DEFEATING EVEREST

"We didn't know if it was humanly possible to reach the top of Mt. Everest… even using oxygen as we were, if we did get to the top, we weren't at all sure whether we wouldn't drop dead." – Sir Edmund Hillary

Beekeeper, Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, did not drop dead at the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953, when they set foot on the highest point on earth. It took 32 years of failures for dedicated climbers to reach the top of Mount Everest, a peak scaled so often now it hardly makes the newspaper headlines! At over 29,000 feet of altitude, snow never melts atop Mount Everest… winds at the summit reach 200 miles per hour… overall a very difficult challenge!

George Leigh-Mallory is first recorded as attempting the climb in 1921. On his third try, in 1924, he disappeared into the mist, never to be seen again. It is believed that he reached the top but slipped and did not live to tell his tale. The mountain had won. However, friends of Mallory one day gazed upon a large picture of Mount Everest and declared, “Mr. Everest, you defeated us once. You defeated us twice. You defeated us three times. But, Mr. Everest, we shall some day defeat you because you can’t get any bigger – and we can!”

Eight more attempts were made on the mountain resulting in eight more failures. Finally, Hillary and Tenzing defeated Everest. Since them, over 1,200 men and women from 63 nations have reached the summit.

Actually, failure comes only after we have given up. If the odds of winning are slim to none, they might be worth taking. Surely, we can get bigger and be better – better in ability; better in experience; better in wisdom; better in faith. Hillary, who passed away on 11 January 2008, remains a shining example of courage and endurance! Besides mountaineering, Hillary dedicated his life to environmental causes and to humanitarian efforts for the Nepalese people.

Hillary showed us how to blunt failure’s knife …
"BE BETTER" is the way to be, to justify our life …

Regards
Pravin