In 2015, Ishan Siva Ramanathan announced to his parents that he intended to climb the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, after they left the cinema after watching the survival thriller Everest.
It didn’t matter that the film told the devastating story of a gaggle of climbers who were forced to fight for his or her lives after being hit by a devastating snowstorm – and unfortunately, there have been casualties – while they were on the mountain, the 16-year-old was determined to make the journey.
Ishan was fascinated by the video of the mountain, and the challenge it presented gave him courage. He knew he wanted to achieve what he describes as “the most spectacular place on Earth.”
Understandably, his parents were surprised by his declaration. But after they realized that his immediate plan was to go to Everest Base Camp (EBC) – which, at 5,364m (3,500m lower than the mountain’s summit), was a rather more attainable challenge for somebody in relatively good condition – they cautiously supported the thought.
“My first instinct was to say no. I basically told him I wouldn’t let him… at least not in my lifetime,” says Yasodha Selvaratnam, Ishan’s mother. “But when he explained that he would only go to the base camp, I relented. Because Ishan was so determined, we felt we had to support him. We made sure we booked a company that had experience and a good track record. We spoke to the owner of the tour company several times and asked people who had used the company before and were happy and relieved to get good reviews.” Ishan decided to climb for a cause, and after spending just a few months as an intern on the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) last 12 months, he decided to make use of climbing to boost funds for Ideas Academy, a secondary education centre for stateless and undocumented children.
So on October 10, 2016, Ishan set off for Nepal alone. Upon arrival on the Kathmandu airport, he was met by the tour operator and one other climber, John William Strode from the United States, who had also just flown in. The next day, they were joined by two other men—Johnson Lim, a Filipino, and Andrey Garcia, a Brazilian. Ishan was not fazed by the undeniable fact that he was the youngest of the 4 climbers.
“I wasn’t too worried. I was relatively fit because I played a lot of sports at school. I played tennis, basketball and football, and I walked and hiked on weekends. I was just worried about getting altitude sickness. That was the most important thing on my mind,” he says, adding that he summited Mount Kinabalu when he was 14. The first two days of his adventure were spent within the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, where the 4 climbers visited temples and monuments, mainly to acclimatise to the high altitude – Kathmandu itself is 1,400 metres. On day 12, they set off for Lukla (referred to as the gateway to Mount Everest) at dawn, marking the beginning of his 10-day adventure. The flight to Lukla, which Ishan describes as “interesting”, was an adventure in itself.
“Our guide told us to make use of the word interesting as a substitute of scary when talking concerning the flight. We took off in a 12-seater plane and because the little plane cut through the ocean of clouds, the majestic Himalayan peaks got here into view and it looked exactly like the photographs. It was amazing, but then got here the landing at Lukla Airport, which has the shortest runway on this planet – just 500m – carved into the ridge of a mountain (precariously situated with a three-kilometre drop). ‘Thank God we had a very experienced pilot since the runway is between a concrete wall and a cliff. The margin for error could be very small… we might have moved a bit and hit the concrete wall; we would not have made it and we’d have fallen off the cliff,’ he explains. Ishan says he wasn’t too fearful because he trusted his pilot, to which his mother almost stifled a sigh.
The 4 climbers began the subsequent morning and although the times were long and cold, the views were spectacular and well definitely worth the effort. There were many highlights in the course of the nine-day trek – charming villages, watching mountain yaks carrying supplies and gas canisters to villages along the best way, meeting friendly villagers and other climbers, admiring the gorgeous scenery along the best way and naturally the views of the assorted mountains within the Mahalangur range of the Himalayas. It was not until the fourth day of the trek that they caught their first glimpse of Everest and, as they’d expected, it was quite spectacular. But it was an unexpected experience at a monastery a few third of the best way up that gave them an additional boost to get to their destination.
“We visited the monastery (Dawa Choling Gompa)… it’s a kind of ritual for climbers. The monastery has a really strong energy and monks from all over the world come to visit or live there. We had the opportunity to attend one of the prayers and I felt a tingling sensation in my leg. I didn’t think much of it and assumed it was just a tingling from sitting for so long. But when we came out, our guide asked us if we felt anything unusual during the prayers. When I told him about the tingling and others had reported similar experiences, he smiled and said that what we felt was the energy from the monastery. It was something completely unexpected and special,” he shares. After Tengboche, the journey became way more difficult, not only since the route became steeper, but since the altitude began to affect the climbers. “Up until Tengboche, I was very aware of my surroundings and took a lot of photos. But after I came out, it was hard to focus on anything other than the next step and I didn’t take many photos. The altitude started affecting me,” says Ishan.
And as if the altitude wasn’t enough, Ishan soon got here down with a fever and flu. Luckily, they reached the subsequent rest stop and he was capable of rest overnight after taking medication – one in every of his climbing companions was a physician and had the medication with him. The next morning, despite the fact that he was still sick, Ishan needed to force himself to maintain going because they’d to stick with their schedule. “I had no choice… we had to keep going. And I was determined to keep going because I didn’t want to be left behind. We walked for about nine hours that day, including quick stops at a few places. I was just so worried that I wouldn’t be able to continue to base camp. That was my biggest fear from the beginning,” says Ishan.
This fear was compounded when one in every of his climbing companions, Johnson, developed altitude sickness on the last leg of the trek and needed to stop. Luckily, he survived and made it to EBC on October 16, where he took a photograph with the Malaysian flag he was carrying. “It was worth it. I felt a whole range of emotions… relief, satisfaction and just pure joy that I had done it. But honestly, it didn’t really sink in until a few days later when I was looking back on my journey. I couldn’t believe I had done it… it was definitely the best time of my life and definitely the best adventure,” he says with an unmistakable smile of feat. In addition, Ishan managed to boost just over RM17,000 for Ideas Academy.
Ishan admits that he’s inspired in no small part by his grandmother, Mahamalar Ramanathan, who at 79 years old is travelling the world one mountain at a time, the newest being Japan’s Mount Fuji, which she climbed a 12 months and a half ago. He also has his parents, who not only financed his journey but in addition allowed him the liberty to pursue his dreams. “I want him to be independent. A lot of kids these days tend to be over-reared,” says Ishan’s father, Siva Ramanathan. “They have maids, drivers and a whole bunch of other people to help them, but they end up unprepared for the real world. That was one of the reasons we decided to send Ishan to boarding school (Kolej Tuanku Jaafar in Mantin, Negri Sembilan). It was a big risk, and many people warned us about it, but we decided to let him go.”
Source : asiaone.com
