Click to play videoNew Delhi: Most 10-year-olds like football and video games. But, for mountaineer Arjun Vajpai, it was the mountains calling when he was 10. A family trek at the Sahyadri hills set off his mountain lust and later pushed him to scale some of the world's highest peaks including Mt Everest, Mt Lhotse and Mt Manaslu. The young Delhi achiever has gone where no 18-year-old has dared to step in.
"When I saw the sun setting from the peak, that was my time and that was my calling for saying that I should do more of this," Arjun said.
At 16, Arjun Vajpai became the youngest mountaineer ever to have scaled Mt Everest, the world's highest peak. But the astute climber has also had a brush with death.
"While switching one of my anchors, I took the wrong rope, did the classic climber's mistake and went on a totally wrong track and found myself hanging in a crevice. I knew my end was near and could see my death that day," Arjun said.
Back home, Vajpai is like a regular 18-year-old. While his family basks in his achievements, there are anxious moments too. During his last summit to Mt Manaslu, the family had no news of him for hours.
Arjun's mother Priya Vajpai said, "You get all kinds of funny and weird ideas coming into your mind. Finally at around 10:45 he gave us a call and it was like Oh god, where are you and he said no mom, we have already finished the summit."
Each day emboldens Arjun's dreams. He now plans to scale all the 14 mountains in the world which are above 8,000 metres, a feat which no Indian has achieved so far. For the young climber, there can never be a problem of plenty.
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