When everyone preferred hoisting the national flag at comfort, they made it a point to sweat it out before unfurling it atop a hillock.
The members, numbering 15 of Vijayawada Adventure Club, chose the Gunadala hill range near Mogulrajapuram to hoist a massive flag measuring 12 feet high and eight feet long amid “Bharatmata Ki Jai”.
Slippery conditionsClub members right from the age of six (Sanjana) and to 60 (well-known photojournalist V. Seetharam) gathered near Metro shopping mall in the morning and unmindful of the slippery conditions owing to the overnight rain, climbed the 800-feet hill range in less than an hour.
Conducted a recce“Before we decided to climb the hillock we conducted a recce to ensure safe claiming. We always conduct a recce before we decide the hill range for trekking,” said Suresh, a software engineer and an avid trekker. The members said that a sense of déjà vu prevailed among them when they unfurled the national flag.
Small tribute“This is small tribute to all those people who struggled for the freedom. We want to inculcate the concept of endurance and art of trekking among our young members,” said Raghunath a seasoned trekker. “We climb one peak in and around Vijayawada every week. There are several hill ranges in our district and the popular ranges are Kondapalli, Mullpadu, Thotapalli, Yerrapalem (in Guntur District) and Gunadala,” Suresh said. He said that the club was formed in 2010 and as many as 100 members were actively taking part in trekking expeditions all over the country. “We trek at Himalayas every year and play a role of forest volunteers helping the department in its animal enumeration and censuses,” said Mr. Suresh.
