Chandigarh, June 9
Ever heard of an Army Chief delivering a bunch of chocolates to
mountaineers? But indeed this happened when Nepal's Army Chief General
Gaurav SJB Rana gave a supporting hand to the dedicated group of young
school students-turned- mountaineers, in achieving their aim, to scale
Mount Everest.
The team of six young teens — Fateh Singh Brar, Shubham Kaushik,
Prithvi Chahal, Raghav Joneja, Ajay Sohal and Guribadat Singh —
recently achieved the feat of becoming the youngest team to conquer the
Mount Everest, shared their experience of scaling the peak during an
interaction with the media. Reportedly a team member Hakikat Singh
failed to clear the camp due to technical snag in his oxygen cylinder.
During their venture, they got a chance to meet Nepal's army chief,
an ex-student of the same school, who offered his all possible help to
the students. The students with no hesitation dropped a text message on
the chief's phone with a demand for a bunch of chocolates and fresh
meat. Within a gap of one single day, the boys received a package
containing their ordered items.
"He is like a grandfather for us and was highly supportive during our
stay at Kathmandu. He shared every aspect and experience of his life. He
provided us all the possible help and even sent chocolates. The Chief
was indeed a morale booster behind our achievement", said 16-years-old
Fateh Singh, a member of the squad. His counterpart, 17-year-old
Guribadat Singh added, "It was a fine gesture by the Army Chief, to send
us chocolates. He provided all the help that we required. We were well
supported by the choppers, which provided us food and other essential
things", said Guribadat.
On their achievement, 16-year-old Ajay Sohal and 17-year-old Prthivi
Chahal, added, "Scaling Mount Everest was not an easy task. Our seven
month long training under the guidance of Col. Neeraj Rana played a
great role in achieving our aim. The contingent did well under the
guidance of seniors and the experienced persons," said the duo.
Worried parents
Although the achievement is enormous but for the parents of Shubham
Kaushik, a member of the squad, it was a tough time. His mother kept
fasts for the entire period, to ensure the team's safe return to
Katmandu. On May 25, she broke her fast while Shubham's father had
sleepless nights. "I had decided to observe fasts for the safe arrival
of the boys. After a gap of over a month, they came back and it was a
relief for us. I am happy with my son's achievement and wish a bright
future to the squad,” said Rekha Kaushik.
A bag that turned out to be a dead
body
17-year-old Guribadat Singh, a young lad from an army family
and a brave heart, faced the shock of his life when he saw a dead body
wrapped in a blue colour jacket which he thought to be a bag full of
equipment.
"I saw a blue coloured thing while taking deep breath while
returning. Unaware of what exactly it was, I just put my hand on it and
soon realised that it was a dead body. I was numb for a few minutes and
opted to move from there," said Guribadat.
Sharing his experience on a telephonic conversation, he added, "I
was told to cut my hair due to heavy snow. I was cautioned with chances
of paralysis attack. But being a Sikh, I refused to cut down my hair. It
was all by god's grace that I manage to clear the aim. At one point of
time, I had to sit for about one and a half hour because my sherpa fell
asleep and in that particular hour, I was short of oxygen. Later, I
asked an official to help me and I continued with the journey".
Guribadat skipped the media gathering due to his visit to Golden Temple
Amritsar.
Youngest but dedicated
At the age of 15 years, when a majority of the students keep
themselves busy with books and cricket, Raghav Joneja opted to join the
Mount Everest Achievers Club. Youngest among them, he achieved the feat
with a smiling face. "It was an amazing experience. My parents were a
bit hesitant but the seven-month long training was good enough to let me
take the decision and handle all the conditions. Being the youngest, I
was extra cautious and also under surveillance of all of them," said
Raghav.
Base Camp- 5300 mts
Camp 2- 6500 mts
Camp 3- 7300 mts
Camp 4- 7900 mts
Scaled Mount Everest- 8848 mts (29, 029 ft)
