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| Dr Murad Lala in gear |
The lure of the gleaming white summit and the dream to come face to face with one of the greatest marvels of nature, inspires many mountain climbers to take up the challenge of ascending the Mount Everest. But for Dr Murad Lala, Everest is a symbolic manifestation of overcoming all odds to achieve a dream. A dream that was conceived when he was child, which followed him even when he grew up and never let him rest until he had scaled that 29,029 ft elevation.
The long cherished dream finally became a reality on the morning of May 19, 2013, when Dr Lala, along with his team of six other trekkers from various parts of the world, reached the summit of Mount Everest. Thus, he became the only doctor from India who has succeeded in conquering the world’s highest peak.
Well, this isn’t surprising for those who know Dr Lala. Among his colleagues and friends, Dr Lala is revered for his spirited personality. He is known to be always on his toes, be it work or play. His friends say that Dr Lala is an adventure lover by nature. In his free time, you will always find him engaged in various adventure sports such as trekking, mountaineering, car rallies, scuba diving and bungee jumping to name a few. For the last three years, Dr Lala has been participating in the Himalayan Car Rally and in the year 2009 he stood third place with his wife, Dr Mamta Lala, who was his navigator that year. Dr Lala, prior to scaling the Everest, went on an expedition to the ‘Triple Peaks’, also called the ‘Jewels of the Everest’. “I probably got my adventure streak from my father,” he says and recalls, “My father always encouraged me to take up challenges. He used to tell me to scale high mountains and venture into the moon and I took his advice literally”. He says this with a smile realising the reason why his father asked him take on such challenges. Perhaps to make him the confident and strong person that he is today.
Preparing to achieve his dream
Climbing the Everest was not an easy decision for Dr Lala as scaling the Everest is no child’s feat. It means running great risks to challenge its high altitude. Besides the freezing weather, Everest’s tricky icy terrain has the potential to drop climbers from cliffs into deep crevasses. Additionally, many climbers scaling the Mount Everest also suffer from the effects of the extreme high altitude, often called ‘mountain sickness’. All these risky factors were weighing his mind. Making him think and rethink his decision to climb the Everest. However, fear lost out to his dream and finally he decided to set forth on the momentous journey. But before he could set out, he needed to be completely prepared in mind and body. Therefore, last year, he took up a rigorous exercise routine on a daily basis and also enrolled himself at a high altitude gymnasium to make himself fit for mountain climbing.
An unforgettable experience…
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| Climbing the Everest |
After getting trained for several months, Dr Lala finally commenced his adventure on March 28, 2013. Giving an account of the precious memories of his adventure, Dr Lala narrates, “We were a team of eight hikers out of which two had to return back. We were accompanied by six Sherpas who assisted us throughout our climb. After having finished the formalities set by the Nepal Government, we began our ascent on April 1 to Lukla and from there we walked to the Base camp (approx. 63 km) (17,500 ft or 5,400 m) to reach on April 8.”
While he was narrating this experience, his eyes reflected the inner radiance and joy. On asking him how he felt walking through piles of ice he replied, “Walking through piles of ice is no mean task. One’s body has to acclimatise to the changing weather conditions at each level. A chill runs down your spine when you reach the base camp. The whole feeling that you are close to realising your dream and knowing what lies ahead is the task of a lifetime. Our group motto was ‘One Team, One Dream’.
The actual journey begins from the Base Camp. The walk from Base Camp to Camp 1 through the ice walls is a bit challenging, he says. “It’s like a live amusement park. Anything can happen anytime here. There could be an avalanche or a boulder of ice could just come down rolling. One has to perform like a team, a family and advance fearlessly. The journey took about nine hours but they were the first hint of what was coming ahead,” he describes.
On the way, there were many mountaineering lessons to be learnt.“Many of us learnt the mountaineers’ mantra of ‘scaling high and resting low’, which means even though one reaches Camp 1, you have to come back to the Base Camp the same evening and rest there. This is done so that one’s body gets acclimatised to high altitudes and this was followed throughout the journey. So for every walk up to the next camp, either you climb down one level or two and start again the next day,” he continues.
The journey kept getting riskier as they continued their ascent but each step was a taking Dr Lala closer to his dream. The walk through the snow clad mountains was so enchanting that he says after a point he didn’t remember what day or date was running. Moving ahead he came across the toughest part of his journey- the climb from Camp 4 to the summit. Reminiscing about the moments of the night before he reached the summit he says, “The excitement was like giving your first interview or giving an exam. You are rubbing your hands, tapping your legs; eyes wide open for the big day. And when our western guide – Marty Schmidt signalled us to set out, everyone went down on their knees. The final frontier is the toughest and there have been many failures in the past for many climbers. In unity, we cried out loudly ‘One Team, One Dream’ and stepped out”.
The climb was a 12-hour precarious journey. Dr Lala and his team walked through the night when suddenly his headlight went off. This incident perturbed him completely. Nevertheless, he still had to go on. There was no turning back now. Dr Lala was now climbing the Everest without a headlight, completely depending on his instinct. He says that remembering this incident still gives him a chill. However, he informs that the happiness of conquering the peak is just incomparable. He finally reached the top of summit at around 9 am, safe and sound.
On being quizzed about his first reaction on stepping on to the summit he said with a smile, “I felt relieved. I was speechless for a moment.”
Inevitably the next question was ‘how does the world look from the top of the summit?’ “It is enchanting”, he replied. “We had only 10 minutes on the summit and in that time I remembered the words, ‘One small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind’ and realised how exactly Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay must have felt when they reached the summit,” he recalls.
Well, scaling the world’s high peak is indeed an experience of a lifetime. But has this journey taught Dr Lala any lessons about life?
The change of heart
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| Dr Murad Lala holding the Indian flag |
‘Yes’, he admits. Like his desire to conquer the Everest kept him going even during difficult times, Dr Lala found a powerful solace in it. While climbing down he remembered all the situations that put him in a jeopardy and this reminded him of his patients who are living on thin ice every moment of their life due to their illness. With a new found wisdom in his eyes he says, “Climbing the Everest has taught me to be humble. I can now feel the fear my patients go through on a daily basis while battling with cancer. This is a lesson for me. I will now be more gentle with my patients, helping them cope with their illness.”
The last few minutes…
It is said that ‘faith can move mountains’ and after meeting Dr Lala, one realises the truth in the little proverb. The inspiring experience of Dr Lala at the Mount Everest reveals one thing for sure, while scaling the Everest certainly carries many inherent risks, faith in your dream will give you the courage and the fortitude to go on and lead you to success.
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