As the name suggests, the thrilling & adventurous journey of Mount Everest expedition by IPS officer Atul Karwal is very well articulated in this book by himself & co-authored by his wife IAS officer Anita Karwal. He happens to be the first Indian civil services officer summiting Mount Everest successfully at the middle age of 44. His daily diary notes scribbled during 56 days expedition is the core of this book. This expedition travelogue is very well woven with connected events from personal & professional life, precedent & subsequent to daily activities of the expedition.
Book starts with the most dangerous event of crampon loosening during descend bid after summit & his team members coming to rescue just in time during the accident; which could have been otherwise fatal. Likewise author takes reader back & forth making reading more curious & interesting instead of simply writing in chronological order.
Author covers his childhood life in the beautiful city of Chandigarh & memories of visiting mountains in nearby Shimla, Manali & other parts of Himachal & Uttarakhand during frequent family holidays. These visits inherited deep rooted love for mountains which got transformed into strong desire to visit Mount Everest. And eventually it became his life calling; which came into reality at the age of 44 on 22nd-May'2008.
While looking back, few of the incidences convinced Atul that; he was destined to summit Mount Everest expedition supported by divine power. The opportunity came his way through his officer friend; whom it was originally offered but he could not take it for some reasons. Also on his way to summit, he ran short of oxygen cylinder & from no where one Sherpa on his way return agreed to give it to Atul on request. During return bid, he survived the accident of loosing crampon from one of his foot with the help of his team members luckily being around at that moment. Although being comparatively less experienced & aged than other team members, he could successfully summit Everest. Whereas, two of his younger team members had to abandon the summit bid due to health issues & even one Sherpa member has to return back midway due to difficulty in breathing.
Author mentions that; this expedition deepened his love & respect for the nature. And he returned back transformed as new person having lot of solitude within & gratitude towards nature. He emphasized, Pranayam has played a very big role for his mental toughness & breathing endurance. He meditated every single day through out the expedition without fail.
All the physical strength & endurance; which was very much necessary as a part of preparation is very well detailed as gym workout routine, stairs climbing practice & long distance running carrying 25kg weight in backpack. Climbing Everest is not just about physical strength or endurance, but it's a lot more about mental toughness as well.
Author has explained journey schedule between various base camps for purpose of acclimatization, without which summiting bid is simply impossible. Due to acclimatization journeys, team had to cross Khumbu icefall ten times during whole expedition. Khumbu icefall is most risky & known as death zone of expedition due to history of climbers succumb to death there the most.
As a take away, Author insist readers to discover their own Everest - deep rooted desire or goal & pursue it relentlessly with all the hardwork, dedication, discipline & perseverance to achieve it. The process & journey itself teaches us lot of valuable life lessons & experiences for which we are destined.
For me, THINK EVEREST is one of the TOP 5 books I have read so far & must read especially for youngsters who are going through formative phase of teenage or entered in adulthood.
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