Reach for the Top Part-I- Short & Detailed Summary

REACH FOR THE TOP

By- Santosh Yadav

Short and Simple Summary of the lesson in English- REACH FOR THE TOP/ Summary in simple Words/ Critical appreciation of the lesson – REACH FOR THE TOP

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, even to the country’s capital Delhi, which was quite close by. But, in line with the prevailing custom in the family, Santosh had to make do with the local village school. At the age of sixteen years, her parents wanted to marry her. She threatened her parents that she would never many 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 widget 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. Equipped with an iron will, Physical endurance and an amazing mental toughness, she proved herself repeatedly. The culmination of her hard work and sincerity came in 1992, just four years after she had shyly asked the Aravalli mountaineers if she could join them. At barely twenty years of age, Santosh Yadav conquered Mt. Everest, becoming the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. If her climbing skills, physical fitness, and mental strength impressed her seniors, her concern for others and desire to work together with them found her a special place in the hearts of fellow climbers.

During the 1992 Everest mission, Santosh Yadav provided special care to a climber who ‘lay dying at the South Col. She was unfortunately unsuccessful in saving him. However, she managed to save another climber, Mohan Singh, who would have met with the same fate had she not shared her oxygen with him. 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. –
She was given a Padmashri Award. She is also a fervent environmentalist, Santosh collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.

Summary of the lesson in English- REACH FOR THE TOP: (2)

Born in an affluent family of Joniyawas, a small village in Rewari District, Haryana, Santosh Yadav is the only woman in the world to have scaled Mt. Everest twice. Born in a conservative society, where sons are preferred over daughters, Santosh was welcomed in the family as she was the sixth child and the only sister to five elder brothers.

Santosh was a bit of a rebel right from the beginning and defied conventions. She neither liked to wear traditional dresses nor followed the traditional course of life. Again, rather than succumbing to parental pressure to go married early, she insisted on pursuing her studies. Her parents had to give in to her desire to study at a high school in Delhi, followed by higher education at Maharani College Jaipur.

In Jaipur, she used to live in the Kasturba hostel and could see the Aravalli hills from her room. Attracted by the villagers climbing these hills, one day she decided to check the route herself. There she met a few mountaineers, who allowed her to join them and encouraged her to take to mountaineering.

Before completing her college di Santosh Yadav got herself enrolled at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute, of Mountaineering. After the completion of her semester in Jaipur, she had to rush straight to the institute as she had no time to visit home. So, she wrote her father a letter apologizing for not having sought his permission before joining the institute.

During this training, she went on an expedition each year. Her physical fitness, strong willpower, mental toughness, resistance to cold and altitude helped her to improve her climbing skills rapidly. In 1992, after training for four years, she became the youngest woman in the world to conquer Mt. Everest at 22 years.

Her physical and mental strength impressed her seniors, while her team spirit and concern for others endeared her to her fellow climbers. Santosh provided special care to a fellow climber in critical condition at South Col., who unfortunately could not be saved. However, she managed to save Mohan Singh, who too was in distress, by sharing her oxygen with him.

In less than a year of scaling Everest, she got a second invitation from an Initio-Nepalese Women’s Expedition to repeat the feat. She was successful in scaling Mt. Everest once again.

While unfurling the tricolor on top of the world, Santosh experienced indescribable pride as an Indian. It was truly a spiritual moment for her.

Showing exceptional concern for the environment, she collected and brought down about 500kg of garbage from the Himalayas.

The government of India honoured her with Pact rnashri for her unparalleled mountaineering feats.