Spending nearly three weeks up on a hill with the cold winds howling at night and armed withonly the bare essentials, I am proud to have pulled through. The ubiquitous comforts of life that I took for granted at home could only be fully appreciated when I was stripped of it.

Back in Nepal, the toilets were merely holes in the ground – one even had to carry his/ her own supply of paper and refrain from throwing it into the toilet. Filling up a bucket of water for manual flush purposes was a must and sooner or later became a natural reflex.

The villages were extremely generous and never hesitated to provide us with whatever we need; the villagers happily allowed us full access to their lavatories. I remember vividly how the children would run up to me after class and offer me homemade popcorn which they had hid so precariously in their pockets. At times, they would also offer me wild berries picked from the hills. However, the children were not the only ones who knew how to give. In fact, during my stay at one of the villagers’ home, I was treated like royalty – this was in spite of all their evident disadvantages.

All in all, I learnt to appreciate what I have and am confident to say that I have become a hardier person with humility.