Stepping out of the comfort zone / daily mundane and living a totally different life for over three weeks was a challenge by itself, in addition to the demanding fitness and endurance levels. It certainly requires a trained and different level of mental strength. Striking the right balance is a dire necessity in order to display the stability in all difficult & volatile circumstances. The real test of courage was the Day Three, given all the technical aspects of rock climbing and rappelling required for climbing Madangad & Alang-gad and that too with 15 kgs + sacks on our backs. Apart from this, the long stretches in the mountains, the identification of right places (shelter) for night halts (be it a temple or a veranda or village school or caves in the mountains), the deadly traverse, the challenging elevation gains at times, the long treks of over 42 kms a day sometimes, the long days of walking on the edges of mountains and number of passes, the search for replenishment of water bottles from any available flowing water stream / sources etc, – everything was a exposure to a different world. During the entire expedition, for me the moment of enlightenment was when we reached Raereshwar Fort on Day Thirteen. This Raereshwar Fort is of paramount significance in the history of Maratha age, for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj took the ‘Oath of Hindavi Swarajya’ at age sixteen on 27th April, 1645 at this very fort in the temple. We reached Raereshwar quite late that day. It was about 8.30 pm when we were inside the same temple & literally at the same spot, where Shivaji Maharaj took oath of hindavi swarajya. It was a great feeling and very special moment, as we sat inside the temple.