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A date with Sir Edmund Hillary

By K. Kannan

NEW DELHI MAY 20. It was a day dedicated to the spirit of adventure. Sharing some proud moments, Everesters of yesteryears from India and abroad rubbed shoulders with brave men and women who have excelled in the field of adventure activity on land, sea and air.

The occasion was a special ceremony organised at Vigyan Bhavan here today to mark the golden jubilee of the conquest of Mount Everest in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. And giving them some lessons in courage and inspiration was none other than the legendary Edmund Hillary himself.

Still very young at heart, the 83-year-old former New Zealand Ambassador to India -- who later in the day unveiled road plaques with his and Tenzing's name at Chanakyapuri in New Delhi's diplomatic enclave -- recalled how his companion had saved his life in the historic run-up to the summit. "It was an exemplary display of team spirit,'' remarked Sir Edmund.

Voicing concern over the colossal ecological harm that the great mountains, especially Mount Everest, are being subjected to, Sir Edmund even compared some of the present mountaineering expeditions to conducted tours. "Everest has been littered by oxygen cylinders,'' he lamented.

For Jemling, the son of Tenzing Norgay, it was an occasion to remember his illustrious father who had inspired him to work for promotion of adventure sports up in the Himalayas.

"The spirit of adventure should be promoted in the right manner. There is nothing wrong in commercialising adventure sports as long as the right people are given a chance,'' he said.

And with so many diehard adventure enthusiasts around, it became apparent that the pursuit of the beyond was a passion shared by many. Said Kamal Singh Oberh, the first Indian to jump from the South Pole in Antarctica at a height of 16,000 feet: "I had this dream for four long years and it took me just four minutes to fulfil it!''

And perhaps this spirit of adventure can best be summed up by the motto of one of the recipients of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award. It read: "Many live on the edge, I only wish to step over it.''

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• Centre playing with health of Delhiites
• Adding a worthy cause to learning
• MCD-ICICI tie up to boost e-governance
• A date with Sir Edmund Hillary
• BJP flays disbursal of funds
• NDMC employee's family left in the lurch
• Demolition of Khattar's hotel begins
• Conversion scheme a shot in the arm for BJP
• Court refuses to hear Sharma's bail plea again

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