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Convenor of Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) Dr Oscar Rebello has been nominated
for CNN-IBN's Indian of the Year Award 2007 in public service category
Vote for him at:
http://www.cnnibnindianoftheyear.com/publicservice_voting_new.php
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MONDAY MUSE (14 January 2008)
DEFEATING EVEREST
"We didn't know if it was humanly possible to reach the top of Mt. Everest…
even using oxygen as we were, if we did get to the top, we weren't at all sure
whether we wouldn't drop dead." – Sir Edmund Hillary
Beekeeper, Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, did not drop
dead at the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953, when they set foot on the
highest point on earth. It took 32 years of failures for dedicated climbers to
reach the top of Mount Everest, a peak scaled so often now it hardly makes the
newspaper headlines! At over 29,000 feet of altitude, snow never melts atop
Mount Everest… winds at the summit reach 200 miles per hour… overall a very
difficult challenge!
George Leigh-Mallory is first recorded as attempting the climb in 1921. On his
third try, in 1924, he disappeared into the mist, never to be seen again. It
is believed that he reached the top but slipped and did not live to tell his
tale. The mountain had won. However, friends of Mallory one day gazed upon a
large picture of Mount Everest and declared, “Mr. Everest, you defeated us
once. You defeated us twice. You defeated us three times. But, Mr. Everest,
we shall some day defeat you because you can’t get any bigger – and we can!”
Eight more attempts were made on the mountain resulting in eight more failures.
Finally, Hillary and Tenzing defeated Everest. Since them, over 1,200 men and
women from 63 nations have reached the summit.
Actually, failure comes only after we have given up. If the odds of winning are
slim to none, they might be worth taking. Surely, we can get bigger and be
better – better in ability; better in experience; better in wisdom; better in
faith. Hillary, who passed away on 11 January 2008, remains a shining example
of courage and endurance! Besides mountaineering, Hillary dedicated his life to
environmental causes and to humanitarian efforts for the Nepalese people.
Hillary showed us how to blunt failure’s knife …
"BE BETTER" is the way to be, to justify our life …
Regards
Pravin
13 January 2008, Goa.
Since 2004, the Monday Muse series (based on the annual theme of JCI-India) is
penned by Pravin Sabnis - a life coach with a passion to connect people to
their potential. He employs his creative competencies in theatre and trekking
in his unlearning unlimited workshops conducted for leading corporate & other
groups.
Pravin K. Sabnis
visit: www.unlearningunlimited .blogspot.com
www.poems-pravinsabnis.blogspot.com
www.monday-muse.blogspot.com
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