Originally reported and written in July 2023, this story has been republished as part of our archival content.Trigger warning: This story contains mentions of depression and anxiety.

The fondest memory that Portia Putatunda has of her departed father is of him playing and singing nursery rhymes with children.

“He was very fond of children. I always observed how he engaged them. During playtime, he would recite tables and rhymes to teach them. He would visit rural areas and distribute books to children for free. This memory is so deeply embedded and always inspires me,” she tells The Better India.

Carrying her father’s efforts forward, today, Portia runs a free boarding school under Planet Spiti Foundation in Komic, Himachal Pradesh, which is the highest village in India. A teacher, a caretaker, and in many ways, a mother to these underprivileged children, Portia takes care of their education, provides food, and supports their overall growth.

‘An attempt to be close to my father’

Born and raised in Ranchi, Jharkhand, Portia completed her graduation in journalism from Kolkata and landed an internship in The Times of India.

“I always wanted to pursue journalism. After working with TOI, I worked with many other organisations. I was a news producer at CNN before I decided to quit journalism,” informs the 32-year-old.

Always fond of travelling, she visited Spiti Valley in 2013 for the first time. “I found peace and fell in love with the place. I loved travelling and visiting such places, but at that time I had no clue I would end up living in the valley itself,” she says.

When she made her second and final trip to Spiti, Portia had lost her father and was slipping into depression.

In 2018, the valley called out to her again and she re-visited the place. “The first time I visited the place, I was a happy, chirpy and highly motivated individual, but this time, I was a lost and grieving soul,” she shares.

She continues, “I lost myself when I lost my father. He had always been my support system. I went into depression and nothing felt right. I kept focussing on the fact that he was gone and could not feel any connection to him.”

Searching for this lost connection to her father is what........

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