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I spent my childhood and early youth in an oasis of peace and sanity amid the surrounding beauty of snow-clad Himalayan Mountains. As a small girl, I was always inquisitive to know about nature’s puzzle - the science behind the mountain building and different geomorphic features. From the early stage of my life, I was introduced to adventures in the rear mountains whilst accompanying my father to his sites (who was an electrical engineer) .

My first venture into the hidden world of darkness, an underground cavity - The Cave began much earlier than my work on these formations. I clearly remember an incident in an unknown cave situated in the forest on a ridge of an elevated hill about 40km away from Pithoragarh town, Uttarakhand. This was immediately after completing my master’s degree in Geology - I led a group of a few keen and enthusiastic youth, including my brother, in searching for the cave. After walking about 10km uphill from the motorable road, heading into the forest, we discovered several small openings within limestone rocks, but none were big enough for human entry. A bit further towards the ridge, after searching for about 2 hours, we finally found one deep narrow passage to enter the cave.

The cave was formed in wondrous limestone with multiple tiny paths, each with unique features as I could see from the top. Being slim and most adventurous, I was the first in the group to volunteer to take up the task of squirming down to the cave passage. I was astonished to feel the thrill of entering such a narrow cave first time in my life. In the excitement, I drove myself into a nearly vertical wall and had a

free fall of more than 15 feet from a skylight opening triangular cleft, a tight squeeze. I stretched my arms and wrenched my body to hold my grip on the wall so I could fit through with my hands. I could only hear the noise of water gushing through somewhere close to the ground and the strong wind blowing along the passage. Dangling in such conditions was a terrifying experience. I was scared to realize I had no way to go - as I was stuck in the middle of the narrow George, an extremely tight crawlways. My hand began to pain, and I started yelling for help; there was a considerable echo when I yelled, but no one answered. After some time, I finally got my brother’s attention and saw the rope hanging from the small opening where there was hardly any skylight. Finally, exhausted from the tortuous process, I found my way out of the vertical squeeze. Though it was quite a struggle, I felt the essence of accomplishment after completing the missions, the thrill of taking on a challenge, and a sense of victory.

I encountered plenty of such incidences while exploring the new caves. In my opinion, one must be well prepared, well equipped, and well experienced before entering any such adventures of a caving expedition. I recently returned to the same cave - this time, I was well equipped and had much experience to continue the exploration. I have been doing fieldwork in the Himalayan terrain with the company of a hammer, compass, and a field diary in my hand, and so far, I have never felt alone.