Amgoth Tukaram and Gunthala Thirupathi Reddy met for the first time at a summit meet in Kathmandu, Nepal. Until then they’d only spoken to each other on the phone. Thereafter, they began a journey that would take them to the highest point in their life. “We’d both heard of each other’s mountaineering missions but had never met,” shares Tukaram. The two youngsters fulfilled their dream to scale Everest, their humble background notwithstanding. While Thirupathi’s father drives an autorickshaw in Vikarabad, Tukaram comes from an agricultural background. Hailing from Thakkellapalle thanda in Yacharam mandal of Rangareddy district, Tukaram, youngest among five siblings studied in a Tribal Welfare Residential school in Medak. He once watched an NCC parade at Parade Grounds, Hyderabad and it inspired him to be a cadet. “I wanted to wear the NCC uniform. The unity and discipline among the cadets motivated me,” he recalls.
Joining NCC gave wings to his dreams and Tukaram’s next move was to pursue mountaineering. He underwent basic and advanced mountaineering courses, which tested his endurance and experience at high altitudes. “My basic course at Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering in Jammu and Kashmir and Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarakhand was gruelling and helped me understand the technicalities.” The 20-year-old recalls one of his first treks to Mount Norbo. “The high altitude was challenging and I experienced nausea and breathlessness. I realised my summit push needed more preparation and training.” He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Stok Kangri as well. Each of his missions also advocate the need to protect Nature and wearing safety gear such as a helmet.
He set himself a time frame of three years to scale Mount Everest and the expedition took 55 days. The team climbed from the southern side from Nepal. “Each of the camps was a challenging experience because of the weather conditions. To make the body acclimatise, we would take turns to go to the camps, rest for a day and return to the base camp. We crossed the dangerous Khumbu icefall in the nights as in the morning, the snow melting could lead to avalanches. We had to be careful while using the steel ladders. My technical course prepared me for these extreme conditions.”
The last leg was the most challenging as the team witnessed overcrowding and some mountaineers collapsing in front of them. “We couldn’t get a window to pass through because of heavy traffic. The white-out conditions added to the chaos. My crampon broke and I had to balance on one leg. It was miserable; I was in tears,” he shares.
The motivation to keep going came from his parents’ struggle. Tukaram recounts how emotional they’d become when they went to the airport to see him off. “I didn’t want to let them down. I also remembered my trips to different companies for funds. I did not want to waste this opportunity.”
Meeting his family at the end of the mission, he says, was the best day of his life. “The relief and pride I saw on their faces has no match. One’s background is never an obstacle to achieve anything in life. If there’s a will, there is a way,” he says.
Dream come true
Thirupathi Reddy from Vikarabad had mountaineering dreams since childhood. Son of an auto driver, Thirupathi is currently pursuing his degree through a distance education programme. With Malli Mastaan Babu (ace Indian mountaineer) as his role model, he joined the Rock Climbing School in Bhongir and took two years to prepare to climb Mount Everest. He credits his coach Shekar Babu for preparing him for the summit. He has in the past climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kosciuszko in Australia. “I’m proud that I summitted Mt Everest; but I am also very aware of the fact that my father took huge loans to help me I have received support from a few people, but I now have to clear the debts.” He plans to first take up a job to support his father and then think of his future expeditions.