Do one thing every day that scares you
Eleanor Roosevelt told us, “Do one thing every day that scares you”.
Dr. Anindita Bhateja is not doing one thing a day but she is getting pretty close to it. MD Medicine by qualification, physician by profession, Dr. Anindita has conquered more fears than most of us. On a typical day, her day starts with exercise and ends with her evenings juggling between home and work. Her work brings her in contact with patients ailing from diabetes, hypertension, and her speciality: infectious disease.
This is a typical day, but there are some atypical adventures that Dr. Anindita takes up in her life. She is set out to conquer her fears one at a time. A famous Latin proverb, “bis vincit qui se vincit” says he/she who prevails over himself/herself is twice victorious. That’s exactly what Dr. Anindita does. She faces her fears and conquers them, thus conquering herself.
Since childhood, Dr. Anindita had a fear of heights and she decided to overcome it in a grand fashion – she scaled Tiger’s Nest, a 1000m climb ending with a Buddhist Monastery in September 2014. Her research on Tiger’s nest had warned her about its beauty and the difficulty in scaling it but, she moved ahead and climbed it with the help of her husband and 11-year-old daughter.
Dr. Anindita feels that her motivation for this regimen of conquering fear is the fact that there is only one life and she would like to do other things besides medicine in that period of time. Always up for trying something new, she decided to trek Kilimanjaro to better herself on this skill. Her first climb in January this year took her to the last camp but the summit went out of her reach. The biggest take away from this experience for Dr. Anindita, however, was her new found love for the mountains and the good people of Tanzania. Conquering acrophobia is just one feather in her hat. She has annihilated her fear of water by diving along with her fear of cycling too in the last year. However, this experience of scaling Kilimanjaro has brought her to a very interesting and promising juncture in her life.
Her love for Tanzania pushed her to open a company in Tanzania to help people summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, do the safari, visit Masai village. Thus, African Adventure was born. This time, when she went to research and take the first tour of African Adventure in July 2016, she reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
A practicing doctor, a persistent adventurer Dr. Anindita does seem to have it all. However, the journey till there was not without impediments. She faced her biggest challenge when she decided to pursue MD Medicine just 2 months after giving birth to a child. The circumstances were complicated as she was the only one tending to her 2-month-old infant while her husband was away at Mumbai pursuing his MS Surgery.
Her supporting colleagues and faculty helped her hang on to the roller coaster ride of studying and taking care of an infant at home simultaneously. Their professional and neutral way of handling her situation made her strong and taught her the art of balancing her home afrikan-adventure-13and work.This resulted in her coming out of this situation as a mature responsible woman. She also has a unique way of handling the adversities that come in her path. She elaborates by telling us that, “Before starting a difficult task or at difficult times, I always think as to what would be the worst case scenario if I fail, and in my mind, I accept that failure. Once that is done then I am not fearful of the difficult time anymore and I proceed with my actions to get through it.
Her dad too was a brilliant physician. His excellent bedside manner and clinical expertise made the days Dr. Anindita spent in his clinic extremely inspiring. She strongly feels he is the reason that she is a doctor today. Like her father, her husband also inspires her to push herself to the limit and achieve what she sets out to. He is also very proud of her overcoming her fears and charting new paths for her. The adventurer in her advises others to get out there and work at making their dream come true. The adorable mum in her tells the young parents to find joy in their children. Love them and enjoy their growing up years before they fly away.
The Storified.me team wishes her great success!
