Futile Dream

 

Lawrence was sitting near the window of a quaint cafe of the hill town through which he could get a glimpse of the bustling town below and Mt.Kanchenjunga in the distance, bathed in colours of the setting sun. The last year when he was here, one of the staff told him, ‘Sir, it is just 75km from here,’ when he caught Lawrence gazing at the lofty peak.

While growing up, Lawrence learned the art of rock climbing from his father, who was a mountaineer. While choosing career after high school, Lawrence chose to nurture his passion for rock climbing and became a professional mountain climber. He then scaled several peaks in different continents in the coming years, including the highest-Mt.Everest. But, that did not quench his thirst. He now eyed for Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world.

When after high school Lawrence decided to pursue his career in mountain climbing, his father sent him to Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Darjeeling to take up advanced mountaineering courses. It was from those days; Lawrence nurtured his heart, the dream of scaling Kanchenjunga, which along with its neighbouring peaks resembled Lord Buddha in a sleeping posture according to the people of the town.

In the years to come, when Lawrence and his team tried to get permit for the long cherished expedition, the Indian Government denied. When he questioned the concerned authorities, they told him the summit was banned to mountaineers. The furthest they could go was to the base camp at Yalung at 4500m.

According to the authorities, the ban was imposed to not hurt religious sentiments of the Lepcha people living at the base, who believed that the first humans originated from snow at peak of Kanchenjunga. Another myth associated with the peak is that, the mountain is home mythical creature yeti called Dzo-nga.  Apart from the mythical tales, the authorities told several nerve chilling ghost stories related to previous climbers, who had died under mysterious circumstances.

When the authorities had finished their stories, Lawrence thumped his fist and walked out of the office in rage.  He couldn’t let some stupid myth bury his long cherished dream.

That year Lawrence with his team trekked till the base camp. While returning to his country, Lawrence promised himself that he would come the following year and would set his foot on the summit of Kanchenjunga.

Today, Lawrence was back in Darjeeling after full one year. Though he was given permit upto the base camp again, he had hired a Sherpa, who had agreed to help him in his illegal expedition to the summit in exchange of extra sum of money.

The day came, when Lawrence with other mountaineers and trekkers set off for the base camp. It took eleven days to reach the base camp. On reaching, everybody took shelter in their tents. When the night dawned and everyone was fast asleep, Lawrence with his Sherpa slipped out of their tents in middle of the night and set out to live his long cherished dream.

Lawrence with his Sherpa walked ahead undeterred. Neither the cold winds nor the deathly silence  could dampen his spirit.

When the day broke, they had walked miles away from the camp. They knew a search team would be sent looking for them, but bothering not of consequences they walked ahead.

After many hours of climbing through the rocky terrain, they halted at a ridge few meters below the summit. Lawrence could hear his heart beats thumping against his ribcage. ‘Only few meters of climb, and then I will become the first person in history to step on your summit,’ Lawrence murmured.

But, Gods had other plans. When Lawrence started making his way up, the snow below his feet started sliding down. He tried to calm himself down but it was futile. Suddenly, he felt a strong gust wind hitting across his face and Lawrence lost hold of his grip and the world vanished before his eyes. Lawrence and the Sherpa were perished in the avalanche of snow.

Yet again, Mt.Kanchenjunga stood firm and unconquered.

 

 

Image Courtesy: Google Images