NEW DELHI: Deeya Bajaj, 24, and her father Ajeet Bajaj, 53, reached the summit of Mount Everest just in time to witness a magical sunrise on May 16 morning after a difficult journey.Deeya was taking her final steps towards the highest point on earth as the sun was rising. It was only after 15 minutes when Ajeet rejoined her, and at 4.45 am they became the first Indian father-daughter duo to conquer the Everest. “It was beautiful. So gorgeous,” Deeya recalled, “To be there, with my dad, was absolutely fantastic.”“It was emotional for both of us, and pulling out the national flag and planting it proudly at the highest peak gave us an inexplicable joy,” said Ajeet.
“But a minute after that happened, we realised the journey hadn’t ended yet. We had to go down to the base camp near Rombuk Monastery in Tibet. Going up is optional, but going back is not. We both discussed that we had to be really careful because otherwise, the consequence could be bad,” Ajeet added.
For Deeya, a graduate from the Cornell University in New York, and her father, who was conferred the Padma Shri in 2012 for his contribution to the growth of adventure tourism, it all began a year back at a gym in Delhi where the two started their training. Swimming, running etc. became part of their routine, they claim. They also went for four trial expeditions—two in Ladakh (August 2017 and February 2018) and one each in France (January 2018) and Nepal (December 2017).
“Quitting never came to our
mind, it was never an option,” Ajeet said. However, there were certainly moments of doubt, like Deeya claims on May 14, when the gusting winds travelling at a speed of 40-60 km/hr hit their tent, she asked herself why they were doing it.“The wind conditions were horrible and we were worried that either the tent would fall apart or we would get blown off. We couldn’t even have dinner that night. It was very cold too. Next morning, luckily, the weather was normal and we were able to continue our journey up,” said Ajeet.
This is not their first time in setting records. Ajeet has been into adventure sports for over three decades now. He was the first Indian to ski to the North Pole, the South Pole. In 2012, Ajeet and Deeya became the first Indians to ski across the Greenland Ice Cap. The feat was entered in the Limca Book of World Records. This expedition was Deeya’s idea driven by a wish to spread awareness about gender equality.
“I would like to tell all parents to love their girls just as their boys. To make the country a much better place, we must leverage the strengths and values women and girls as well,” Ajeet asserted.