The tragedy at the Mountain

On 04.10.2022, Tuesday, I received the shocking news of tragedy striking the Advance Mountaineering Course Sr. No. 172 of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. The whole batch of the course was hit by a ferocious avalanche as the batch was returning to Base camp after successfully summiting Mount Draupadi ka Danda-2. The event was the rarest of the rare accident hardly ever seen on that mountain.

28 trainees of the course got stuck under the massive load of avalanche debris. 10 were declared dead in the initial rescue operations and the others were un-traceable till the end of the day. The news was devastating. I was myself a student of the Basic Mountaineering Course 6 months back and had planned to join this very course serial number 172 in NIM. I could hardly digest the tragedy. How could this happen to a course that prepares you for mountaineering? As soon as I heard the news I felt as if my Basic mountaineering Course has been lost in the tragedy. This could have happened to anyone of us. I could have been a part of this particular course had I not got transferred to my current posting.

The tragedy has shaken me to the core. The love for mountains is ridden with extreme risks. The passion may take your life away in a flash. My heart goes out to the families who have lost their loved ones. They would have scars for the rest of their lives for no fault of theirs.

Such is the character of the ruthless sport of mountaineering. The avalanche took away a thousand aspirations in a flash and then rested purposelessly on the bottom of the mountain. Such incidents question your desire to pursue this dangerous sport. Although the incident was an exception that led to the loss of so many lives, the occurrence of natural disasters such as avalanches, glacier block movements, rockfalls, and crevasses keep taking the lives of mountaineers.

I would still climb mountains despite knowing the inherent risks. It is a selfish endeavor but the regret of not pursuing something close to my heart may haunt me in my old age. I have obligations towards my family, but I suppose they respect my choice. Even if death knocks my doors in the mountains, for reasons out of my control I would be a happy soul to leave this world. Mankind cannot progress if the adventurists choose to sit back home and scoff at the risks of going out into the unknown. The test of human character and grit would be meaningless unless one pushes oneself into the uncertainty. It is one life that we get. It is better to see your grandkids play than die for sure on mountains but the one who professes it should live through the joys of being on a mountain first and then question the passions of mountaineers."

For all the noble souls who passed away in this tragedy, Rest in Peace!

Comments

Daily Journal of Life 07.05.23

Thought of the Day Today I visited Nabipur village in my native District to seek the payment from one of the debtors of my in-law’s business. The person is a debtor since 2018 and has avoided calls and changed numbers several times to evade payment. He is infamous for defaulting on credits. Although he owns pockets of land, he has been conducting himself like a defaulter. People from his village know of his reputation and are willing to offer leads to his whereabouts and his contact number. We know a few people in the village whom we reached out for his whereabouts. One of he knowns is the village head and received us warmly for a cup of tea. He too had suffered this person’s unpaid debts. Although they had now been able to get some money back but they had a tough time making him toe the line. The head took me on the terrace room of his house where we could have a look at the defaulter’s house. There was no car parked outside. This...

Kangyatse - Learning the Ropes - 2

I had other commitments- packing my rucksack, collecting the technical equipment from IMF, coordinating logistics, wrapping things at home for 15 days off, getting the approval for leave, and preparing mentally for the expedition. I was able to complete most of the tasks but it took a toll physically and mentally which bothered me later in my expedition. Somehow I had the feeling beforehand that the climb was not going to be easy. However, I was excited to have the company of experienced mountaineer Anshu Jamsenpa (5 times Everest climber), Instructors from HMI, and other experienced mountaineers from Assam and Bengal who had good climbing experience. It was a fairly strong team and the task now was to form a bond to take on the challenge. From Left to Right: Aroop, Ninja, Priya, Disha, Manmeet and myself at Leh market The team reached Leh in parts. Some flew to the Leh airport and others took the route via road. The journey via road is a long winding one starting from Delhi to Man...

Index funds: How they can be a better instrument over Mutual Funds

Over the years I have got exposed to the idea of Index Funds through reading some books and following the advice of celebrity investors on social media. An index fund is a type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) that aims to replicate the performance of a specific market index, such as the S&P 500 in the U.S., the FTSE 100 in London, or the Sensex 30 or Nifty 50 in India. Unlike the actively managed funds, which rely on the expertise of fund managers to select individual stocks, index funds passively track the composition and performance of an underlying index. Now the question arises what is an Index? An Index is a benchmark for evaluating the performance of an investment portfolio. In India, we have 2 major Indices- Sensex 30 and Nifty 50. In Sensex 30, we have the top 30 companies by market cap (Share price X No. of shares) listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, and for Nifty 50 it is the top 50 companies by market cap listed on the National Stock Exc...

L a l a w r i t e s

Search This Blog