Mallesh Naini, 10th class student of Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential School, Asifabad, did his alma mater proud and joined a select group of students from the social and tribal welfare educational institutions who have defied underprivileged backgrounds and climbed some of the world’s highest mountains.
Belonging to the Mannevar Primitive Tribal group (PGT), Mr. Naini, along with 13 other members from India and under the mentorship of mountaineer Sekhar Babu unfurled the 100-ft tricolour national flag on August 14 midnight atop Mt. Kilimanjaro. He and his team began their climb on August 10 and reached the peak on the eve of the 70th Independence Day celebrations.
The daredevil mountaineering team also sang the national anthem after successfully conquering the mountain, which is Africa’s highest mountain at 5,895 metres height. “I never imagined that I would one day board a flight and would go on mountaineering expedition considering my family’s poor background,” said the teen hero.
Thanking the TS government and the TTWREIS for making mountaineering a reality for children from primitive tribal groups like his, he recalled the expedition to be “thrilling” and had helped boost his “self-confidence levels”. “I wanted to prove to the world that everything under the sky is possible if opportunities are provided,” he exclaimed. As a mark of gratitude to the government, he paid tributes to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao by displaying his portrait atop the Mt. Kilimanjaro along with the photograph of Komaram Bheemu, the tribal hero.
Anand Kumar, alumnus of the TSWREIS, who scaled Mt. Everest along with Malavath Poorna in 2014 also took part in the Mt. Kilimanjaro expedition, said Secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar, while congratulating the students. He pointed out that the TS Government has been providing for quality education to the marginalised children under the prestigious KG-PG mission and encouraging other adventure sports too.
