Reach for the Top Class 9 English, Beehive – Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings

Santosh Yadav is the first woman in the world who has climbed Mt Everest twice. She was born in a society where a son was considered as a blessing and a daughter was not welcomed. Once, a holy man visited the family to bless Santosh’s mother with a son but Santosh’s grandmother told him that they wanted a daughter. Santosh, a sister of five elder brothers, was born in a small village in Joniyawas of Rewari district in Haryana.

Santosh’s name means contentment or satisfaction but she was never satisfied with the traditional life of her society. So, she started to live her life according to her own terms. The other girls of the society wore traditional dresses while Santosh wore shorts. Santosh believed that if she followed the right path, the other people around her would have to change. Santosh’s parents were rich landowners. They had the capacity to send Santosh to the best schools of Delhi. But while her brothers were educated properly in good schools, she was sent to the local village school because of family custom. Santosh decided to fight this system.

Santosh’s parents wanted to marry her at the age of 16 because in her village, most of the girls got married at this age. Santosh refused to marry and threatened her parents that she would not get married until she gets proper education. Santosh left her home and got admission in a school in Delhi. Her parents, initially refused to pay the fees, but when she told them that she would work part time to pay the fees, they agreed to pay for her education.

Santosh passed her high school and got admission in Maharani college in Jaipur. She got a room in Kasturba Hostel which faced the Aravalli Hills. She used to see some villagers going up the hills and then disappearing after some time. One day, Santosh checked herself to know where the climbers were disappearing. She found that those people were mountaineers. They motivated Santosh to take interest in climbing. Santosh was a determined girl. She took admission in Nehru Institute of Mountaineering located in Uttarkashi. After completing her course in Jaipur, she directly left for Uttarkashi. Santosh wrote a letter to her father and apologised for taking admission in Uttarkashi without his permission.

In Uttarkashi, Santosh went on an expedition every year. She developed climbing skills and an amazing immunity to cold and high altitude. She as a mountaineer had an iron will, physical endurance (capacity to tolerate) and mental toughness. Santosh’s hard work and determination led her to climb Mt Everest, the highest peak in the world in 1992. She had climbed Mt. Everest at just 20 years of age. She became the youngest female to climb Mt Everest.

Apart from her mountaineering skills, Santosh also impressed her seniors with her humanity. Her concern for others and her desire to work together as a team made her a special person. During Everest mission in 1992, she provided special care to her teammate in South Col. Unfortunately, she could not save him. However, she saved another climber, Mohan Singh by sharing her oxygen with him.

After a year of her first success, Santosh, joined an Indo-Nepalese Women’s Expedition and again climbed Mt Everest. She became the first women to climb Mt Everest twice. Her achievements brought glory to her and also gave India a unique place in mountaineering. The Indian government recognised Santosh’s achievements and awarded her with the Padma Shri.

Santosh felt the happiest moment of her life when she climbed Mt. Everest. She describes the feeling as unreal. She felt proud when she unfurled the Indian flag. Santosh Yadav is not only a mountaineer but she is also an environmentalist. She collected and brought down 500 kgs of garbage from the Himalayas.