International Mountain Day: ‘Chanting of Jai Bajrang Bali infused new life, we conquered Everest’

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): It was May 22, 2019. A team of mountaineers was going to conquer Mount Everest. They were several kilometres away from their destination, but just as the snow-clad summit came within their sight, they chanted in unison – Jai Bajrangbali.

This was how one of the members of the team, Bhawana Dehariya, described her experience about how they reached the summit. She, along with other mountaineers, spoke to Free on the International Mountain Day on Saturday.

The day is observed across the world on December 11 every year. This year, the theme was “Women Move Mountains.”

Bhavna said chanting of Bajrangbali infused a new life into their team and they conquered the summit.

Like her, many mountaineers from MP have climbed high peaks and many are taking training to do it. The mountaineers spoke to

“Mountaineering is a very expensive adventure and my boots cost around Rs 65,000, and it took me four years to collect the Rs 25 lakh take part in the conquest of Mount Everest,” Dehariya said.

Similarly, MP’s Mountain Man Ankit said, “My father worked as a labourer and it was difficult for him to provide me with basic necessities. All I wanted are sponsors, so that I can scale Mount Everest.”

“I had no clue about mountaineering. I was part of an NCC camp, and there, I heard about mountaineer Arunima Sinha. The officials at the camp told us about this mountain training camp. I joined the camp, so that I can meet mountaineer her. Just like that, I started mountaineering, and I conquered Mount Jogin at 21, 211 feet, including the vertical climb over the ice wall.”

He added: “I am all set to conquer Mount Everest as soon as I save up the Rs 25 lakh. I’ll do it.”  

Mountaineer Megha Parmar said, “When I started mountaineering, I was misguided and wasted a lot of time. There is no coaching for mountaineering in Madhya Pradesh, but we can surely produce many mountaineers from here. Now it is my mission that I train and guide as many mountaineers as I can.” Parmar was the first Madhya Pradesh woman to scale Mount Everest.

Mountaineer Shikha, a 22-year-old NCC cadet, said, “I am certain that one day I shall climb Mt. Everest. I have just started my journey. I've only done two treks: the Hampta Pass Trek (14,380 feet) and the Kedarkantha Trek (12,500 feet) in Uttrakhand.

Tips from mountaineers

The mountaineers said, “Before scaling any peak, you should do a professional course. There are many government institutes that they will train you for everything that need for in the mountains and provide equipment you need. The fees are between Rs 14,000 and Rs 20,000. Most importantly one should find sponsors an expedition.”