Hyderabad boy scales new heights with PM Bal Puraskar

Eight-year-old T. Virat Chandra created history of sorts scaling Mt. Killimanjaro

Young mountaineer T. Virat Chandra and his coach Bharath Tammineni.

It was a day to remember for eight-year-old T. Virat Chandra, who created history of sorts scaling the Mount Killimanjaro, who is conferred with the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Pursakar award on Monday.

These awards are given to children (five to 18 years of age) with exceptional abilities and outstanding achievement in six fields of innovation, scholastic achievements, sports, arts and culture, and social service and bravery and carry a cash prize of ₹ 1 lakh and a certificate

“

Murisipoyanu (was delighted). I was excited and couldn’t wait for the big moment,” was the reaction of the young mountaineer after the virtual presentation of the Award from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Feeling really proud to get this kind of recognition within a year of my Mt. Kilimanjaro feat,” the third standard student of Gitanjali Devashray (Secunderabad), informed ‘The Hindu’ on Monday.

“Now, the target is to scale the highest mountain peaks in all the continents,” said Virat, who is also keen to be a qualified engineer.

Virat’s father, Sharath Chandra, said though initially they were scared about the young boy taking up mountaineering, now they have no regrets.

“We are naturally on cloud nine with this award. What more can a kid ask for,” said the proud father, who is the sole distributor of Godrej lockers in the City.

“Yes, I feel great we have locked his future in mountaineering and sure will scale new highs in his career,” he said.

For his part, trainer Bharath Tammineni is equally elated.

“Yes, it is a great feeling to get this award and incidentally second one for me as my other trainee Samanya got it in 2020 for scaling the highest peak in Australia,” said Bharath.

These awards are given for the under-16 age group for excellence in different fields including sports, arts, social service.

“Yes, when the seven-year-old Virat scaled the very challenging Mt Kilimanjaro in 2021 March, it was the result of six months of gruelling training schedule including two sessions of physical fitness. And, for his age, the young boy showed great maturity and was clealry a different kind of kid for his age,” recalled 32-year-old Bharath, who himself scaled Mt. Everest and many other difficult peaks across the world.