Go climb a mountain

HEIGHTS OF PASSION

She had a fascination for heights and a passion for challenges. An active member of the National Cadet Corps through school and college, she always dreamt of a life that spelt adventure. She was only 17 when she took up her first course in mountaineering and then there was no looking back. Today, at 57, she has many firsts to her credit, right from being a part of the Bachendri Pal-led first women’s team to set foot on the Siachen Glacier, to leading the first-ever women’s 2,000-km-long camel safari from Gujarat to Punjab. Meet Vasumati Srinivasan, for whom scaling new heights is a way of life.

Vasumati’s long affair with heights started when she signed up for the All India Rock Climbing Course in Ramanagaram. “That was when I realised how scaling mountains gave me a high,” she recalls. Bitten by the rock climbing bug, Vasumati soon wanted to train in mountaineering under Tenzing Norgay. However, mountaineering was not the dream her mother had dreamt for Vasumati, the eighth of her nine children. She wanted her daughter to pursue a career that was ‘safe’ and ‘secure’ and not one fraught with dangers at every step. But, adamant as she was, Vasumati got her way. “But, that required money, about Rs 500, which I didn’t have then,” she says. Not the one to give up easily on her dreams, Vasumati arranged for the fees to be paid and found herself in Darjeeling for the 32-day course. “Training under Tenzing Norgay was almost dream-like. It gave me all the confidence I needed to set wings to my dream,” she adds.

A few more short-term courses in mountaineering with Rita Gombu, Tenzing’s niece, and a slew of short expeditions later, Vasumati’s goal in life was set – to take the road less travelled. Very soon, marriage happened. “I was fortunate enough to marry a man who respected my passion for heights,” she says as her husband, an army man, supported every decision of hers. Marriage and two children, a girl and a boy, in quick succession later, she was all set to climb greater heights. Her joy knew no bounds when, in 1984, she was selected for the First Indian Women’s Everest Expedition. With able support from her family, she took part in the expedition, only to be left out in the final lap of the expedition owing to her ‘marital’ status! “I still remember how disappointed I felt. On second thoughts, I guess the rejection came as a blessing in disguise for me. If I had scaled Everest then, I am sure I would have bid adieu to mountaineering, thinking there’s no fun scaling any mountain after Everest,” she says.

Though handling the responsibilities of a mother and a mountaineer was quite challenging, Vasumati did it with élan. Taking care of the kids at home and stealing time, as and when she could, to train in gyms, play squash and jog for 8-10 km a day — Vasumati did it all to keep herself in shape and build up her stamina. In 1987, she led the first-ever Army Ladies’ Expedition to Dogra and created history. This was just the beginning of her long chain of achievements. Soon followed an expedition to Peak Ibex, standing 20,450 feet tall. “This was a memorable expedition as, for the first time ever, a pregnant woman was also a part of the successful team that trained for almost 45 days for the 15-day expedition,” she recalls.

This is not all. She has led many pre-Everest expeditions to Gangotri and Mana Peak and trained mountaineering enthusiasts as a guest instructor in basic and adventure girls’ courses in Darjeeling. However, she recalls her 1996 expedition to Kullu-Kunori as leader of the Army Ladies’ Expedition fondly. “At 21,500 feet, the Kullu-Kunori route was technically very challenging and my 18-year-old daughter Smita and I set a unique record by being the first ever mother-daughter duo to have done it together,” she says, an achievement that found a mention in the Limca Book of Records. More than a mention in the record book, it is the fact that her daughter shares her passion for heights that overwhelms Vasumati. To this day, Smita accompanies her in most of her expeditions, and Vasumati simply enjoys it.

While recounting her most memorable expeditions, Vasumati cannot help but narrate her experience of covering the 202-km distance from Leh to Siachen Glacier in just four days with Bachendri Pal and her team. And, of course, her expedition to Indira Col, the highest point between India and Pakistan, where she celebrated the golden jubilee of Indian Independence with her team mates and the defence personnel stationed there. “It was euphoric” she recalls.

A climbing leader for the first Karnataka Ladies’ Expedition and a state athlete who played shot put and discus throw, Vasumati has been the captain of the Deccan Athletic Club and the state athletics team. Right now as the vice-president of the Karnataka Mountaineering Association, her mission in life is to encourage children to take up mountaineering as an active sport. “Mountaineering inculcates discipline and leadership qualities in children, while also giving them the much-needed ‘can-do’ spirit,” she says. And, we couldn’t agree more.