An adventure in the journey itself

Rakhi Kapoor, the new entrant into the world of penning novels, a traveller and a mother, shares details on her new book, The Girl who was Left Behind, which is an ode to all the women, and about the harsh realities of life which paved the way for this book.

Chennai-based Rakhi Kapoor, who is childbirth educationist and a physiotherapist, plunged into penning with a realistic fiction – The Girl who was Left Behind, which is all about the experience of a young woman and her journey of self-discovery that prepared her to face the challenges of life.

When we ask Rakhi about the idea behind this story, she says, “Tamara (the protagonist) reflects me and the story is a real-life incident that happened between my husband and me.

In reality, I was the girl who was left behind.” “Though this is my first novel, writing was not new to me as I come from a family where literature and art are a quintessential part of our lives.

Further, my father, who is a voracious reader, made me believe that books are an important part of one’s life, which paved way for me to venture into writing in addition to the experience during my trek to Gokyo,” adds Rakhi.

The childbirth educationist says that she always wanted to celebrate womankind in some special way as the hardships and difficulties they face are unrivalled and immeasurable.

“Tamara from this book is that celebration. She is the reflection of every independent girl who loves her space, is a thorough professional, polite but courageous, detached and believes in casual relationship but yearns for an eternal love,” adds Rakhi.

The story unfolds in Nepal where Tamara and her partner Sid join a trek group to the Gokyo lakes through the treacherous Renjhola pass in the Himalayas, 18000 feet above the sea level.

The expedition where Tamara was supposed to bond better with Sid, turns fateful when the trek group reaches a village called Thame, where she is deemed unfit to continue her journey and has to retrace her steps back to Lukla, the base camp. But this time, her friend and love interest Sid, has decided to continue the trek without Tamara, leaving her bemused, shocked, agonised, scared and broken all at the same time.

From this point onwards Tamara’s true journey starts, entwining through small villages, tea houses, meeting various people, discovering and openingup to beautiful things along the course of her lone trek.

“The trek to Gokyo lake changed me as a person. It is hard to express what I went through, when I was left behind and had to trek my way back. The steep climb, tough trail, the wilderness, the darkness around me was extremely challenging.

The book gives a detailed insight into the questions such as, ‘Would she fall or reach out to live the life of her dreams?

Did she have it in her to overcome her own demons tearing her apart from within’?” explains the author.

When we ask her about her experience of being an author, she says with a pleasant smile, “It has been an experience which I do not want to let go. We discover a hidden talent, a passion, an interest or our purpose in life only if we try, only if we fall, only if we stumble, only if we are left behind and only if we lose our way.

The same happened with me. Nothing in life is an accident. Just when you think it’s over, the best is just coming around, so hold on.

This book encourages people, especially women to think beyond the obvious, try, fail, fall in love and take the flight to a life of your dreams. It’s in the journey, where the adventure lies. The path is the destination, from time to time.”

The author who is currently working on the sequel of this book reveals that this will be a trilogy and women-centric topics will be her forte going forward as it makes her feel liberated.