Namaste! I have decided to start a series of blogs consisting of some memorable stories and pictures from my Mount Everest expedition. I couldn’t think of anything better to start off with than to share than magical phase of my life when I first realized the power of an idea and a dream!
It was back in 2009, I was only 15 and I had gone for my Advanced Mountaineering Course in Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi. Towards the end of the course, we are taken to a 5000 meter peak called DKD 2 in the Garwhal Himalayas to put our mountaineering skills and knowledge at test. During the summit push, high up on the slopes, I saw my fellow course mates struggling with various problems such as headache and nausea due to high altitude or someone having a hard time carrying a heavy rucksack etc. On the other hand, I was facing none of these problems; in fact I was feeling this sudden surge of energy and I was motivating my course mates and I was helping them carry the bags too. I became the youngest person to climb DKD 2 at 15. The instructors were quite surprised with my performance and they told me that I should climb Mt. Everest someday and there it was, the dream of climbing Everest began!
Here is a picture on the summit of DKD 2 with the flag of my school
After I came back to my school from the course, the principal called me to her office because I had missed a month of school. But I was a little bit too smart for a 15 year old. I knew this was going to happen so I had gotten a flag printed with my schools name on it and I had carried it to the summit of DKD 2. I had a picture clicked with the flag which I was sure would impress the principal. I made her understand the significance of what I had done and the fact that I was the youngest person to climb DKD and while I was explaining this to her, a man in formals knocked on the door and walked in the office. It was destiny in play. He was a journalist in a local newspaper and happened to hear what I was saying. He wanted to know more about my climb on DKD 2 and if that if someone from the institute would verify the fact that I am the youngest person to climb it. He took a brief interview of me and in the end asked me one question, ‘What’s next?’ I had just gotten back from the course, with my confidence and excitement fully pumped up; without thinking of any repercussions, I said ‘Everest’. Next day a front page article came out saying ’16 year old Noida boy dreams of climbing Everest’
There it was! This news started spreading like wildfire across the country. Other newspaper started picking up the story; I started getting calls from journalists and media houses from all over the country. Suddenly everyone wanted to speak to me and take my interview. All of this was so new to me and as a 15 year old, I loved the attention. I adapted to all of it quickly. From an introvert, I suddenly turned into someone who could put across an idea and a dream using just words. I realized that this goal of mine could actually come true!
But there was one other aspect to this dream that had to be sorted out, the money! Mt. Everest expedition costs a minimum of 30 lakh rupees (40,000 USD). I come from a middle-class family and from the very beginning, my parents were very clear about the fact that they cannot afford to spend 30 lakh rupees on an ‘excursion’ as they called it. It was already December 2009 and the climbing season was approaching fast. My parents and I started working towards solving this problem. It was almost like an in-house startup. I started talking to journalists about this problem whereas my parents started talking to various corporates, NGOs and Government with a lot of hope. The support and lack of interest all of them showed was really disheartening. But we kept trying!
As this idea of a 16 year old Noida boy wanting to climb Everest spread across the nation, something magical happened. People from all across the country started sending me donations. Around 25,000 people sent me money ranging from as high as 1 lakh rupees to as little as 500 rupees according to their own capacity. I remember this one donation very vividly. It was from an electrician from Pune who lived in a 12x12 feet room with his family sent me a money order of 1000 rupees and that is the power of a dream! Now it wasn’t just me, the whole nation started to live this dream with me. All of this boosted my moral very high and gave me immense confidence.
I was getting up every morning and was training dedicatedly not knowing if I would even get a chance to go to Everest and suddenly all of this happened. Though I was still falling short of a few lakh rupees and that’s when my school and my parents chipped in and helped me out with the remaining amount. I signed up for the Everest expedition!
All of this taught me a very simple reality of life that if you really want something and if you work towards it with everything you have, the universe will make it happen! And yes, I was going to Mt. Everest in just a couple of months now. Stay tuned.
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