Adventures of Raghu - Everest, a dream

Raghu stopped midway, eyes glued to the TV and sat down on the living room sofa. His elder brother, Raj was watching an interesting documentary about Mount Everest on the National Geographic channel. Raghu had read all the facts about Mount Everest in his Geography class at school, but to actually see it in it’s full glory on TV with the dangers people faced to reach the summit was truly a different ball game.

Crossing glaciers, crevasses, ice holes, climbing steep ice hills using ropes – it was one of the most intense physical risks one could take.

“The snow sometimes freezes into ice and breaks apart like a very large crack in the street. When this happens you have to use a ladder to go across the crack. One of these cracks is called crevasse.

You have to be very careful when stepping across a crevasse on a ladder. You do not want to fall. Sometimes a crevasse can be as deep as a tall building. Sometimes you cannot even see the bottom because it is so deep” spoke the TV anchor as they showed people climbing towards the peak. “Wow!” gasped Raghu as he watched breathlessly.

 “I really want to climb Mount Everest one day Raj” said Raghu quietly yet earnestly to his brother once the show had ended. Raj laughed. “Raghu really! Sometimes you have such childish fantasies. You have to build your body, your mind and stamina for it. More than anything it takes tremendous will power and determination. You have to work hard for it, really really hard. That’s why the expression – It’s like climbing mount everest.” Raj smiled and walked away. But Raghu wasn’t joking, he really wanted to climb the summit. But what was he to do? How was he to at least take a step towards his dream?

Raghu went straight to his computer to read more about Everest. ‘After years of dreaming about it and seven weeks of climbing, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, at 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953.

They were the first people to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest’, ‘The Nepalese who live to the south of Mount Everest have always known that it was special. They called it Sagarmatha, which is translated variously as "goddess of the sky" and "forehead of the sky." The Tibetans living north of the mountain called it Chomolungma, or “mother goddess of the world” ’ read Raghu aloud.

“But how do I start?” thought Raghu as he read - ‘It doesn’t require 10 years of climbing to attempt Mount Everest. 2-3 years could be enough if you climb very often, including some high climbs. But you should still take your time to learn the skills and practice climbing various mountains around the world. Take a course in rock climbing, practice, climb more difficult walls and tricky sections. Take a class in ice climbing,

join guided expeditions to high mountains, go on an expedition on your own. You’re now ready for Everest.’
“This is going to take time, but I will start with taking up a rock climbing course and practice till I grow older and mother allows me to take up more serious expeditions" promised Raghu to himself.

As Raghu was closing the computer, he eyes caught the last line on the page - ‘Everest shows you the grace of great dreams, fears overcome and triumph following some of the most desperate and trying times. This lesson is perhaps Everest’s most powerful gift to us all, whether actually climbing to the summit or simply reading testimonies of others sitting at home. If you are hoping to experience Everest one day, it’s time to begin. ’