HYDERABAD: Mount Everest is a mountain that researchers say claims at least one life for every 10 expeditions. Neillima Poduta is well aware of the risks she will face in her attempt to scale the summit. After all, she has seen the mighty mountain crumble to dust in the avalanche triggered by the earthquake in Nepal last April; in which over 18 mountaineers perished, trying to live their passion.
“I was thought to be dead,” recalls a somber Neillima.
“Last time I went to Nepal it was only with an intention to scale the peak. But after seeing so many people die, I realised that my survival meant that I had to give a higher purpose to my life,” she says.
Undaunted and fired by the drive to give back to the mountains that saved her, she decided to give her Everest dream a second shot. After her maiden attempt to plant the flag on the world’s highest peak was cut short by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, she got back home with a renewed hope and purpose in life, left her high paying corporate job and took to rigorous training to fulfil the demands of her dream.
The 29-year-old will be leaving for Kathmandu in a couple of days for a two-week-long pre-training session before the 60-day-long expedition commences on April 8.
With will, you find a way
Unlike other sports where competition is with fellow humans, Neil as she is fondly called, says in mountaineering, one is pitted against nature, vagaries of weather and wind. “The thumb rule is not to panic. At an altitude where there are no trees, you are in the middle of sea of white snow and with every step the amount of oxygen reduces. Water, food and air that we otherwise take for granted are a struggle for us. We don’t have a 50-50 chance of wining -- either we win an expedition or lose our lives,”she says.
Rigorous regimen
Having seen nature unleash her fury first hand, Neil has been training rigorously -- both physically and psychologically. Her day starts at 4:30 am with cardio, cycling, running, strength and endurance training along with meditation and yoga.
“We have to trek six to eight hours daily with nearly 30 kg weight on our backs. Besides being physically demanding, low oxygen levels also wreak havoc with mountaineers’ mind -- hallucination and behavioural changes are common. To beat all these one has to be mentally tough too,” she says and adds that it is not conquering the peak but conquering one’s fear.
What next?
“The hard truth is that we don’t just go with the passion of reaching the peak but also with the idea that we may not come back. One thing that mountains have taught me is to live in the moment. And that’s why I can’t tell you what I will do after I have scaled the Everest,” she quips and quickly adds with a grin, “maybe spend more time with my parents or scale the seven summits (highest peaks of each continent).”