20th September 2023, Dilshad Master
Dilshad Master is a prominent figure in media and adventure travel. With a career spanning nearly 23 years, she achieved notable success in launching multiple television channels. Dilshad’s roles at prominent channels like Zee Cinema, STAR Plus, and National Geographic Channel fueled her passion for adventure. After overcoming cancer, she transitioned into adventure travel, aiming to inspire and motivate others through her experiences and speaking engagements, encouraging them to embrace the wilderness and explore their true potential. As the founder of Bull’s Adventures, Dilshad continues to champion adventure and resilience.
Her strategic leadership was instrumental in launching the STAR brands on the prestigious BSkyB platform in the UK, showcasing her exceptional acumen in the media sphere.
As Head of Programming and Marketing at National Geographic Channel, Dilshad unfurled a profound love for adventure travel. Here, she delved into the diverse stories of India, crafting captivating programs that broadcasted across 144 countries, showcasing India’s rich culture.
In 2013, she assumed the mantle of Operations and Marketing at Mercury Himalayan Explorations, a leading adventure travel company in India. Merging her media wisdom with her newfound passion, she set out to democratize the great outdoors, pioneering innovative programs like the Parent & Child Treks and the Family Ski Program in Gulmarg.
As the founder and director of Bull’s Adventures, Dilshad continues to inspire individuals of all ages to embrace the wilderness, for it is in this uncharted territory that she found her truest self—a testament to her undying spirit and relentless pursuit of exploration.
Beyond her professional triumphs, Dilshad’s indomitable resilience shines through personal challenges, including a triumphant battle against cancer. Today, she’s a sought-after motivational speaker, sharing her life’s transformative lessons on work-life balance, overcoming adversity, nurturing resilience, and the profound healing power of the mountains.
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Let’s Get Inspired!
In Conversation with Dilshad Master
– Preeti Juneja
Q. You have a keen interest in outdoor sports & adventure treks. Do you enjoy watching sports on TV as much as you enjoy living the outdoor experience? Any sportsperson or mountain climber whom you ardently follow on social media or otherwise?
I have no time for TV anymore – after 23 years of having multiple TV sets in my office – watching our channels and the competitions, I’ve decided that TV is not for me. I catch a game of soccer or tennis sometimes, but I don’t have the patience to sit and watch a full match. I watch some OTT shows but have no patience for a movie.
Reinhold Messner – if I ever had an idol, it was him (he’s not on social media btw). Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve admired him, his grit, his determination. He was a good friend of my father-in-law, Bull Kumar, and I had the sheer joy of meeting him in 2014 when I was in charge of back-end operations for an Indian Himalaya film he was making with a Swedish team. Up close, he was even more amazing. Do you know…Messner has never planted a flag on any mountain he has summitted? I found that so interesting, especially in these times when everyone is sporting a flag atop even a trekking peak. He never sported a flag – ever. When I asked him why, he said with a mischievous smile: “my flag is my handkerchief!” I met Messner again on my trek back from Gokyo Lakes and EBC in Lukla in 2017. That bear hug and that loud laugh – I can never forget that!
Q. Today, cancer is not how it was portrayed in the movie “Anand” or “Stepmom” years ago. Is there any movie you have seen where the perspective on cancer has changed the mindset in India and abroad? Should such a movie be screened in the theatre on Cancer Day every year to make people aware and come out of old-age thinking?
A movie? No not really. The big C is still a fearful word to many. So many decades of conditioning – it’s hard to wipe that fear out of your heart. Strangely enough, now that you ask this, I never felt fear. I would use other words – confused, bewildered, slightly disoriented perhaps. I couldn’t understand how I could have cancer! So vain huh? I was super fit when I was diagnosed – swimming, running…everything was normal. So the confusion was primarily: “but…I don’t feel it!” As if, if you have cancer, your whole body should be collapsing. I learnt then that that was far from the truth. The form of cancer I had, it was treatable and that was the most important thing I learnt.
Q. At Bull’s Adventures, what would you recommend if you get a group of people who want to trek but have low fitness levels, and how will you deal with the situation? How do you make your treks and tours enjoyable?
Superb question! I use everything I learnt in television while heading marketing for National Geographic Channel. I look for consumer insight, ask questions, try to understand what they’re wanting out of this trek. It’s only then that I make a plan or ask them to join me on my specific dates. Some want “to see the mountains close up”, some want “wide open spaces, others say “just want to experience it”. And some want “real challenge – the higher the better”. I honestly try to avoid the last kind – if you’re there for the journey, come with me. If you’re there to reach somewhere – go with someone else!
Many people who come with me have never trekked in their lives. And I encourage them to step out of their comfort zones. Women in their 40s and 50s who feel like they can never do it; parents and children looking to connect without gadgets. Beginners essentially, to help them go beyond their own self-imposed limitations, to make them see that anything is possible if you just put your mind to it.
Q. “Knowing oneself, understanding the purpose of life, self-talk for clarity.” These things come best when one is calm or active; which one? You have experienced the hustle and bustle of city life and spent much time in the lap of nature, in the hills. Where have you found more peace, clarity, and a better understanding of self? Do people share their most innate experiences and feelings with you during the treks?
For many many years, while working in television, I would head to our beach camp on the Ganga near Rishikesh (now sadly, no more). And I would watch the calm waters flowing over my toes. But that calmness is a myth, right? There are strong undercurrents flowing just below that calmness. Currents that could drag you in and swallow you up, if given half a chance. I would always tell myself…I want to be like this. Calm on the outside, which is what others can see, but a swirl of activity below that façade. Those were my moments of self-talk. But it would never happen! No matter how hard I tried, that fervent, vehement Dilshad would emerge – challenging, defending, fighting, finding solutions in that mad-house television space I worked in! And I realized then that I worked best in that chaos. That was me then. Not anymore.
Today, when I step foot in the meadows of Kashmir or Himachal or the mountains of the north-east, a sense of calm comes over me. I almost feel like a shawl of serenity is draping itself over me. My tense shoulders relax, my jaws relax, and the first thing I do when I look up at the mountains is… cry. I cry and I say thank you for letting me be there, in their sacred space. I thank the universe for giving me an option to discover this part of life. And I thank the cancer, without which I would never have been there.
Q. Has filmmaking or documentary ever occurred to you? If you were asked to make a documentary, what would it be on?
Would never make one. I like one-on-communication now. I want to see the amazement on the face of the 55-year old housewife who has stepped out for the first time without family in tow; I want to see the sheer joy on the face of that child who jumps into the stream of ice-cold water flowing past our camp site – and the look of shock on their mother’s face when I shrug my shoulders and say, it’s okay…it’s safe and no, they won’t catch a cold!
What I really would love to do is a Podcast or perhaps a Vodcast and chat with people across the world who have done so many amazing things in the field of adventure here in India! They are full of wisdom, these folks; so many amazing stories to tell, so many personal experiences to narrate, and so many learnings from them!
Q. Mountain stories can be interesting and scary, too. Do you discuss any of these stories with travelers? Do you take an interest in reading these stories online or in books?
Oh yes, all the time! Some stories of mine have now become almost myths – I’ve told them so many times to so many different people! Some books I read again and again – just to be inspired. Bull Kumar’s Kanchenjunga – how this mountain was climbed from the north-east spur, considered until then to be impossible. I don’t read much fiction now – don’t have the time. I like autobiographies – stories of people who have pushed beyond their abilities, their grief, their limitations – they inspire me. I feel like, if they can do it, why can’t I?
Q. There are many stories around Mt. Kailash; what do you say about it?
-Trekking up to the peak of Mount Kailash is held to be a forbidden act among Hindus for fear of trespassing the sanctity of the mountain and disturbing the divine energies residing there.
-Nasa scientists stated that ‘the face of Lord Shiva’ appears on the holy Mt Kailash.
Every mountain is sacred and must be respected. I hate it when I see reports that say “xyz conquered” such and such mountain. You don’t conquer a mountain – you bow to it and thank it for allowing you to be in its presence. How can you possibly conquer a mountain that’s been there for millions of years! You conquered your fear, your uncertainties, you DID NOT conquer the mountain!
I remember Bull Kumar telling me his story of the ascent of Chomulhari in Bhutan in 1970. The mountain was the Queen’s family deity and the King of Bhutan at that time, told Bull Kumar to seek her permission. She allowed a joint Bhutan-Indian expedition – on the condition that they would remain 2 metres below the summit, in deference to the deity. There are a lot of local beliefs surrounding our mountains – big and small. It’s best to respect those beliefs. Because honestly, like Messner said when asked if he believed in God. He said: “I keep it open. I have the feeling that behind a certain dimension we cannot anymore see, understand, feel, smell, hear – nothing. What people are calling God I am not defining, but I am a ‘possibilitiest’.”
Q. You are a motivational speaker. Motivational talks should start with girls in their teens, in schools, youth in their starting careers, or adults in midlife. Who would you like to address most and why?
Good question. Adults in their midlife. And you know why? Because they need it the most. It’s usually a time when you start to ask the right questions – should I? Do I? Can I? Must I? You’re seeking answers to questions you really don’t know or may not understand. “Is this what life is all about?” – that’s a question that comes up only in your 40s and 50s. And my answer is always No! But, if you insist on sitting in the little cubby holes you call an office, if you refuse to step out of your comfort zone and experience something new, how will you ever know?! I quit a high-paying job (“golden handcuffs” we call them) twice. Yes, I was in a privileged position to do that – I had made the conscious of having no EMIs and I was always careful of how I spent my money.
My family and my friends thought I was mad!
Cancer forced me to do it a third time. It is in those interstitials, that I discovered what I was truly capable of. If you truly want to understand leadership and responsibility, teamwork and personal growth, aspirations and ambitions, make nature and the wilderness your teacher.
For all of them – children and young teens included, I always say, you must be cold, wet, tired and hungry…only then you will understand what you’re capable of and defeat those self-imposed limitations you have surrounded yourself with. Every time I step out into the mountains, I push myself just a little bit harder, a little bit further. I train 4 times a week to stay fit, I strength train, I push my body to its limits. Often, I succeed and sometimes I fail and collapse. But hey! At least I tried.
I share my personal experiences in my talks – I don’t shy away from re-telling my stories of stupidity, my tales of tenacity, and the strength I gained from sadness and grief. I tell them, hoping that if I am able to inspire even one person in that audience of 800 people, my job for the day is done.
Rapid-Fire:
- Skiing or Swimming? definitely skiing – because I still have a lot to learn!
- A retirement home in: Kashmir!
- Kashmiri cuisine or Parsi cuisine? Can’t I have both??
- One cause you’d like to support? Helping women find their own Everest – their own peak.
- I can’t have enough of: Walnuts and almonds from Kashmir!
One-Liners:
- What is the best way to describe yourself in one line? I’ll tell you what not to describe me – nice! Call me tough, resilient, relentless, darn it, call me a bitch! But do not call me “nice”! That word is …meh.
- One message you would like to say to a cancer patient in an advanced stage: This is a hard one. I think I’d say: It’s tough, I understand that. But we have no choice but to fight. Your mind will fight your body, but you must allow it to.
- Here is a one-liner from a movie you can’t forget: Oh so many! And they keep changing. I don’t think it’s from a movie, but I love it: “The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next, keep climbing…”
- How do you encourage someone tired of life? I’ll use a quote from Anne Frank here: What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t even happened yet!”
- I wish I could: learn to do a handstand, roller blade, play the guitar!
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DREAMWEB INDIA IS GRATEFUL TO DILSHAD MASTER FOR SPARING HER VALUABLE TIME WITH US FOR THIS INCREDIBLE INTERVIEW. WE WISH HER MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO SUCCEED, GROW, AND INSPIRE WORLD AUDIENCE.
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