She is an embodiment of positive energy! A reflection of the strong DNA she has inherited from her father!
Even during the most challenging times, she looks for what is good in a situation rather than brooding over what is not, or what went wrong. She has been through so much that should never have happened to her. Yet, I have never heard her dwell on what went wrong, question why it went wrong, wonder why her life is cursed, or ask why God has been unkind to her despite all the good she has done for others. Never! And knowing her as well as I do, I don’t believe she ever will.
That is Veena for you!
Veena has been my friend since our school days. For a few years, our families were neighbors, and what began as a bond between neighbors gradually blossomed into a lifelong friendship between our families. Some relationships begin by chance, but over time, they become an inseparable part of our lives. Ours is one such bond.
Obstacle and divine intervention
In 2017, Ram and I decided to undertake another journey to Mount Kailash. Having experienced its beauty and grace in 2016, we longed to experience that divine presence once again. Ram felt that Veena should join us on this journey. He went to her home and sought her father’s blessings. And, as always, her father had only words of happiness and gratitude to share.
The preparations began, including the mandatory medical tests. Ram and I cleared our tests, but Veena couldn’t clear her treadmill test. But then, Veena being Veena, she never allowed anything negative to take root in her mind. Ram, however, had a strong feeling that she might not have understood the instructions properly. He requested the technician to repeat the test. The technician initially refused, but upon Ram’s insistence, the test was conducted once again. This time, having understood the instructions clearly, Veena completed the test with a calm and peaceful mind, and cleared it!
And so, our journey began. We travelled to Mount Kailash via Kathmandu.
When faith is stronger than fear
Those who know Veena would agree that she is extremely thin and underweight for her age. Nevertheless, she managed the journey remarkably well. But at Lake Manasarovar, things took an unexpected turn. Although she did not undertake the full bathing ritual, she poured just a few mugs of the lake water over herself. That was enough to leave her struggling with the extreme cold. She could hardly move. With the help of the doctors and Ram, she gradually began to recover. Ram then encouraged her to chant a few mantras for some time, and that seemed to help her regain her composure.
Watching all this, I began to worry. If Veena struggled so much at Manasarovar, how would she manage the Parikrama around Mount Kailash, with its far more demanding conditions? But Veena was not worried. She simply said, with an unshakable conviction: “He has brought me this far. He will take me further.”
There was no confusion in her words. No anxiety. No second-guessing. She was not trying to convince herself that everything would be easy. She simply seemed to have placed her trust in Him and was ready to accept whatever lay ahead. And that was that.
When devotion transcends physical limitations
As we continued our journey and gained altitude, the conditions became increasingly difficult. One after another, pilgrims began experiencing breathlessness, palpitations, shivering, and extreme difficulty in moving around. Those struggling far outnumbered those who were doing well. The team of doctors had their hands full, trying their best to attend to everyone.
By the time we reached Darchen, hardly a handful of us were feeling well. Almost everyone, including me, was experiencing some difficulty. My oxygen levels had dropped. Despite having felt strong until then, and despite this not being my first trip to Mount Kailash, I found it difficult even to take a few steps forward. And then, something happened that I will never forget. There was Veena!
The very same Veena who had struggled so badly with the cold at Manasarovar was now moving around with remarkable energy, enthusiasm, and purpose. She began assisting the doctors and the medical team in every way she could. With only a handful of pilgrims fit enough to undertake the Parikrama, there was so much to be done. Veena was everywhere! She helped check oxygen levels and blood pressure, noted down the readings, followed the doctors’ instructions, and assisted wherever she was needed. She was here, there, and everywhere, quietly doing whatever she could to help others.
Some of us were administered steroids to manage our symptoms. The medical team continued to attend to the pilgrims as best they could. And Veena? With no additional medical assistance of her own, she was completely immersed in bhakti—devotion. She walked the Parikrama route with just one mantra on her lips: Om Namah Shivaya!
Mysterious power and belief
There was no display of physical strength, no talk of endurance, and no attempt to prove anything to anyone. There was only an extraordinary sense of devotion and an unwavering focus on the journey she had undertaken. The contrast was almost unbelievable. The same person who had struggled to move after pouring a few mugs of water over herself at Manasarovar was now among the few who were strong enough to continue. The thin, underweight Veena whom I had worried about was nowhere to be seen.
In her place stood a woman who seemed to have risen above her physical limitations, drawing strength from somewhere far deeper than the body. Was it faith? Was it the power of positive thoughts? Was it devotion? Or was it a combination of all three? I do not know.
But I witnessed something that day that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. We spent two days in the sacred surroundings of Mount Kailash, immersed in chanting, prayer, and meditation. And through those moments, I found myself reflecting on Veena and the remarkable transformation I had witnessed.
We often measure strength by how physically fit we are, how much we can endure, or how well we prepare ourselves for life’s challenges. But Veena made me question that understanding.
Here was someone who had faced more than her share of life’s difficulties, yet had never allowed bitterness to define her. She did not spend her days dwelling on why things had gone wrong. Rather, she continued to look for what was good, what was possible, and what could still be done. And when faced with a challenge that seemed beyond her physical capacity, she did not surrender to fear. She surrendered to faith. Perhaps that is where the difference lay.
Faith as a way of living
Positive thinking does not mean that difficulties disappear. Faith does not guarantee that life will always unfold the way we want it to. And devotion is not a promise that we will never suffer. But sometimes, they change the way we meet what lies before us. They help us move from fear to acceptance, from helplessness to purpose, and from constantly worrying about what might happen to simply doing what we can in the moment. That is what I saw in Veena.
She did not need to speak about courage or her faith or tell anyone how strong she was. She simply lived it. And perhaps that is the most beautiful form of strength: to remain positive without denying life’s hardships, to trust without demanding answers, and to keep helping others even when life has not always been kind to you.
That is where faith becomes more than a belief. It becomes a way of living.
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