New Delhi :

A 13-year-old girl from Telangana scaled Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, to become the youngest girl in the world to achieve the feat. She was accompanied by a 17-year-old boy from the same state.

The duo during their departure left from Andhra Pradesh, but returned to the new state of Telangana.

Malavath Poorna, daughter of agricultural labourers from Telangana’s Nizamabad district, is a Class X student in a government-run social welfare school.

“Each step was dangerous… climbing steep rocks, braving cold waves blowing at the speed of 40 km per hour at minus 40 degree temperature, it was tough, but I did not want to be called a coward,” Poorna said. “ It was a great experience. When I reached the top of the mountain, I cried and placed the Indian flag. I prayed and thanked all,” she said.

Sharing her experience, she said when she reached the height of 7,300 metres, she had to return to the base camp at 5,400 meters as the climatic conditions did not permit them to go further. She started on her mission again and was first to reach the top on May 25 at 6 am. “I saw the mighty mountains and morning sunlight all around,” a smiling Poorna said. During her climb, the sight of six dead bodies scared her.

“It was then that I remembered the ten commandments of my school, my parents and my trainers. I got my strength back and the courage to complete my mission,” she said.

When asked about her next mission, she said it was to be an IPS officer. On this mission, along with Poorna, was S Anand Kumar, a Class IX student, the son of a cycle mechanic from the Khammam district. Anand’s mother works as a labourer.

“It was a difficult task and the school had chosen us for the mission as we were selected from a group of a 150 students,” he said. He said that they had been trekking and was being trained for last seven months for the mission. They had been taken to various places like Ladakh and other Himalayan ranges before setting for Mount Everest.

“During the expedition, we were trekking from morning to evening and acclimatization was really difficult. I am really proud as I have climbed the Mount Everest,” he said. The teenagers’ inspiration is IPS officer R S Praveen Kumar, who as secretary of the AP Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society, was the force behind making this happen.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by Sumit Kumar Singh / June 06th, 2014