Certain studies about doctors have revealed a shocking fact. The docs, who spend most of their time caring for patients and doing whatever they can to save lives, have a considerably less life span as compared to the common lot! A study conducted by the research cell of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Kerala in 2017 had found that while the life expectancy of Keralites is 74.9 years, for the doctors in the state it is 61.75 years. However, for fitness freak and adventure lover ophthalmologist Dr. Minu Surdas, life is beyond the bounds of the daily routines of a medico.
Though busy with her family, kids and consulting schedules, she makes it a point that she takes some time off work for trekking, mountaineering and solo car rides. “It may be a break for a day or for a week or two as the situation allows. A complete cut-off from the busy schedule is thrilling as well as rejuvenating,” she says.
About keeping herself fit and agile, she says the run-up before a trekking or a mountaineering trip is as exciting as the trek itself. She hits the gymnasiums without breaks to meet the fitness tests that are mandatory before every trekking expedition. It involves walking and jogging trials covering specific distances within given time.
“One of the greatest experiences I had during trekking was the one to surmount Pin Parvati Pass at 17,500 ft in Himachal Pradesh in July 2015. It was an event organised by Wanderland Adventures and took 15 days for its completion for the uphill climb to the Pin and the downhill retreat through the Manali side. The trek covered a variety of landscapes involving meadows, snow and glaciers,” Minu said.
The Pin Paravati adventure was not without some reasonable risks and there was a point where a few metres needs to be crossed through a narrow path on the edge a huge rock with gorge on one side before we reached the highest point at Pin Paravati. “I was given a rope to hold while passing though this narrow rocky passage and told not to look into the gorge, which I obeyed,” she says.
According to her, the most exciting aspect of outings like these to mountains is that one gets to know and feel the beautiful locations in contrast to the narrowness of the space we experience otherwise. “I wish doctors take more such breaks from their busy schedules and take care of themselves. The doctors often take their health for granted and that, along with mental stress and tight schedule, leads to less life span among them,” says Minu, who is residing at Ollur in Thrissur with her husband R. Surdas, a urologist, and two kids.
