Summary and Explanation of Reach for the Top Part-I (Character Sketch and Quick Revision Notes)
Character Sketches from Reach for the Top Part-I
Santosh Yadav: Santosh Yadav is an officer in Indo-Tibetan Border Police. She has been portrayed as a firm-willed, decisive, courageous, adventurous girl endowed with a rational mind and physical and mental toughness. She born in a small village of Haryana. She had an independent temperament right from the beginning and wished to live life on her own terms. She knew full well that her conservative family would pressurize her to adhere to the traditional way of life. But at the same time she was aware that if she chose a correct and a rational path, she would be able to change others and win their support.Santosh Yadav's Parents: Santosh Yadav’s parents were affluent but orthodox, conservative landlords. They liked to live according to the prevailing customs in the family. However, whenever they tried to make Santosh toe the line set by traditions and the girl offered resistance, they yielded because they loved her from the core of their hearts, and knew that she had chosen a correct and a rational path. Thus, Santosh kept on getting support from her parents, which in the long run helped her reach the zenith of glory.
Summary of Reach for the Top Part-I
Santosh Yadav was born in 1969 in a traditional family of Rewari Distric (Joniyawas) of Haryana state in India and is an officer in Indo-Tibetan Border Police. She is the only women in the world to have climbed Mount Everest twice.
She first climbed the peak in May 1992 and then did it again in May 1993. She had five brothers, 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. She is an alumni of Maharani College, Jaipur.
Living in Kasturba Hostel she joined Uttarkashi's Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. In her own words, the hostel was facing the Aravallis‘. I used to watch villagers from my room going up. But after a while they used to disappear. One day, I decided to check up myself. There was nobody but a few mountaineers. I asked them if I could join. Their surprising affirmative answer motivated me to take to climbing. I
saved money and enrolled for a course at Uttarkashi's Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. While studying, she prepared herself to climb two greatest peak in life namely, mountaineering and Indian Civil Services and was successful in both.
Her climbing skills matured rapidly‘. Also, she developed a remarkable resistance to cold and the altitude. The culmination of her hard work and sincerity came in 1992. 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.
She first climbed the peak in May 1992 and then did it again in May 1993. She had five brothers, 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. She is an alumni of Maharani College, Jaipur.
Living in Kasturba Hostel she joined Uttarkashi's Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. In her own words, the hostel was facing the Aravallis‘. I used to watch villagers from my room going up. But after a while they used to disappear. One day, I decided to check up myself. There was nobody but a few mountaineers. I asked them if I could join. Their surprising affirmative answer motivated me to take to climbing. I
saved money and enrolled for a course at Uttarkashi's Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. While studying, she prepared herself to climb two greatest peak in life namely, mountaineering and Indian Civil Services and was successful in both.
Her climbing skills matured rapidly‘. Also, she developed a remarkable resistance to cold and the altitude. The culmination of her hard work and sincerity came in 1992. 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.
Quick Revision Notes
- Santosh Yadav is one of the few women in the world to have climbed the Mount Everest twice.
- She first climbed the peak in May 1992 and then did it again in May 1993.
- She was born in 1969 in Rewari District of Haryana state in India and is an officer in Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
- She is an alumnus of Maharani College, Jaipur.
- Living in Kasturba Hostel, she joined Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.
- While studying, she prepared herself to climb two greatest peaks in life namely, mountaineering and Indian Civil Services and was successful in both.
- She prepared for her IAS exams in a hostel provided by Indian Mountaineering Federation at Connaught Place, New Delhi. Her brother is an officer in the Indian Army. She was also conferred Padma Shri award in 2000.