Squadron leader Toolika Rani, who is posted at the Air Force base in Dundigal, is used to people calling her “crazy”. In 2012, Toolika became the first woman from UP to climb Mt Everest. But when people came to know she spent Rs 21 lakh — which was her entire savings and also that of her parents — they were baffled. Even her expedition in Iran last month cost over Rs 1.5 lakh.
“Everybody told me that I could have bought a car or even a house with that money, why did I have to waste it on climbing a mountain?” says Toolika, who still finds it difficult to explain to her critics her passion for mountaineering.
“I have been part of numerous expeditions since 2009 — I almost lost by toes during the Everest climb, was stranded in a blizzard for six hours where everybody felt it was better to die than live, I spent two days just holding on to the poles of my tent because the wind was fierce and it threatened to blow us away… But nothing can take away the joy that I feel when I go on these expeditions.”
And for that love, Toolika has even made up her mind to resign from her job. “I complete 10 years with the Air Force this December. I have been on a short-term service commission and now I have been offered a permanent position, but I have sent in my application to resign. I want to be a full-time mountaineer,” she explains, adding, “I am very grateful to the Air Force. I realised my passion only after working in this field. I signed up as a volunteer when I came to know about the basic mountaineering course as part of the Air Force adventure cell in 2009. Also, the equipment that I carry for my expeditions, is loaned by them and costs in lakhs,” she says.
Toolika has been going on regular expeditions from 2009; this year she was the only mountaineer from India when she went on a 10-day expedition to Iran with over 50 climbers from 16 countries. “In Iran, I climbed Mt. Damavand, the highest peak of Iran as well as the Middle East, and the highest volcano of Asia. The terrain was very rocky, the weather in the beginning of the climb was hot and dry with temperature reaching 30-35ºC. We faced the problem of dehydration; but during nights it would become very cold, so we had to be very careful not to fall sick.”
The only person in her family who is in the Air Force, Toolika admits that she has always made unconventional choices. “And thankfully, my parents have always supported me,” she says.
