her rural house, Gargi woke up in the wee hours of the morning for relieving a wee. She sat on the pot with half-shut sleepy eyes. After finishing her task, she reached out for the water jet to clean up. And lo, behold! a massive frog jumped out at her from nowhere. A less initiated soul would have jumped higher than the frog and created a racket... but not her. After all, what were those mindfulness lessons and years of meditation for? She took a deep breath, cleaned up, smiled at the innocent amphibian and walked out like a boss.

Having written this herself, she does feel a t(o)ad boastful... but what can one say? If there is one place where she can write her heart out without fear or fault, it is her own handcrafted website :)