IIT alumnus scales Mt Everest within seven weeks of recovering from Covid-19

Neeraj Chaudhary tested positive for Covid19 on the day he was to start from Kathmandu for the Mount Everest but that did not deter the IIT Delhi alumnus who returned to the base camp within weeks of his recovery and ultimately managed to hoist the institutions flag besides the tricolour atop the summitWhile the country was reeling under the aggressive second wave of Covid19 Chaudharys family members in Rajasthan were hooked to their phones waiting for an update about his wellbeingChaudhary 37 did his MTech in Environmental Sciences and Management at Indian Institute of Technology IIT Delhi during 200911 and he is currently working with the Rajasthan governments Water Resources DepartmentHe took to mountaineering in 2014 and in 2020 got selected as a member of Indian Mountaineering Foundation IMF Everest Expedition under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports However the expedition was postponed due to the outbreak of coronavirusThis year amid the uncertainty posed by the pandemic he reached Kathmandu with the team to begin the expedition But I hit a roadblock when I tested positive for Covid and had to return to Jaipur I was feeling fatigued since a few days but I had no other symptoms Chaudhury told PTIIn that moment as well I wasnt really thinking of Covid All I could think of was how much effort I had put in and the preparations I had done to reach there and that was my chance to complete it I think that motivation of not having a second chance anytime soon helped me push my body harder and there I was he addedHe tested positive on March 27 and was back in Kathmandu in April itself He managed to scale the peak on May 31Chaudhary recalls that once he was back in Kathmandu after recovering from the infection the news updates from India about the Covid19 situation worried him while his family was on tenterhooks due to updates of cyclones in subsequent weeksIt wasnt easy mentally and mountaineering is not just a physical effort When I reached there then also it took me three attempts within 36 hours to ultimately reach the top but once there it was the best feeling I managed to scale the peak on May 31 he saidCrediting IIT Delhi for shaping his career and the alumni association for helping him start a fundraiser of Rs 24 lakh for the expedition Chaudhary took the IIT flag with himA flag in ceremony was held at IIT Delhi on Friday to mark the achievementIts a matter of great pride that an alumnus of IIT Delhi Neeraj Choudhary MTech Shivalik hostel successfully scaled Mt Everest summit 884886m AMSL on May 31 Neeraj carried the IIT Delhi flag with him and hoisted it on Mount EverestHe started the summit push directly from CampII 6400m AMSL on May 30 and after the summit on 31st returned directly to CampII in a continuous effort of almost 36 hours IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal RaoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever