Mountaineer and Haryana cop Anita Kundu all set to make nation proud again
Chandigarh, April 18: "If you can dream, you can make it happen". This proverb has rightly been justified by mountaineer and Haryana cop Anita Kundu. Hailing from Haryana's cop, she is all set to add another feather to her cap. Anita Kundu will be beginning her journey to scale Mount Makalu on April 20.
At 8,485 m high, Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world. It is situated on the border between Nepal and China, about 19 km southeast of Mount Everest, which is in the top left of the image.
Anita Kundu is the only Indian woman who has scaled Mount Everest from both Nepal and China thrice and hoisted the Indian flag there. However, she regrets that this adventure sports has not received due recognition from governments like other sports.
Life was never that easier for this Haryana mountaineer. He father had passed away when she was 12. To make both ends meet, she along with her mother would sell milk. She has two sisters and a brother.
Anita Kundu started adventure sports at the age of 15. She is also the recipient of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award. This award is regarded as one of the highest national awards for adventure sports in India.
It is named after Nepali-Indian mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, who along with Edmund Hilary, was one of the first individuals to successfully scale Mount Everest in 1953.
While taking to PTC News, Anita Kundu said despite financial constraints, she could achieve her dream of being a mountaineer. Until 20 years ago in Haryana, there was a ban on women going out of the house without 'chunni'; and today girls from small Haryana towns were carving niche for themselves in their respective fields.
She added that her father would often say "whatever be the situation, you have to fight and take it as a challenge." And these words, she says, gives her strength to move forward.
(With inputs from Ankush Mahajan)
- PTC NEWS
