MOUNT EVEREST:NATURE VS DETERMINATION !!!!

As a child I often used to wonder why do people go for mountain expeditions?What difference does it make if they reach the peak of the mountain risking their lives?I still remember vividly the day Papa was leaving for the expedition to Mount Everest and I had cried buckets :)(I was in class 3rd).For me ,at that point of time,it wasnt not worth risking your life upon.But now my perception has changed.When it comes to passion you don't think about the price you are going to pay for it.I have heard a lot of experiences that Papa used to share after his return and he always used to stress upon one thing -" Mountains give a better perspective of who you really are ! There is a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses. You realize the strength of emotions and love that you get from your dear ones !" (These are his thoughts.I definitely don't remember the exact words) I remember how religiously I used to write letters to papa about my fights with my friends and my class test marks etc and I feel astonished to hear that the potters used to take so much of pain to deliver it to my father at thousands of feets of height !! I mean today If I write a mail to any of my friends about my class test marks I should be ready to see my name in the blocked list :D But my father used to reply back to each and every letter without fail.The emotional connection that he established with me then is still there .The thoughts he imbibed in me from a height of 20000 ft,I wonder if any father can share his words with his child sitting next to him .

There is something magical about mountaineering.I mean your whole life hangs by a thread just for that moment of summit !One needs unimaginable determination and extraordinarily belief to do something like this.Every year, a few hundred of the fittest, toughest adventurers on earth attempt the climb. Every year, some die trying. Each time there are fateful decisions with terrible consequences—grieving families back home, distraught colleagues at base camp and endless questions of “what if?”.Everest does not tolerate bad decisions. The realm above 26,000 feet is called the death zone— so cold and so deprived of oxygen it’s not compatible with human life. The mountain is dotted with corpses up there. Climbers actually have to step over some of them on the way up. The famous mountaineer Dan Mazur once said : "It’s very upsetting and it’s hard to explain but you know whenever I see those people I’m not a religious person. But when I see their bodies out on a slope I can’t help but say a prayer for them or what I think is a prayer. You know, say, “God rest their souls.” "

At a temperature of -20 degrees celcius,at a height of 30,000 feet,with nature testing you mercilessly in every way possible and your body not listening to your soul anymore,It really needs incredible courage to try out something like that!I Salute all of them who could achieve their dreams as well as to those who lost their lives on the way towards their ONE GOAL !!!

Cheers,

Chetna

P.S- My father is a mountaineer and had been a part of more than 10 expeditions including the Mount Everest & Mount Kanchenjunga ..... I love you PAPA :)