Worth Every Gasp

by Anamika Mukherjee

Worth Every Gasp is the unique perspective of an Indian woman trekking alone through the Western Himalayas. Anamika sets out on a trek in Ladakh accompanied by her husband and a couple of friends. This trek is aborted when she develops pulmonary oedema, a potentially fatal form of high altitude sickness. Largely undaunted by this inauspicious start, Anamika bids farewell to her companions and embarks on a series of treks in Ladakh, Himachal, and Uttaranchal. She is accompanied, chaperoned, and sometimes bullied by her loyal guide Ballu, who is sometimes mistaken for her husband. As she meanders through the remote mountains, broad valleys, tiny villages, and high passes of the Himalayas, Anamika comes face to face with a wide range of landscapes, people, and improbable situations. She navigates through it all with the grace and elegance of an elephant on a dance floor, and emerges largely unscathed… apart from an irreparable scar to her reputation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure, Travel

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 17, 2015

Reviews

[♏ Gina☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anamika Mukherjee is much braver than I could ever be.

The book begins with Anamika, her husband, and a couple of friends beginning a climbing trek in Ladakh in the Indian state of Jammu. She immediately begins to experience physical difficulties, and must abort when she develops a very serious and life threatening case of pulmonary edema.

After getting medical treatment, she bids farewell to her husband and friends, telling them to go on without her as she needs to recuperate. Soon, the desire to travel comes back in full force.

With the help of an aquaintance, Ballu, who is a guide, she begins her own adventure. At first, Ballu is more than reluctant to guide a woman alone (not good for the reputation, etc.), but soon they are off. Anamika treks through many high passes through the Himalayas, carrying a load on her back, and determined to make the most of her failed expedition with her husband and friends. Along the way, she pauses at many villages, and marvels at the beautiful scenery around her.

[david bignell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, this is not your typical hiking book. After reading this I realized that I had no interest in hiking in this area, the area as described by the author was filled with stunning mountain views, but the bus travel, stays in really dirty shanty towns and the overall logistics of this trek seemed exhausting. I enjoyed the read and was impressed with how the many difficulties were overcome but left with the sense that I would be much happier reading about this trek than doing it. I got this book from a Goodreads giveaway #goodreadsgiveaway

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway winner so I felt obligated to finish it. Under other circumstances, I would have abandoned this boring book.
I came to the conclusion that I was not the intended audience because I was left with so many unanswered questions: What is "trekking" and is it usually done with such a lack of preparation and organization? Where are the maps so that the reader can get a sense of the distance/terrain traveled? The descriptions of scenery were banal- where are the photographs? What are these unfamiliar foods? Who is the author when she is not trekking?
An awkward chapter titled "Flashback" was placed towards the end of the book. I might have been more sympathetic with the author if this information had been provided earlier. As it was, I was as relieved as the author was when her trek was over.

[LISA HUBER · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel bad rating this because for someone else this may be an amazing book. The book itself wasn't terrible as far as the writing. This is just not my cup of tea. I am normally somewhat into these kind of books, this one just didn't work for me. I really had no idea what was happening the majority of time. I would recommend reading the description several times and try an excerpt if you can find one before you start this.

[Bani R · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a unique perspective of an Indian woman trekking alone through the Western Himalayas. The author sets out on a trek in Ladakh accompanied by her husband and a couple of friends.
This trek is aborted when she develops pulmonary oedema, a potentially fatal form of high altitude sickness.
Largely undaunted by this inauspicious start, Anamika bids farewell to her companions and embarks on a series of treks.
She is accompanied, chaperoned, and sometimes bullied by her loyal guide Ballu, who is sometimes mistaken for her husband. She comes face to face with a wide range of landscapes, and people, and improbable situations.
She navigates through it all with the grace and elegance.
Mostly it goes on repeating the situations and solutions they face, it kind of becomes predictable. Overall it is a good read to feel the mountains and its chillness with the warmth.

[davidbignell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, this is not your typical hiking book. After reading this I realized that I had no interest in hiking in this area, the area as described by the author was filled with stunning mountain views, but the bus travel, stays in really dirty shanty towns and the overall logistics of this trek seemed exhausting. I enjoyed the read and was impressed with how the many difficulties were overcome but left with the sense that I would be much happier reading about this trek than doing it. I got this book from a Goodreads giveaway #goodreadsgiveaway

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads giveaway

[Ekta Kubba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this wonderful book by Anamika Mukherjee and thoroughly enjoyed it. Being single I am always fascinated by the adventures of and problems faced by lone travelers and wonder how can these trips be made successful. Here is my answer. This book is a refreshing journey that has some extra elements in it which has made it much more interesting and lovable. Not only has Anamika described the beauty and never-ending charm of Himalayas, she has also mentioned about her ordeals, the life-threatening problem she went through and how she fought against it and went on a long journey with an unknown person without her husband who also is a trekker by profession. Some parts are really hilarious – I loved her description of her relationship with Ballu, the bus journey peppered with discussions of the scatological kind – specially the rescue of her beloved maglite, her outrage over Kunfun, the porter and each of her “What do you want two rooms for” conversations at various hotels. What I really liked about the book was the emotional skein running through the book – of the author’s need to get out of the city and figure out the mountains by herself, her burning desire to face her fears and not give up in the face of any adversity however extreme. So, the best I can say after reading this book is that “Worth Every Gasp is worth a shot.”

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this Kindle book via Goodreads.com Giveaway.

I had very high hopes for this book as I very much enjoy the outdoors and reading of outdoor adventures. Unfortunately, I made it less than 20% through the book before I decided I could not go any further.

[KarnagesMistress]

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. It is a Kindle book.

[Clipinchick]

I received this book for free from the author/publisher in response for an honest review of the book. I have not had the opportunity to read this book at this time. I will add my review of this book once I have read the book. Thank k you for allowing me the optometrist review your work. I look forward to reading this book.