Success Story Of a 17 year School Boy

Indian schoolboy rewrites history on the Himalayas

A 17-year-old schoolboy created a new record by becoming the youngest in the world to ascent Mt Lhotse, the 4th highest peak.

Kathmandu IANS: A 17-year-old schoolboy from a New Delhi suburb, who became a climbing sensation last year by becoming the youngest Indian to conquer Mt Everest, created a new record Friday by becoming the youngest in the world to ascent Mt Lhotse, the fourth highest peak.

After an aborted attempt last week due to bad weather, Arjun Vajpai, from Noida near the Indian capital, finally stood on the 8,516 m summit at 8.15 a.m., reported Asian Trekking, the Kathmandu-based mountaineering agency that had been handling the teen's climbing expeditions since last year.

Mt Lhotse, the third highest peak in the world after Mt Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga, had never been climbed solo by any Indian.

First summited by Swiss Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger in 1956, three years after Mt Everest was tamed for the first time by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, Mt Lhotse has been climbed only by the Indian Army from the subcontinent.

In 2003, a joint India-Nepal Army Expedition led by Col Ashok Abbey from the Indian side saw the first Indian ascent of the mountain that has claimed over 20 lives.

Arjun, who becomes the youngest climber in the world to conquer the technically difficult Lhotse, had set a mountaineering record last year when he scaled Mt Everest, 332m higher than Lhotse, at the age of 16 and became the youngest Indian to accomplish the feat.

'Jai Hind,' said his exultant mother Priya Vajpai, whose image Arjun has been carrying with him for inspiration through his gruelling climbs through Death Zone - the region above 8,000 m where breathing becomes difficult due to the diminishing level of oxygen.

Going off to conquer Mt Lhotse after just having finished his Class XII board exams, Arjun is now set on a career of adventure.

In winter, he is seeking to go on an expedition to the South Pole.

Last year, getting sponsors for the expensive Everest expedition - that costs about $35,000 - proved tougher than summiting the peak.

But the recognition Mt Everest brought him made the Lhotse ascent easier with his school, Ryan International, and two corporate houses - the Aditya Birla Group and ShivVani - coming forward to make the expedition possible.

Besides the Poles, Arjun has a second dream to chase. He wants to follow in the footsteps of his hero, the legendary Italian climber Reinhold Messner, who became the first mountaineer to climb all the 14 peaks worldwide towering over 8,000m.

No Indian has emulated the feat, partly due to two of the peaks - Nanga Parbat and K2 - being located in Pakistan and Indians finding it difficult to obtain visas due to the traditional rivalry between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

'After this I would like to attempt K2,' Arjun told IANS. 'It is one of the most challenging peaks and I would love to fly the Indian flag on its top.'

(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in) Content courtesy: IANS Yahoo News

CWG 2010 Delhi: Hope For Olympic Hosting

CWG 2010 Delhi The 70000 Cr games  Ended successfully on 13th of October at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Delhi. India wins total 101 Medals and ranked 2nd.Now we are enough Capable to host Olympics Game in India. Just forget about the Negative viwes about scams and all.  

The Commonwealth Games 2010 are over finally and nobody has or should have any doubt about India's successful hosting of the mega event. Yes, there are dark sides and controversies making huge hue and cry, but will it be fair if we overlook the other side of it, the side which has enough justifications for being positive?

Before the CWG started, every day we came across news questioning India's ability in hosting the gaming extravaganza. There were so many reasons the New Delhi Commonwealth Games were under threat, construction delays and security concerns being the significant ones. There were pictures in front page of many leading newspapers showing the loopholes of the infrastructure. They are not and can't be blamed to be fake, but what does matter the most is all those loopholes were plugged and India delivered a successful show.

Putting aside the story of the CWG scam for a while, just think what the Games has brought to us, what it has offered to the sporting community. The Indians who are way too crazy about Cricket, the Commonwealth Games have spurred an interest among them in other sporting disciplines. When the Indian athletes were winning gold medals in various events, audience were shouting and waving the tri-colour in their support - a much common scene in a cricket stadium.

The athletes of our country have also contributed to the success story of this year's Commonwealth Games with their historic performances that put India at the second position on the medal standings behind Australia. But too much focus on the negative aspects such as the overall cost and the pre-games controversies have shadowed all and we are left with bold headlines telling about the so called CWG scam.

The Central Vigilance Commission has found too many discrepancies. No questions on these findings, we don't support the corruption involved in it. But there are truths that have been remained untold till yet. The infrastructure might take time to get ready, but the venues like Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex, Thyagraj Sports Complex and Indira Gandhi Sports Complex were all of very high standards, especially the housing facilities have been praised as world-class. There were locker rooms, lounge and a dedicated transport lane for players. About 100,000 police and military personnel secured the Capital, and security precautions were intense.

There are positive vibes about CWG that we, Indians, need to realize and spread. Let's cherish those 101 medals. That's what the intention behind these words.