Reach for the Top

Mountaineer Santosh Yadav

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Introduction

It is an inspirational account of the phenomenal success and achievements of an Indian woman mountaineer, Santosh Yadav, who beat all odds and prejudices to script a success story. She was born in a small village of Haryana. She had an independent temperament right from the beginning and wished to live life on her own terms. She knew well that her conservative family would pressurize her to adhere to the traditional way of life. But at the same time she was aware that if she chose a correct and a rational path, she would be able to change others and win their support.

Santosh Yadav is the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest twice, and the first woman to successfully climb Mt. Everest from Kangshung Face. She climbed the peak first in May, 1992 and then again in May, 1993.

Summary

Santosh Yadav was born in a traditional family. She had five brothers. She was born in the small village of Joniyawas in Haryana. The girl was given the name Santosh, which means contentment. But Santosh was not always content with her place in a traditional way of life. She began living life on her own terms from the start. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

Santosh’s parents were affluent landowners who could afford to send their children to the best schools. But they sent her in a local village school. At the age of sixteen years, her parents wanted to marry her. She threatened her parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education. She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. When her parents refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part-time to pay her school fees. Her Parents then agreed to pay for her education.

Santosh passed the high school examinations and went to Jaipur. She joined Maharani College and got a room in Kasturba Hostel. She developed a love for mountaineering while watching the Aravalli Hills. She saved money and enrolled in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.

Thereafter, Santosh went on an expedition every year. Her climbing skills matured rapidly. Also, she developed a remarkable resistance to cold and the altitude. At barely twenty years of age, Santosh Yadav conquered Mt. Everest, becoming the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. Within twelve months, Santosh found herself a member of an Indo-Nepalese Women’s Expedition that invited her to join them. She then conquered the Everest a second time. The government of India recognized Santosh’s achievements as a celebrated mountaineer. Acknowledging her feat as the only woman to climb Mount Everest twice, the government bestowed upon her one of the nation’s top honours, the Padmashri.

Santosh was a fervent environmentalist. Her concern for the environment is evident from the fact that she collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

Textual Questions

Q1. Why was the ‘holy man’ who gave Santosh’s mother his blessings surprised?

Ans. The holy man expected that like all other families in the villages, the family would be wishing for the birth of a son. However, when he was told by Santosh’s grandmother that they wanted to have a daughter, he was surprised.

Q2. Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept anything unreasonable.

Ans. Santosh, from the very beginning, lived life on her own terms. She was not content with the traditional way of life and was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts.

Q3. Why was Santosh sent to the local school?

Ans. Santosh’s parents were affluent and could afford to send Santosh to a school in Delhi. But they sent her to the local village school because they sternly followed tradition and it was customary in their society to send girls to the local school only.

Q4. When did she leave home for Delhi, and why?

Ans. When she turned sixteen and was under pressure to get married, Santosh threatened her parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education. Therefore, she left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

Q5. Why did Santosh’s parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What mental qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident?

Ans. When Santosh’s parents refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part time to pay her school fees. Then, her parents agreed to pay for her schooling in Delhi. This shows that Santosh was a mentally-strong girl and was determined to work very hard to get herself properly educated.

Q6. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?

Ans. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, she watched people going up the Aravalli Hills and vanishing after a while. On investigating, she found nobody except a few mountaineers, and she asked if she could join them. They agreed and even motivated her to take to climbing and so she later accompanied them on their climbing expedition. This was how she began climbing mountains.

Q7. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh’s concern for her team-mates?

Ans. During the Everest mission, Santosh showed immense concern for her fellow climbers. Though she was unsuccessful in saving the life of one of them, she did manage to save another climber through artificial respiration.

Q8. What shows her concern for the environment?

Ans. Santosh was a fervent environmentalist. Her concern for the environment is evident from the fact that she collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

Q9. How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?

Ans. Santosh Yadav, while standing on the ‘top of the world’, was overwhelmed with emotions of patriotism and ecstasy. She felt proud as an Indian when she unfurled the tricolour on Mount Everest. She was so happy that she experienced a kind of spiritual bliss. She found it hard to articulate her feelings.

Q10. Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt Everest. What were the reasons for this?

Ans. When Santosh Yadav first scaled Mt Everest, she became the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. When she scaled the Everest the second time, she became the only woman to have scaled it twice.

Additional Short Answer Questions

Q1. What is the special distinction of Santosh Yadav as a mountaineer?

Ans. Santosh Yadav is the only woman in the world who has conquered Mt Everest twice. She is a woman who got this distinction rising up from a rural background.

Q2. What type of a social system was there is in the village when Santosh was born?

Ans. In those days the birth of a son was regarded as a blessing, but the birth of a daughter was not generally welcomed in the society.

Q3. Give a brief sketch of Santosh’s family.

Ans. Santosh was born in the small village of Joniyawas in Haryana. Her parents were affluent landowners. She was the only sister of five Brothers.

Q4. How did Santosh show the contradiction to her name?

Ans. The girl was given the name Santosh, which means contentment’. But Santosh was not always content with her place in the traditional way of life. She began living life on her own terms from the start.

Q5. What did Santosh tell her parents regarding her marriage?

Ans. Santosh was not in favour of early married life. She threatened her parents that she would never marry if she would not get a proper education.

Q6. Why did the grandmother wish her daughter-in-law to give birth to a daughter?

Ans. Despite being a member of a conservative family, the grandmother wished to be blessed with a granddaughter because there were already five boys in the family. Hence, the family now wished for a daughter.

Q7. What do you know about Santosh’s family?

Ans. Santosh was the sixth child in a conservative but affluent family of landlords. Her family lived in the backward district of Rewari in Haryana. Though financially well-off, they were orthodox and conservative in matters related to the education and upbringing of girls.

Q8. Why was Santosh Yadav not content with a traditional way of life? What path did she choose and why?

Ans. Santosh was not content with a traditional way of life because she was a bit of a rebel right from the beginning. She wanted to charter her own course in life, rather than following the age-old customs and traditions.

She chose the path of excellence through education, rational thinking and hard work and achieved unparalleled success as a woman mountaineer.

Q9. What did Santosh do after being motivated by the Mountaineers to take to climbing?

Ans. Santosh saved money and enrolled herself in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and after completion of her semester in the college, headed straight for the institute to be able to reach for her training in time.

Q10. Why did Santosh write a letter of apology to her father?

Ans. Santosh had got herself enrolled in the Uttarkashi Nehru Institute of Mountaineering without seeking her father’s permission. She had thought of talking to her family about this during her holidays. However, there was hardly any time between the end of the semester and her reporting date at the institute. Due to her inability to go home, she wrote a letter of apology to her father.

Q11. As a climber, what qualities was Santosh Yadav gifted with?

Ans. As a climber, Santos was gifted with an iron will, great physical endurance and an amazing mental toughness. All these qualities, coupled with her resistance to cold and altitude helped her prove her mettle in climbing mountains again and again.

Q12. When did Santosh get an opportunity to scale Mt. Everest?

Ans. Santosh got an opportunity to scale Mt. Everest in 1992, just four years after she had joined the Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. She was hardly twenty years of age at that time when she became the youngest woman in the world to scale the highest peak.

Q13. How did Santosh’s seniors and fellow climbers appreciate her?

Ans. Santosh’s seniors appreciated her for her climbing skills, physical fitness and mental strength. On the other hand, her fellow climbers admired her for her team spirit and her genuine concern for her fellow climbers.

Q14.when did Santosh scale the Mt. Everest for the second time?

Ans. Santosh was invited by an Indo-Nepalese Women’s expedition to scale Mt. Everest within a year of her first expedition in 1992. Santosh joined them to climb the Everest for the second time. Thus, she scaled the Everest twice setting a record as the only woman to have scaled the Everest two times.

Q15. How did the government of India honour Santosh Yadav?

Ans. The government of India recognized Santosh’s achievements as a celebrated mountaineer. Acknowledging her feat as the only woman to climb Mount Everest twice, the government bestowed upon her one of the nation’s top honours, the Padmashri.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Write a brief character sketch of Santosh Yaday.

Ans. Santosh Yadav was born in a traditional family. She was born in the small village of Joniyawas in Haryana. The girl was given the name Santosh, which means ‘contentment.’ But Santosh was not always content with her place in a traditional way of life. She began living life on her own terms from the start. Where ever other girls wore traditional Indian dresses. Santosh preferred short. Santosh did not yield to the traditions. In opposition to her family, she enrolled herself in a school in Delhi. When her parents refused to pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part-time to pay her school fees. This shows that she was a determined child. She developed a love for mountaineering. She saved money and enrolled herself in a course of mountaineering. She scaled Mt. Everest twice. This is the achievement of her heroic character.

Q2. Santosh decided to fight the system in her own “quiet way”, says the author. How did Santosh rebel but quietly?

Ans. Santosh was a very rational, progressive, and sensible girl, who wished to shape her life herself. Though it was not easy for a girl to fight the rigid system of those times, Santosh was confident that if she chose a correct and rational path, she would be able to change things around her. She waited patiently for the right moment to take up the issues with the orthodox, irrational and hackneyed traditions that obstructed her aspirations and her goals. For example, she opposed her parents’ decision to marry her off at the early age of sixteen and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. When her parents refused to pay for her education in the city, she told them politely that she would earn money for her fees by working part-time. She quietly made it clear that she was determined to overcome all obstacles. Finally, her parents had to surrender. Her decision to take up mountaineering as a career was also handled very boldly and fearlessly by her. She took admission in Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering without seeking the permission of her parents. Her parents had no choice but to accept her decision. Thus, Santosh rebelled against the orthodox, conservative system in a quiet but sure way.

Q3. Santosh had all the qualities of a good mountaineer. Comment.

Ans. Mountaineering is a challenging career which demands great physical and mental strength. It requires boldness, fearlessness, sturdiness and faith in one’s abilities. Santosh Yadav was, in fact, made for mountaineering as she was endowed with all the qualities that are pre-requisites for this career. Just within a span of four years of her training in climbing, Santosh successfully scaled Mt. Everest. Again she repeated this feat in less than a year’s time and became the only woman in the world to have scaled the Everest twice. All this was made possible with her climbing skills, physical fitness and mental strength. Her iron will, physical endurance and mental toughness infused her with immense confidence. Her resistance to cold and altitude proved to be added advantages. All these qualities, coupled with her team-spirit and her concern for her fellow climbers made her not only a good mountaineer but also a very popular one among her superiors and her fellow climbers.

Q4. Santosh is not only a good mountaineer but also a genuinely good human being. Discuss.

Ans. Santosh Yadav proved her mountaineering skills quite early in her career. She displayed an unflinching will and a fearless mind that fought a rigid, orthodox society to rise to the top. But the stern will and bold decisions did not smother her qualifies of co-operation and concern for others.

That Santosh is endowed with a caring heart is obvious from the fact that she took great care of a climber at the South Col. Though, the climber could not be saved, Santosh’s concern for him was really commendable. In another incident, she saved the life of a fellow climber, Mohan Singh by sharing her own oxygen with him. This sense of sacrifice and team-spirit won for her the esteem of her team-mates. Moreover, Santosh’s heart overflowed with patriotism when she unfurled the national flag on the top of Mt. Everest. Her concern for the purity of the environment also proves that she is a good human being. Such is her love for nature that she brought down five hundred kilograms of rubbish from the Everest. Thus, Santosh is blessed with the human qualities of both head and heart.

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