Civil servants are often seen taking time out to pursue their passions with the same fervor that they discharge their official duties on the field. After all, what’s life without passion? So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the present District Magistrate of Jhansi Mr. Ravindra Kumar has come out with a book on his Everest summits.
But what surprises is his ability to pursue his passion right to the top, not once but twice, despite a busy work schedule and diligently discharging his professional responsibilities. The avid mountaineer has penned down his Everest journeys in a book, that was recently launched by the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, the IAS officer spoke about his journeys to the top of the world as well as his new literary journey.
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
Mr. Kumar is one of the very few Indians who have climbed Mt Everest twice through two different routes in Nepal (south side) and Tibet (north side). He endeavored to penetrate flagship programs of the Government of India like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Namami Gange to the grassroots level across India by increasing public awareness about these programs from the top of the world.
He also carried Ganga Jal to the peak of Everest and offered it over there and appealed to the world to ‘Save Water’ to avoid water scarcity for the future generations. And now, the officer has penned his journeys, from beginning to end, in his book, Mount Everest: Experience the Journey, for readers to go through.
Read his Mount Everest journey in detail here: A Two-Time Everester and Much More
ABOUT THE BOOK
Mr. Kumar’s book is a photographic travelogue that transcends one to many fascinating locations of the Himalayas in Sikkim, Nepal, Ladakh, and Tibet, traveled and explored by him. Further, it provides glimpses of picturesque mountains and stunning landscapes along with the rich biodiversity and cultural vibrancy caught along the routes.
“It not only makes you understand nature more closely and its miracles more deeply but also orients you towards conservation of nature. The journey in itself brings you near nature and drives in you a deep desire of conserving the pristine beauty that nature beholds,” he told Indian Masterminds.
The book also showcases the meticulous planning that goes in while engaging in such a risky adventure. It guides aspiring mountaineers to visualize their climb, fathom the difficulties and mentally prepare themselves for the ascent, which demands extreme physical fitness and unfortunately also ends up claiming many lives every year.
The book has been published by Bloomsbury and incorporates many special features like raised UV, embossing, and scan code for a short documentary film on the Everest expedition, which gives it an upper edge over a normal book.
DALAI LAMA BLESSES IT
In a nice gesture to boost water conservation, the Dalai Lama released the book in Dharamshala. He also blessed the book by writing his foreword.
The book has received appreciation and testimonials from many eminent personalities like Justice Vineet Saran of the Supreme Court of India, Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar, Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar, Singer Udit Narayan, Anand Kumar of Super 30, and many more.
A painstaking work of stunning photographs and fearless narration, Mount Everest: Experience the Journey will leave a deep therapeutic effect on the human mind and body, according to the author.
FROM THE AUTHOR
The author says, “Everest is considered the pinnacle of adventurism. Reaching its summit has been every mountaineer’s dream and like every other dream, it comes with a price – the price of intense training and acclimatization. It not only involves exercises for physical toughening, training at high altitudes, adjusting to changing climate and atmospheric conditions but also includes scaling peaks of different altitudes.”
He added a few more words for adventure lovers, especially: “For an adventure seeker, I must emphasize that the training and acclimatization exercise in the lap of nature with exhilarating beauty all around is as thrilling as climbing the summit of Everest. And once you stand at the top of the world, it feels like the most rewarding experience of life.”
Because of its universally appealing topic – mountaineering, the book by IAS officer Ravindra Kumar has huge potential to attract adventure enthusiasts and tourists to India as well, and especially boost adventure and eco-tourism in the Himalayan region of Sikkim and Ladakh.
