2023-March-07
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Our Machu Picchu Trek: Powered by Purpose
BY MADHU KOTHAMASU · CUSTOMER DELIVERY TECHNICAL LEADER · UNITED STATES
5 MINUTE READ · 7 MINUTE LISTEN
Madhu is a customer delivery technical leader in Cisco's Solution Validation Services organization and Suvidha Kovuri is a Technical Solutions and Customer Experience specialist.
Somewhere around 1420, Incans began building one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, Machu Picchu, as an estate for royal Incas living in Cuzco, the capital of the Incan empire.
Surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty in the heart of the Andes Mountain Range in Peru, the Inca citadel is a relic of remarkable past human civilization.
In the Indigenous Quechua language, Machu means “old,” and Picchu translates to “mountain peak.” For me and my friend Suvidha, Machu Picchu represents much more: Our own potential if we set empowering goals for ourselves and work together as a team.
On International Women’s Day, Cisco celebrates the 10th anniversary of Women of Impact. And I’m sharing our story to inspire others to challenge each other and live purposefully.
For over a decade, Suvidha and I have been close friends and colleagues. Although we work on different teams at Cisco, we still collaborate over Webex and meet in the cafeteria for lunch. We have come to know each other so well that our aspirations and challenges are often the same.
In May of 2022, we were at a point where we asked ourselves what it meant to be strong.
In a conversation about motherhood, our struggles, and how to best push our limits while also looking after our little daughters, we came up with the idea of embarking on an adventure together.
Despite balancing work life with looking after our kids, we still needed to push our limits. We wanted to become our best selves, expand our horizons, and maximize our potential.
In tackling the challenge of a Machu Picchu trek, Suvidha and I realized it would be a great way to instill the importance of hard work, challenges, and setting big goals in our little girls at an early age.
Salkantay Trek
The Salkantay Trek is one of the off-the-beaten-path trails to Machu Picchu. This trail allowed us to avoid big crowds and take in the beauty and culture of the Andean community.
On this single hike, we got to experience various landscapes, including snow-capped mountains, dense rainforests, valleys, waterfalls, and tropical forests. Experiencing the trek's beauty made this exercise much more than just reaching the destination and calling it a day.
Taking this path meant we would challenge ourselves to hike 50 miles in four days. That included a climb of 15,000 meters on the first day instead of taking a bus or train — even though we had never hiked before.
Our ‘training’ consisted of taking walks in each of our neighborhoods for 15 days before the trip.
Beyond our lack of conditioning, Suvidha and I also faced a few additional challenges. To acclimatize to the elevation, we had to add three days to our trip.
Once trekking, we dealt with the inevitable blisters, relied on protein shakes to make up for our vegetarian diets, and didn’t sleep well.
It was absolutely worth it.
Reconnecting with our purpose
On our way back, Suvidha and I felt reoriented and ready to bring positive changes into our lives with the lessons we learned on this trek.
When you're a working mother, it can be easy to get caught up in a rut and forget what life is about. Our decision to trek to Machu Picchu took us out of that rut, helped us take on a challenge that seemed quite scary at first, and made us realize how often we underestimate our capabilities.
More importantly, this experience, apart from all the luxuries and comforts of modern life that can make us complacent, made us appreciate the importance of spending time in nature and learning from it.
Away from the monotony of offices and homes, Suvidha and I felt alive under the shade of stars, greenery of the forests, songs of birds, and energizing sunlight. It was then that we understood that we all must take on challenges occasionally to keep growing.
We also learned the immense value of support systems. Our friendship made it possible to envision this ambitious adventure, far outside of our comfort zones. Our families encouraged us to realize our dream, looking after our children, so we could take this time for ourselves. And our teams at Cisco gave us the flexibility and support needed to make it all happen.
All of it helped us come back to our everyday life with more energy and ambition. Now we can help our young daughters become better than we are and teach them the importance of being open to challenges. And our passion to work for Cisco has only increased tenfold, with our immense gratitude for having this opportunity.
We hope our story inspires other Cisconians to embark on their own personal journeys of empowering growth.
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