Four brothers, John, Hem, Mahesh, and I formed the Bad Dogs of Mustang Club during the first week of the Trek. We decided Bad Dogs are blunt, honest, and naughty. At first, Mahesh seemed too nice to ever be a Bad Dog, but he learned quickly, coming into his natural Bad Dogness with joy and creativity. We were together constantly for 24 days in hugely uncomfortable and challenging conditions and shockingly beautiful environments. We ate every meal and climbed every pass together. We had total permission to be ourselves. Blunt and funny, we cherished our freedom to be, with never a judgment of each other. We were bad and beautiful, joyous and compassionate. Brotherly love permeated our world.
We trusted each other with our well-being, and in fact, our lives. With that bond, being anything but up front and truthful was a stupid waste of time and energy. Political correctness was the first casualty; the Club existed primarily so we had permission to laugh at anything: ourselves, each other, man’s stupidity, and cultural insanity without fearing offense.
At any moment any one of us could be a bad dog or call another a bad dog, freeing us from history and expectation, right and wrong, with humor and a certain grace.
We were free men in the tallest mountains on earth. We were working hard, laughing, and knowing ourselves and each other better each day. The Bad Dog Club of Mustang was the happy acknowledgement of what we were and what we became.
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