Moushmi: How climbing Mt Kilimanjaro supported victory against my life battles

Dar es Salaam. At some point in our lives, something happens that will forever change the trajectory of our lives, and for Moushmi Kapadia, it happened when she turned 35 and decided to transform her body and lifestyle.

She paid for a gym membership and decided to travel the world. Years later, she says that was one of the biggest decisions she has ever made in life. That decision helped her reach the highest mountain in Africa—Kilimanjaro.

But Ms Moushmi’s journey has never been an easy one. She is blessed with two amazing children. One kid, Vedansh, is a special kid and needs extra attention after he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at an early age.

Vedansh is a true fighter; he is 19 years old and a strong and independent youth, proving all the doctors who said he only had months to live wrong, but that was more than a decade ago.

He is an inspiration to her mother. Vedansh is frequently featured on her Instagram account, which interestingly goes by “@missmanyhands” The choice of her Instagram name is a testimony to her involvement in many things. “I feel like humans have unlimited potential; I don’t want to be confined to a single passion in life,” she elaborated.

Ms Mounshmi’s hands are truly into many things, including writing, which gives her expressive freedom; photography, which captures the essence of her exploration; and fitness, which is a tool to sharpen her potential, among other things.

Ms Moushmi comes from a small town in  India. By the time she was 21 years old, she got married and turned into a housewife, but by the time she turned 35 years old, she realised that there was more to life and that she wanted to pursue her passions and live for herself.

She had to find her happiness to give that to her family. On top of Kilimanjaro, Ms Moushmi waved a flag that had “Nari Shakti” written on it. This is her initiative for women’s empowerment, a true testament that women can do anything they set their minds to, a statement celebrating women’s capabilities.

“Women are known for their contribution to families as well as resilience,” she mentioned. “So Nari Shakti is a message for them to go out there and do it, not just dream about it,” she added, and indeed, she lives true to her words.

Mt. Kilimanjaro was a quest she had in mind as she got into her fitness journey. Her love for nature made it a perfect getaway from the city pandemonium, but to climb the mountain, she had to train and get ready for the days of the gruelling journey.

“I had more than three months of training; it was a long preparation, and I am glad it went well,” she said.

With a sense of accomplishment, Ms Moushmi reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, but she could only sense the beautiful nature of the mountain from the first beam of sun rays from Stella Point as she was going up. “You can’t conquer the mountain, but you can conquer yourself,” she emphasised.

“A human body is capable of many things; just push it beyond what you think is your limit.”

Ms Moushmi knows all about human capability. When one puts their mind to achieving a goal, her 19-year-old son Vedansh was given just a few months to live as a baby, but now the young man has grown to be an inspiration to his mother and more than 10,000 of her followers on social media who are cheering for her as she documents the odds they had to beat.

“My son was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy; it is an incurable disease. Doctors gave him four to five years to live, but he is growing stronger,” she said.

Travel and fitness transformed Ms Moushmi’s life from depression and unhappiness to a life of fulfilment, as she is being a great mother and doing all the other amazing things her heart desires.

“You can’t give from an empty cup,” she says. She found happiness meeting the Maasai people; she dressed as a Maasai and danced with them to their amazing sounds. The people were very welcoming and invited her to the Bomas, even with the language barrier, but she felt the human connection, and the people were all smiling and very proud of their tradition.

She remembers that even the porters as she was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro were very helpful and made sure she was not uncomfortable.

While in Zanzibar, she also enjoyed the cuisine of pilau, biryani, and kachumbari (salad), all the meals that came with coconut. Coincidentally,  Ms Maushmi’s dad was born in Zanzibar, so she has a connection to the country.

In many parts of the world, women are waking up to the fact that you can be a good mother and still go out and have fun and go on adventures that you would like to see.

Ms Moushmi advises that worrying about whether people are going to judge you is futile because regardless of what you do, people will always judge; it’s for you to live your life.

“As a woman, as a person, you have all the reasons to be happy,” she insists. “There should be no ‘a why’ in pursuing your passions,” she reiterates.

When asked her views of Tanzania after being here for nine days, she said she would absolutely recommend Tanzania to other people in India and her followers across the world to come and visit. After Ms Moushmi descended from the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, she went to the spice island of Zanzibar.

She was in awe of the amazing white sand beaches. “It was so relaxing,” she exclaimed.

The nine days were not adequate for her to have a safari into the wilderness of Serengeti National Park and other places, but she promised to visit again and do just that.