Everest Ki Beti | Inspiring Journey Of Arunima Sinha | Book Review

Before a few months ago we got a chance to buy Everest Ki Beti (एवरेस्ट की बेटी) – a Hindi Book exploring the inspiring journey of Arunima Sinha (अरुणिमा सिन्हा). Despite our busy schedules and a stack of “books to be reviewed”, I’d given out-of-turn read to this amazing book from our team. It, however, took me a lot more time in writing a consolidate book review for the same.

The book and Arunima’s fights are so inspirational and emotional that it will shake you to the depth and there will be many incidents which will make you emotional and proud both.

Let us take a look at the book cover.

Book Cover:

No matter how inspirational and fantastic the book content is, it is the book cover which comes to a reader’s notice first. And, a significant number of reading and purchase decisions are influenced by the impression of the cover page.

From the title of the book “Everest Ki Beti” (i.e. Daughter of Everest) and inclusion of Arunima’s name makes it obvious to imagine a book cover having snow-clad mountain peaks of Himalaya along with blue Sky making its presence felt. Of course, we also imagine Arunima is standing in front, in her mountain suit along with the rucksack needed for the track. The cover page has all these elements :). The cover page also quotes praise for Arunima from 3 influential figures from India (Prime Minister Mr. Modi, Industrialist Mr. Ratan Tata, Former CM of UP Mr. Akhilesh Yadav). The color combination is very eye-catching and you will surely find the book cover quite attractive.

Usually, we distinguish a book review into two distinct segments talking about the plot and our views for the distinctively. This book, being a biographical tale, is different in nature. So let us merge both these segments here :).

First of all, have a look at this video, available in the public domain of YouTube where you will got to know a lot about Arunima.

[Arunima Sinha: On top of the world | InkTalks]

Arunima, a young and aspiring girl from the humble place in India was en route to make her dreams true. With the guidance of her brother-in-law, she decided to attempt for joining Central security forces. She is a well-recognized athlete by then. She was prepared for a short and tough journey. Her journey though took a turn which was unexpected and unpredictable by all means.

When some goons tried snatching valuables from the passengers of a crowded train compartment she was in, she became a victim. She fought them very bravely and was beaten badly. And, a lot of passengers were witnessing it in inactive mode. Arunima mentions a very sad mindset of us, as the people, we rather than helping the victim(s) in such scenarios, decides to keep mum in the majority of cases (due to various reasons). She mentions that

हम कदाचित ही दुसरो के लिए आवाज उठाते है, यह सोचकर की यह उनकी समस्या है |

However, when she was around the open door of the train, one of the goons kicked her so powerfully that she was thrown out of the train! And, at that time, another train was passing through the parallel track. And Arunima’s body collided with it. It leads to the situation which is tough to even imagine. In her own words:

दो ट्रेनों से टकराने का यह पिंग-पांग कई सेकंड्स तक चलता रहा, जब तक गुरुत्वाकर्षण बल ने मुझे नीचे झमीन पर नहीं खिंच लिया|

She was collapsed and lost consciousness. She was on the train track in a way that one of her legs was on the track! Her dark time was not over. One train came on that track and she lost her leg to it. Imagine a situation when a young enthusiastic girl thrown out of the train, collided between two trains, landed at a remote place in a cold night, withness another train running over her leg in her full consciousness! She mentions her situation as:

यह आवाज़ मेरे पैर के कटने की थी| मेरे कष्ट सभी प्रभावित न होनेवाली ट्रेन के चले जाने के बाद मृत शांति होते हुए भी मेरी कष्ट भरी चीखों को सुनने के लिए वहाँ कोई भी नहीं था |

And, she adds sarcasm to the situation she was in for hours.

वे संवेदनहीन रेल की बोगियाँ मेरी लचर स्थिति का मजाक उड़ती दिखती थी|

Her “never say die” attitude to giving herself comfort in such tricky situations shows her mental strength. Then, she explains how some people from nearby places came and eventually she was taken to the hospital. But, her tragic time was not over yet. How she was taken to the megacity and eventually, her leg was to be cut. And, no enough tranquilizers were available!

Then the book explores the incidents where we see politicians and officials tried changing the narrative of the incidents and they even threatened the poor people who saved her and took her to the hospital! Eventually, with the help of media, the reality came to notice of everyone, and,… well, the fictional tales may have a time of relief in such situations, but not in real life!

But, the story moves ahead showing her strength and support of her family (well, we are not talking about blood relations here). And, how eventually she conquered Mt. Everest and became the first female amputee to scale Mount Everest and Mount Vinson!

The people living a lavish (or comfortable) life, arguing about various real and hypothetical stuff at the comfort of home or office, blaming their own lives being unfair to them, must read this book and they will never argue that life is unfair to them!

The book is written in the first person and Arunima never tried to seek any unwanted attention or gain sympathy from the readers. She, on the contrary, talks about these real incidents in a “matter of fact” manner and conveys inspirational messages. In fact, she says:

मैं हमेशा से ही मानती थी की यदि आपको रोना है तो आप ऐसा अकेले में ही करे, सबके सामने नहीं | दुनिया एक विजेता को देखना चाहती है, हरे हुए और टूट जानेवाले लोगो की हंसी उड़ाती है |

Here are some of the lines from the book which conveys the messages quite clearly. You can also see the quality of the content you can expect in the book.

एक या दो दशक पहले एक साधारण लड़की के दुःख का पुरे देश की जागरूकता को झिंझोड़ना एक अकाल्पनिक कार्य होता| बिलकुल इसे “ब्रेकिंग न्यूज़” बनाने के लिए आपको एक अच्छी कहानी और भाग्य का साथ चाहिए होता है| … आजकल के समय में केवल विषय-वस्तु रखना ही काफ़ी नहीं है, आपको उसका व्यवसायीकरण करने का हुनर भी आना चाहिए |

Isn’t is a tragic truth (or a life-lesson)?

नियम पालन करने के लिए होते है, परन्तु लोगो को अपनी बुद्धि भी लगनी चाहिए| कम-से-कम मेरे जैसे पूर्णतया दिखाई देनेवाले विकलांगो को लोगो को सिर्फ इसलिए परेशान नहीं करना चाहिए, क्योंकि उनके पास जिला प्राधिकरण द्वारा जारी एक कागज़ का टुकड़ा नहीं है | प्रमाण-पत्र झूठ भी बोल सकते है, परन्तु आँखें नहीं |

Agree with it, right?

Here is a bitter truth of life.

जब हमारे आस-पास के लोग जानवर बन गए थे, तब गे ने हमारी देखभाल की थी, घर की सुरक्षा की थी और हमें दूध दिया था, जिससे हमें जीने में मदद मिली थी| वास्तव में हम इतना डरे हुए थे की हम खली घर में भी नहीं जाते थे और हम उनमें से बहोत दिन बहार बैठकर रट रहे थे| गाय के पास ही सोते थे, जो उस कठिन समय में हमारी सुरक्षा करती थी |

It also tells, that how we humans, when see someone in a compromising situation, in order to take his/her advantage or simply to scare him/her, can lower ourselves from the level of animals. And, we consider “animals” of lower level!

Here are some inspiring lines from the book:

तुम्हारे दिल में तुम पहले ही एवरेस्ट पर चढ़ चुकी हो | अब तुम्हे मात्र इसे दुनिया के समक्ष साबित करना है |
— — — — — —
पर्वत आपको सबसे पहला यह सबक सिखाते है की किसी के आर्थिक स्तर से पृथक प्रत्येक व्यक्ति सामान है |
— — — — — —
प्रत्येक समय, जब तुम्हे लगे की तुम और आगे नहीं जा पाओगी, सिर्फ पीछे देखना और सोचना की कैसे तुम इतनी दूर आयी हो और कितना थोड़ा तुहे आगे अपना लक्ष्य पाने के लिए जाना है |

Here are some lines which explores the wisdom quotient of Arunima.

मैं धीरे धीरे समझने लगाई थी की हर किसी को मुझसे बड़ी उम्मीदे है | लोगो ने मुझमें विश्वास करना आरम्भ कर दिया था | यह अद्भुत और डरावना दोनों ही था| उन सभी की भाषाओ के मेरे साथ जुड़ने के साथ अब यहाँ असफलता की कोई जगह नहीं थी |

And yes, the natural beauty is also explored quite nicely in the book:

सुबह मैं एवरेस्ट के पक्षियों के चहचहाने पर जागी थी, जिनके साथ मैंने एक अनोखा सम्बन्ध जोड़ लिया था| बिस्तर से उठने से पहले उन्हें देखना मेरी दैनिक दिनचर्या का हिस्सा बन चूका था |

And yes, she conveys a piece of important advice for those who aspire to climb mountains.

निचे उतरने के के दौरान हर एक को चढ़ने से ज्यादा सावधान रहना चाहिए | वह इसलिए, क्योंकी निचे के रस्ते पर हर्ष, थकावट और असावधानी का अवसर एक जानलेवा मिश्रण बन जाता है |

So, being rational and having complete control over our emotions is the key!

The book has some typographical errors (especially for words like ट्रेक, ट्रेन).

[Arunima Sinha shares experiences & clips of Mt. Everest climbing at Vadodara Ashrama, 2013 | Ramkrishna Math, Belur Math]

The book also talks about other such Bravehearts. For example, Dr. Rakesh Shrivastav was thrown from a running train. Now he is a doctor and does help to those who need it. And his research work is quite appreciated globally. He worked tirelessly to come up with inventions that can help differently-abled people.

The book gives enough footage to all the characters and rather than talking about the things in superlative tone, it sticks to reality. And, that is one of the positive points of the book.

Summary:

A book that must be read. I bought it during a book promotion scheme, but, at any rate, this book is definitely more than the value for money.

I will definitely give this book at least 8.5 out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy Book From Amazon India – Kindle Ebook
• Buy Book From Amazon USA – Hardcover
• Buy Book From Amazon USA – Paperback
• Buy Book From Amazon USA – Kindle Ebook
• Buy English Version Of The Book From Amazon India – Kindle Ebook
• Buy English Version Of The Book From Amazon USA – Paperback
• Buy English Version Of The Book From Amazon USA – Kindle Ebook

Over To You:

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