HYDERABAD: A software engineer from the city, Neelima, was on her way to the Mount Everest base camp when the killer quake in Nepal triggered a deadly avalanche in the Himalayas on Saturday. Her whereabouts are still unclear but her father, Showraiah, is confident his talented daughter is safe.
The 28-year-old had last contacted her father on Wednesday. According to Showraiah, a retired advocate of the high court, Neelima is a polyglot — she can speak fluently in English, German, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali besides her mother tongue Telugu. And, she is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer as well as a yoga practitioner.
“She is fit enough to survive in case of any adversity,” Showraiah, who is now settled in Vijayawada, said. Neelima, an employee of Cognizant, has been staying in Hyderabad for the last six years. Though she is not a mountaineer, she decided to at least go till the base camp of the Mt Everest.
“One Subbu from the Bengaluru-based company, Rambus, took Neelima and 20 others from across the world to the base camp. He told me that he had received a call confirming the safety of the group after the earthquake. He told me they were all at a village called Dingboch near the Everest. He said the village was outside the earthquake impact zone,” Showraiah said, adding he didn’t get any more information thereafter.
Neelima left for Delhi on April 18 and had sent her father some photographs after reaching Kathmandu the next day. She had told her father on Wednesday that her group was 4600 m above sea level. “She is the only Telugu among the group. They were given two months fitness training before the journey,” Showraiah said.
A Polyglot and a dancer
28-yr-old Neelima is a polygot, who can speak fluently in six languages, besides being a Bharatanatyam dancer. Last heard, she was at Dingboch near the Mt Everest.