Six days and some 10,000 ft later, it is only human that you feel the strain in your leg muscles. The shoulders aren’t forgiving either but it all gets overshadowed by your racing heartbeat. For, there can’t be a better reward than to see yourself finally reaching the summit. Set aside all the physical pain, the victory of overcoming the challenge you set for yourself is a feeling unparalleled. Something 36-year-old Sandhya Chandrasekharayya has experienced countless times as she conquered mountain after mountain. And having witnessed a moment so majestic, it was only natural that the former software engineer decided to turn her passion into her profession. “It’s important to have a career in something that is meaningful to you, not something that you want to retire from,” says the woman, who co-founded what is known as India’s largest trekking community, Indiahikes.