“I saw the sunrise from the top of the world. It was an incredible sight.” This is how 24-year-old Deeya Suzannah, who along with her father Ajeet Bajaj became the first Indian father-daughter duo to climb the Mt. Everest, described her experience of having scaled the world’s highest peak to her mother Shirly in Gurugram on Wednesday.
Ms. Bajaj, director, Snow Leopard Adventures Private Limited, told The Hindu that it was an emotional moment for her husband, who was conferred the Padma Shri in 2012 for his contribution to the growth of adventure tourism. Ms. Bajaj, who was constantly in touch with the expedition leader at the base camp tracking the movement of the father-daughter duo, said that she was both, “elated” and “tired”, not having found time to sleep.
It was Deeya’s idea to climb the Everest She wanted to send the message that any girl, given the right opportunity, can reach the highest summit. The father-daughter duo in 2011 became the first Indians to ski across the Greenland Ice Cap. Their feat was acknowledged by the Limca Book of World Records in 2012.
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Deeya, a graduate from the Cornell University, is presently helping her parents in running their adventure tourism company.
Ms. Bajaj reminisced that vacations had always meant adventure tours for her two daughters. “Summer vacations for them meant getting up early in the morning and going for wildlife safaris, scuba diving and trying their hands at other adventure sports,” she said.