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Mrika looked at her prosthetic leg for the first time. Instead of screaming, she clearly declared in front of Devina her sister, and Dilip da her brother_ in _ law. They were the ones, who loved her confidence the most.
” So you are my new challenge. I will make sure that I scale and embrace Mt Everest with you.”
Everyone else in her ward of AIIMS felt that probably the twenty-five years old youngster, who had recently lost her left leg, was unable to accept her destiny.
” Challenges and change have been my constant destiny throughout my life.”
Mrika Pal , the determined, dedicated and optimistic young woman had declared in an interview much later. Born in Ambikapur, a small town in Chattisgarh, Mrika was a strong believer of the words of Swami Vivekananda, ” Arise, awake, stop not until your goal is achieved.” She lost her father, who was an engineer in the army, when she was hardly three years old but was ready to face any challenges that life gave her.
As a child, she was passionate about cycling and athletics. She even represented her school football team and later the volleyball team of her college. She studied law, but when Mrika was unable to get a job, she desperately tried to get appointed as a constable in CISF. She received the joining letter with her name being misspelled. On that fateful day, she was traveling by the GT express to Delhi, to get it corrected, when the thieves tried to snatch her gold chain. Although she fought bravely, Mrika was thrown out of the running train.
She was determined to reach her goal. She got to know about the fifteenth route, which was unexplored by mountaineers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Also, Dilip da had told her no amputee had ever tried to scale it. Mrika was desperate to change her destiny.
” Well if you have the determination, you will surely conquer it.”
These words of Dilip da gave her confidence. Later Mrika requested a journalist to share the Bonosri Dutta, the famous mountaineer’s number. What followed next was a dream come true moment for she agreed to meet and guide Mrika.
Mrika headed straight to meet Bonosri Dutta, with her fresh stitches, after her discharge to get trained under her.
She kissed the summit of Mt Everest after continuing her expedition for about sixty days, after a couple of years. She faced close encounters with death, including the lack of oxygen cylinder.
Yet, Mrika hoisted the Indian Flag and placed the portrait of her idol Swami Vivekananda confidently at the summit. Bowing down in front of Mt Everest she exclaimed
” Amidst all the oddities, in life, you are my destiny! ”
Mrika Pal was the first woman amputee to scale Mt Everest. She was later awarded the Padamsri by the President of India in 2016 for recreating her destiny and inspiring others like her.
