Getting even with the odds

Arunima Sinha is not your regular author. Her book, Born Again on the Mountain, is not a figment of her imagination, but is nevertheless a story of a woman’s grit to defy all odds and make her presence felt.

In April 2011, Arunima, a former national level volleyball player was pushed off a train by a group of thieves. She was injured fatally in the incident and her left leg (below the knee) had to be amputated. Undaunted by the incident, Arunima started training to climb Mountain Everest. And in May 2013, she was the first female amputee to have made it to the summit. The book recollects her experience in detail.

Looking back she says, “At that time, there were all kinds of rumours. That I didn’t have a ticket or worse still, that I was trying to commit suicide. I wanted to make a comeback in a way which would coerce people to sit up and take notice of me. I chose mountaineering because that’s one sport where one is completely on one’s own and needs to motivate and push oneself to reach the target.”

She adds, “After I was pushed off the train, I was unconscious and lay on the railway tracks for around seven hours. By that time, 49 trains had crossed the tracks. In spite of being utterly miserable, even I could not ignore the fact that it was a miracle that I was alive. And I was determined to make the most of it.”

After deciding to climb Everest, Arunima couldn’t find sponsors to help her out. So she went ahead and climbed the highest peak in the world with an ordinary prosthetic leg.

“At times during the trek, my right leg which is supported by an artificial rod, used to swell up. And whenever I would remove my prosthetic leg, my left leg would be bruised and bloody. But I didn’t give up because I wanted to set an example. So that even if something untoward happened, I wouldn’t go down without making my country proud,” she says. After the Everest expedition, Arunima has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and Mount Elbrus in Europe. She is currently setting up a sports institute in Lucknow, where specially-abled youngsters, especially girls, can come and train.

Also a 100-metre runner, Arunima adds, “In India, life is anyway difficult for girls; and if you are disabled, it’s worse. That’s why, through my book and other future initiatives, I want to encourage the youth to believe in their dreams and work towards fulfilling them. Because if I can do it, so can you.”