First Maharashtrian girl to scale Mount Everest

It was truly inspiring to read about nineteen year old Krishna Patil’s stupendous effort in scaling Mount Everest. The Pune-based Patil was part of a commercial expedition organised by Asian Trekking Agency in Nepal. Patil (25) has become only the second Maharashtrian to conquer the 8,848-metre high peak. Surendra Chavan was the first from the state to achieve the feat, in 1998, as part of the Yadav-led expedition.

The teen went with two climbers from the United States and seven Sherpas. On May 20, Krishna and two of the Sherpas started from Camp 4 at 9 p.m., climbing through the night to reach the peak at 7 a.m. the next day. Krishna was involved in athletics from childhood. Her mother introduced her to tennis, swimming, karate and skating. While in school, Krishna did several treks with institutes in Pune. During her Class 10 vacation she joined a course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Uttarkashi, where she secured an ‘A’ grade and went on to do an advanced course. “She became everyone’s pet,” said Ms. Patil.

Patil's mother was on cloud nine when news of her daughter's feat reached her. "My daughter is one of the youngest to scale Everest. I just can't express how happy I am. Krishna has made the nation proud," said Ranjana Patil without a trace of tiredness in her voice despite being flooded with calls from journalists.

Ranjana said her daughter has always had an adventurous streak, and had been trekking and mountaineering since she was in the fourth standard. "She completed basic adventure and advance training courses from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, fetching As in all the subjects."

Patil reached the Everest summit at 7:10 am. Including her, only seven from an initial team of 17, led by Sherpa, completed the mission. The team started from base camp in Nepal, reaching camp 1 on May 17, camp 2 May 18, camp 3 May 19 and camp 4 on May 20, before embarking on the last mountain stretch.

Patil, along with the rest of her team, is expected to reach base camp within two days. "If she feels like it," her mother said, "she will cycle from Kathmandu to Kolkata."

But for her father, Patil might not have been able to join the expedition. When she was not able to find a sponsor, her father, Madhav, procured a bank loan of Rs30 lakh to finance her climb. Thursday evening, he was a contented man.

The point of writing this blog, is that for ordinary individuals to scale extraordinary heights is itself a struggle. The mundane activity of obtaining support from the Government, from sports bodies, from corporates in terms of finance for the climbing gear, and assorted expenses required for completing the climb, is itself a struggle which in the Indian context is probably far greater than the actual grit and determination shown by Krishna in doing the physical activity of climbing the peak. It is so unfortunate that the powers that be cannot recognize or do not have the wherewithal to recognize latent talent so that such talent gets the crucial support when it is required! Apart from cricket, there really is no support system for any other sport in the country – if we win medals in other sports it is in spite of the Government – because of the determination and grit of the individual concerned and his/her family and friends! It is only after the individual has scaled impossible heights that you will find corporates coming forward in tandem with ad agencies with ad contracts! Why cannot these people invest some money in advance and show confidence in the individual making super human efforts!

Krishna’s dad had to scale a financial Everest before his daughter could actually achieve the physical feat. He had to go from pillar to post for arranging finance – everybody from the government to sporting bodies showed them the cold shoulder – it is just the families determination in ensuring that their daughter should not be denied the opportunity to achieve her potential, finally approaching Saraswat Bank for a loan of Rs, 30 lacs which was sanctioned in pretty quick time that the young girl could achieve what she did. What is truly inspiring and should show the way to other potential supporters of non-cricket sports, is the gesture by Saraswat Bank in waiving off the repayment of the entire loan amount including interest in recognition of the young ladies achievement.

It would be a red letter day in Indian sporting history when the Government, sports bodies and corporates set aside parochial agendas and start encouraging individuals with talent to achieve their true potential, then and then only we may see the rise of India as a nation with sporting aspirations!

Financial riches are showered on individual talent only after the individual has scaled heights in his/her chosen field – why is this support not forthcoming at the outset? We have money being splurged on non-events throughout the year – so why cannot we have a body which recognizes and supports specialized sporting talent to achieve their potential? I am sure that if an ordinary person does not have to worry about finances, we could see a lot more of our citizens coming forward to achieve glory in far greater numbers in sports and events which one may not have dreamed of before. It is just encouragement and support which is required – the money is far too little – considering the amount we squander and write off every year in schemes like NREGS and farm loan waivers!

Reference: DNA, Hindu, TOI