A-23-year-old boy, hailing from Yellankonda Mandal in Vikarabad district of Telangana, has conquered Mount Everest. Thirupati Reddy started his expedition on April 8, 2019 and came back on May 28, 2019.
Inspired by Malli Mastan Babu, a world record holder for climbing each continent's highest mountain peaks in a shortest span of time, Reddy ascended three out of the seven highest mountain peaks of the world. The young mountaineer has scaled Mount Everest in India, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and Mount Kosciuszko in Australia and is now planning to scale the next four highest peaks of the world.
Coming from a family of farmers, Reddy wasn't fortunate enough to be able to avail training for the expedition. "I have a poor family background but my family has always been supported me. We had only one acre of land and my family mortgaged it to raise Rs 5 lakhs for my training" said Reddy.
The total cost of the expedition was around Rs 25 lakhs. With the support of his relatives, he managed to raise enough money through crowdfunding. S Athmalingam, former sarpanch of Shankarpally, contributed Rs. 10 lakhs.
"I never knew that my efforts to raise funds would get such a positive response. I had approached schools and colleges; there the students gave me their pocket money. Their affection encouraged me further to try harder " he said.
When asked about his experience, the young mountaineer said "I dedicate this victory to my sponsors. The only message I want to give to youngsters is that there is nothing which we cannot do. All children and youngsters should strive to make their parents proud" said the young mountaineer.
( With inputs from ANI )