Ain’t no mountain high enough...

An ‘eat, pray, love’ experience awaited Soona Rachel in the valleys of Himachal Pradesh when she had lost it all, writes Sajini Sahadevan

Parvati river

Soona with one of the oldest members of Gaur village

Holding on to the sides of a truck as it swung down the treacherous roads of the Himalayan mountains, Soona Rachel J looked at the fellows who had become her travel companions over the last few hours. While the mountain goats seemed confused with the unpleasant ride, Rachel was grateful for the fresh air. From treks on foot that lasted several hours to rides like these, Rachel’s new normal had changed overnight.

Less than two weeks ago, Rachel had it all — a great relationship, an entrepreneurial venture that was going great guns, she had nothing to complain about. Or so she thought until it fell like a row of dominoes. Her partner had cheated on her. Soon after, the carpentry unit folded. She had worked together with her partner on their small business that crafted wooden artefacts by employing a team of carpenters from Uttar Pradesh. She opted out of working with someone she couldn’t trust anymore. “My main carpenter left overnight saying he had to meet his wife after watching a Malayalam movie that I translated for him! But that’s a story for another day,” Rachel says wryly.

Now in her 30s, with her priorities in order and after setting up a home with Revathy Krishnan, a writer whom she met after that stint in the mountains, Rachel narrates her past with candour. In a video call from Bengaluru, she says, “We have read about these saints finding enlightenment in the Himalayas, but now I can speak for myself — the mountains do bring you something that can be called enlightenment.”

She narrates how she was heartbroken as part of her family was unwilling to accept her sexuality, Rachel couldn’t go back to her home in Kerala. A musician friend from a band that she was a part of and his partner were headed to Kasol to set up a South Indian eatery. “I took up their invitation, bought a new SIM card, told my family that I’d call in case of an emergency, and left thinking I’ll return in a week. We stayed at Choj, a village 3 km from Kasol. But my friends wound up business pretty soon and came back,” Rachel says. She stayed on for six months, covering up to 35 little-known villages then and during subsequent trips in the future.

Rachel felt at home from the start, developing a rapport with the family that hosted her and soon, the entire village. “I would join the shepherds when they trekked up the hills with their flocks. But a ladki sitting on the rocks and crying made them curious. I told them my story. They asked in all innocence if same-gender love was possible. They made an effort to understand; one lady even offered their daughters’ hand in marriage.”

For the villagers, this person who either wore shorts or lungi and liked women was “not a girl”, says Rachel, “and yet they accepted me wholeheartedly.” The mountains rebuilt her, made her stronger, and changed her perspective in the months that followed. “Your senses are at your sharpest there, they have to be else you risk spraining a leg or breaking your back. Choj is across the river. There are no roads, only rocky ledges to ascend or descend. While women who scamper uphill to pluck seasonal fruit may do so in an hour, we’ll take double the time. Your core and legs are always working. It corrects your alignment. You’re breathing in all that fresh air, drinking the purest, even tastiest water, all the food is locally sourced, it is as good as it gets.”

Home is what she found too. “I was sitting by the river Parvati one day, bawling my eyes out,” she recalls. After three months amidst the towering verdant valleys, Rachel didn’t want to return to Bengaluru. She had questions and nothing for answers. Rachel says what she felt next was a deep sense of calm. “I felt more aware of the beauty around me than ever before. Most importantly, it dawned on me that I needn’t look for love outside of myself.”

After having lived off her savings, it was time to head back. But the villagers weren’t prepared to let go of her just yet. They made Rachel their ‘dharm behan’, a custom that allows them to adopt someone who’s not a blood relative as a sibling. Once in Bengaluru, she sought a change in her career. Fascinated by the way she saw her own change in perspective after the trip, she started delving into psychology, eventually enrolling for a course in counselling. Today, for nine months of the year, Rachel is a practising therapist. The rest of the three months are reserved for her other home. Of course, Revathy and the couple’s cats don’t always agree.
Her regular hosts in Choj keep a room waiting for her. A typical day begins with hot chai from the little shop close by as she tucks into aloo parathas while sitting on the ground. “Chairs are for tourists,” she says. Then she heads for the mountain trails, a dog or two for company. “I lie there on the grass, letting the sun shine on me, listening to the river. How much does a person need to live anyway? I earn enough for my oota and have a roof over my head.”

At some point, Rachel began to recommend the villages to her friends. Over the last four years, at least 100 people have visited through a small enterprise that she launched to bring the villagers a source of livelihood. Rachel calls it her way of giving back. As an operator, Rachel earns a small fee as well, developing an itinerary depending on what the client needs. “I discourage those who are in it for striking a pose and clicking pictures for their social media pages. This is an experiential journey. My friends there will be happy to arrange accommodation or guide the guests for a trek. Some clients ask for a detox in the springs, some others just want some quiet, maybe even a good cry…”

In 2020 as Covid-19 took the world by surprise and the pandemic left people stifled within the four walls of their own homes, Rachel remained cocooned in the valley for six months before returning to Bengaluru.

She says, “There’s yet to be a positive case there. I couldn’t have been in a safer place.” And knowing Rachel, she’d go back in a heartbeat.