When the entire Nation was celebrating the Independence Day, this son of the soil was on a special mission: to hoist the tricolour on one of the highest peaks of Europe, Mount Elbrus (at an altitude of 5642 metres). And the person we are referring to is ATS commando Mr. Ashish Dixit, who is posted in the anti-terrorist squad of Uttar Pradesh police department.

Coming from a humble family background and brought up in the small city of Unnao , Mr. Dixit mother is a homemaker and his younger brother is serving in Indian Air Force. No doubt they have been a pillar of support for him.

COMMANDO ON MOUNTAINS 

There is a saying by Helen Keller:

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“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

Risk and adventure are inevitable elements in a commando’s life. In a conversation with IndianMasterminds, Mr. Dixit says, “Where there is a risk, there is a calling for the commando. We have to be physically and mentally prepared for every situation.” Same thing, he adds, applies with mountains because every mountain has its own geographical and weather conditions that can become uncertain anytime. 

Talking about his recent expedition, the officer said that summiting Mt Elbrus is equivalent to summiting Mt Everest, in some manner. If one can survive on Elbrus, he can survive on Everest too. 

As he recalled,”We were a team of 5 members including one lady officer from CISF. Our journey of 7 days started from August 11 to august 17. Due to very low temperatures of around -23°C and high-speed winds of 60km/h, it became hard for us to breathe properly. Due to these reasons, only 3 of us could make it to the summit on August 15 2021. When I was close to the summit, my heart was filled with the overwhelming feeling of hoisting the Indian tricolor on the European Mountain on the auspicious occasion of Independence Day.” 

Last year on 26th of January 2020, Mr Dixit conquered Mt. Kilimanjaro (5895m), one of the highest peaks in Africa. It really becomes a moment filled with pride when you achieve something in the name of mother India. Though all these expeditions are self-sponsored, he doesn’t want to stop his journey of climbing mountains. His next Target is South America’s Mount Aconcagua (6962 m) which he is planned to conquer on Republic Day 2022.

INSPIRED BY `FLYING SIKH’ MILKHA SINGH 

Everyone has someone whom they admire and wants to create an exceptional impact like them. This Commando is inspired by ‘the flying sikh’ Milkha Singh. He says that since his childhood he has been a sportsman and was very attracted to the Indian army. After joining ATS (anti terrorist squad) of UP police, he has been participating in various athletic events in the all India police competitions. Further,he adds, “if someone really wants to serve society, no job can be better than policing”.

BEGINNING OF MOUNTAINEERING

Talking about his exciting journey, Mr Dixit said that he started mountaineering as an adventure activity during his NCC days. Soon, he decided to carry his passion further. In 2019, he completed his basic training of mountaineering from Jawahar Institute of mountaineering, (Kashmir). He went on his 1st big expedition to Stok Kangri (6153 m) in Ladakh. It was his 1st bitter, life threatening and unforgettable expedition as a mountaineer. He has summited Machoi peak (5458) in J&k, Black peak  (6387 m) in Himachal Pradesh and some peaks in Ladakh and Sikkim.

As an ATS Commando, Mr Dixit finds it quite hard to balance both his duty and passion of mountaineering. He says most of his leaves are either used on expeditions or on various training programs. Recently, he got trained in unarmed combat & has done a course on Himalayan medicine from Hanifl center for outdoor education, Mussoorie.