Mountaineer:Layout 1 31/10/13 6:30 PM Page 6
A RU N I M A S I N H A
ICON OF GRIT
(From left) Arunima Sinha during the expedition, with her prosthetic leg and Indian tricolour
Former volleyball player, Arunima Sinha looked beyond her prosthetic leg while aiming the pinnacle
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t is now history that Arunima Sinha lost her leg when a passing train crushed it, forcing doctors to amputate her below the knee to save her life. The loss, as it turned out eventually, failed to hamper the doughty attitude of this former national-level volleyball player. The first female amputee to climb Mt Everest in May 2013, the 26-year-old lady from Uttar Pradesh used the feat to regain her inner strength and faith in life. “I was completely shattered when I was lying on the hospital bed with one of my legs amputated and the other with a rod inside. Besides, there were other injuries in my body. Whosoever came to visit me at the hospital was busy sympathising with me, and I was wondering what I would do with my life,” she recollects, adding, “But I never wanted myself to be seen as disabled or helpless, so I decided, while I was still in the hospital, to conquer Mt Everest.” The expedition was tougher for Sinha than any other fellow climber. “(Though trained for months) stepping up, especially on a slope, and that too on ice was grueling. There were injuries, bleeding and pain. But, as said, no pain, no gain. I believe it was the belief of my trainer, and support of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation and my family that gave me strength to take each step. Once atop the Everest, I wanted to shout at the top of my voice to let the world know I was there. Wish I had some energy left in me to do that,” she says with a smile. After realising her dream of hoisting the Indian tricolour on world’s highest peak, Sinha tells people to ‘wait and watch’ for her next moves. She opens up a bit to reveal her plans to start a sports academy for physically challenged children in Uttar Pradesh. It seems, Sinha’s positive attitude is not only working for her, but also for others like her. As Italian Renaissance polymath, Leonardo da Vinci once said, “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” —Jyoti Verma
PHOTOS: AFP
After Mt Everest,
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Arunima Sinha plans to start a sports academy for physically challenged children in Uttar Pradesh, to help others like her regain their inner strength and faith in life SEPTEMBEROCTOBER APRIL 2013 2012 u INDIA PERSPECTIVES
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