Malavath Poorna has done it again! The daring student of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), currently studying in the newly established residential degree college at Ibrahimpatan, has now climbed the highest mountain in Europe Mt. Elbrus (Russia).
Along with 16-year-old Sri Vidya of social welfare residential school at Alair, she successfully scaled the mountain on Thursday. The duo began trekking on July 24 and reached the peak (5642 metres) at 7.30 a.m Moscow time on Thursday. “I have so far conquered three highest mountain peaks in the three continents of the world — Mt. Everest in Asia, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa, and Mt. Elbrus in Europe. My aim is to conquer the top peaks in all seven continents,” said Ms. Poorna.
She became the youngest girl to climb the world’s tallest peak of Mt.Everest in 2014 and recently actor Rahul Bose made a critically acclaimed feature film on her exploits. Both her parents are agricultural labourers and although Ms. Poorna hails from a tribal hamlet in Nizamabad district, she is currently pursuing undergraduate course at the newly launched residential degree college.
Her partner Vidya hails from Nalgonda district and her parents too work as daily wage labourers to eke out a living. “It is difficult to describe how tough the climb was, but I resolved to achieve the impossible against odds,” she said. The duo’s biggest thrill upon reaching the top was to hoist the portrait of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao!
“The Chief Minister sanctioned 53 welfare residential degree colleges which no other State has done before. He has been supporting us in exploring new horizons. If not for these colleges, most of my mates would have been married off by now,” the girls pointed out. In fact, Ms. Poorna had hoisted the Telangana flag on Mt. Everest when she reached the peak then.
The joy of their mentor and TSWREIS secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar on the achievement of the young mountaineers was even more. “Our children may be poor, but they are never poor in energy, enthusiasm and determination,” he gushed and thanked the CM and Minister for SC Development G. Jagadish Reddy for supporting the welfare residential educational institutions which the other States too were trying to emulate.
