Kerala trekker Babu ready to climb again, even Mount Everest

“If I receive training, I don’t mind giving Mount Everest a try,” said R Babu who was rescued from a cleft in the Kurumbachi hills after a 45-hour ordeal.
R Babu busy answering calls from his friends at his house in Cherad on Friday
R Babu busy answering calls from his friends at his house in Cherad on Friday

PALAKKAD: “If I receive training, I don’t mind giving Mount Everest a try,” said R Babu who was rescued from a cleft in the Kurumbachi hills after a 45-hour ordeal. Resting at his rented house in Cherad, the 23-year-old was responding to TNIE’s query on the invitation and support extended by Bobby Antony, an Attappadi native living in Nepal for 13 years. He had invited Babu to attempt scaling Mount Everest.

Babu said it was not the first time he was scaling Kurumbachi hills. He had also climbed all the nearby hills. “I enjoy trekking and climbing hills. That’s why I went there. Even when I was stuck in the cleft, I wasn’t scared. My family members were unaware of this. Now, due to the accident, they know,” he said.

On Monday, Babu, accompanied by three of his friends, had gone climbing the hill around 10 am. “By the time we reached, we had exhausted the water we carried with us. So the other three halted midway. A white flag was placed on the upper reaches of the hill, and I told them I will touch it and come back. But while returning, there was dry grass on which I slipped and slid down,” he recalled.

The first cleft that he fell into had sunlight hitting him directly. “I knew without water I will not be able to stay there for long. So I came down another notch and went into another elongated cleft known as Edavatt para, which was safer. I sat like how we sit on a European closet,” he said.

He then phoned his friend, Niyaz, and others. “I also called the fire force and posted my photo. They informed the police, and arrived on top of the hill on the first day but had to return as they could not rescue me. I would take naps but would also wake up quickly. My legs were paining too,” he pointed out.

On the second day, a Coast Guard helicopter arrived but, as its rotors would touch the hills, it departed, Babu recounted. “The NDRF team also came on the second day. When the personnel and the drone arrived, I gestured for water as I desperately needed it. The Army arrived on the third day. As I had worked in the air force mess in Thiruvananthapuram, I had learnt some Hindi and could communicate with them. I am very thankful to them,” Babu said.

He said Army jawan, Balakrishnan, alias Bala, was also exhausted as he came down the rope to rescue him. “The water he had brought with him also ran dry. He tied me to his waist and pushed me from behind as we climbed upwards. On reaching the top, rumours went around that I had vomited blood. In fact, the Army personnel had given me pomegranates, and when I gargled, a reddish water came out which people mistook for blood,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Afzath, his grandmother, reminded him that he has not taken his tablet prescribed by the doctor. For now, Babu has been advised rest. But once he returns to full fitness, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him climbing hills and mountains again.

Discharged from hosp
Palakkad: Babu was discharged from the district hospital around 11am on Friday. District Collector Mrunmai Joshi, district police chief R Viswanath, district medical officer K P Reetha and hospital superintendent T P Sreedevi were at the hospital at the time.

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