For seven-year-old Nilan A Sreejith, mountains first existed in stories told through his mother’s tired legs, muddy shoes and photographs from distant trails. Every time Anusree C returned home from a trek, he would ask the same question, “Why can’t I come too?”
That question would eventually take the two of them across snow-covered Himalayan paths to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal, where they stood together holding the Indian flag at 5,364 metres above sea level. Nilan, a Class 2 student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School, Kodunganoor, is now being regarded by many as the youngest mountaineer from Kerala to successfully complete the Everest Base Camp trek.
For Anusree, an electrical engineer who now does freelance work, trekking entered her life during a difficult personal phase and gradually became a space of healing. Over the years, she travelled through trails including Agasthyarkoodam, Netravathy, Kudremukh and Chokramudi.
“Trekking always helped me understand myself better. You are away from comfort spaces and forced to adjust to very limited things. It is difficult, but it also shows you your own strength. Every time I came back from a trek, he was observing all of that,” she says.
“Nilan was excited about trekking from a very young age. But most trekking destinations in Kerala do not allow children, so I took him along on smaller hikes near our home and to places such as Kudajadri.”
Searching for places where children were permitted eventually led her to the Everest Base Camp expedition in Nepal. The thought of taking a seven-year-old into one of the world’s most demanding trekking routes frightened both Anusree and her husband, Sreejith, but Nilan’s excitement kept pushing the idea forward.
Soon, the mother and son began preparing for the journey they had spent months manifesting. Daily walks became part of their routine, often covering six to seven kilometres. Nilan also accompanied his mother to the gym, where he did light cardio exercises suitable for his age.
Along with mountaineer Shaikh Hassan Khan and his team, they began their journey from Kerala on May 1. The trek covered several Himalayan locations, including Lukla, Namche Bazaar, Tengboche, Dingboche, Lobuche and Gorakshep before finally reaching Everest Base Camp on May 9. But the journey turned out to be far more difficult than either of them had imagined.
“There were many moments when I thought of quitting,” Anusree recalls. The weather also became one of their biggest challenges. As the altitude increased, so did the cold, exhaustion and discomfort.
“One day, at around 4,400 metres, the cold became unbearable for him, and he cried himself to sleep. That night completely broke me,” she recalls.
“I was already exhausted, carrying more than 10 kilograms on my back and dealing with period pain as well. I kept questioning myself whether I was punishing him with my dream.”
“But one morning, when he saw me tired, he said, ‘Don’t worry, you have me. If you want, I will carry you,” she smiles. “He cannot do it, but those words gave me the strength to keep going.”
Step by step, the two continued climbing through freezing winds, steep ascents and low oxygen levels until they finally reached Everest Base Camp. “At that moment, every difficulty felt worth it,” she says.
For Nilan, the journey itself was filled with moments of awe. “When we reached there, I saw snow for the first time. I made snowballs and played there. I saw people from different countries carrying their national flags.
Helicopters were flying above us often. I even wrote ‘I went to EBC’ on the snow,” he says excitedly.
The expedition also carried an environmental mission for the mother and son. During their return journey, they collected plastic waste left from their trail and carried it back with them. They hope to encourage responsible trekking practices and spread awareness about protecting the fragile Himalayan ecosystem.
Among the many memories they brought back from Nepal, one conversation remains especially close to her heart. “After we completed the trek, a foreign trekker came up to me and said, ‘Thank you for building mountaineers for the future,” she recalls. “He then asked Nilan what he wanted to do next.”
“Without a moment of hesitation, he declared that he wanted to conquer Everest next,” she laughs. Nilan’s parents are trying to apply for an official record, but it involves a considerable amount of expenses at present.
For now, they have the memories of their little boy who walked beside his mother, taking in a world far bigger than anything he had known before.