Rohit Rao is the son of Arjuna Award winning para-athlete, Late Srinivasa Rao Madasu.
Rohit Rao starts gasping for air. It is 6000 meters above sea level.
Dzo Jongo Peak (6240 m) in July, while still accessible, is not easily scalable. Rohit made it to the base camp at a distance of 5,800 meters after hitting a six Climb day. He is technically close to the top.
As the air becomes thinner, the peak fades away. It’s dark too. He left the base camp at around 9.30 pm. It’s almost 2 o’clock now. Or maybe 3 o’clock. After a point, he does not know what time it is, where he is or where he is going. Their trek leader is worried and advises Rohit to go back.
However, the latter is on a mission. He wants to display a picture on top of the mountain. He reassures the leader and himself that he can move on.
Rohit moves on. At an altitude of 6,150 meters, he needs to climb an almost steep slope to get to the mountain. Looking down will create an atmosphere of panic. One slip can prove fatal. The following 90 meters was the biggest challenge of his life.
However, Rohit defeated it. At an altitude of 6,240 meters above sea level, he displays a photograph of his father, Srinivasa Rao Madasu, an Arjuna Award-winning para-athlete who passed away in March after battling cancer.
“It was the most wonderful experience of his life,” said Rohit, recalling the trek he did three months ago.
Srinivasa Rao represented India at the Paralympics, World Championships and Asian Meets in Badminton, Shooting, Table Tennis, Fencing and Weightlifting. He also participated in various wheelchair marathons.
Srinivas won the gold medal at the Para World Shooting Championships in London in 1996. In 2002, he won a gold medal at the World Para-Badminton Championships. The following year he received the Arjuna Award.
However, his enthusiasm for the game hardly waned on his eldest brother. Son. “I was lazy. I hated getting up early. My father tried to get me enrolled in badminton and table tennis when I was in fourth grade. I was not interested,” says Rohit, who was still in the mountains. When his parents used to scold him, he would threaten them saying, “I will leave home and go to the Himalayas.”
Much later in life, he remembered these teenage ultimatums when he became interested in mountaineering. Rohit had started working in Accenture by now. He was the son of a skilled athlete. And, he felt that he did not have a single achievement to his name. He wanted his father to be proud of him.
In December 2018, he signed up for his first trek to Kedarkantha, a peak of 4115 meters in Uttarakhand. He wasn’t sure he could pull it off. However, when she climbed the mountain, she felt thrilled, proud and confident. “It gives you a high. When you reach the top, everything looks smaller. It’s like you’re on top of the world.”
Rohit was aware of high peaks. He felt that he could conquer them too. So, in 2019, he went for the Pangarchulla Peak (about 4500 m) trek and Stok Kangri (6153 m). The COVID-19 pandemic halted his campaigns for most of 2020. In December, he climbed Dayara Bugyal (3639 m). He started 2021 with the trek to Brahmatal (3734 m) before his Dzo Jongo adventure in August.
Next comes Mount Everest.
Rohit, who works in Hyderabad, says it will take at least three more years. “You have to increase the height gradually. I am already running and cycling to get more and more height. I am also looking for some financial support in my quest. I am not resting till then. Until I reach the top of Everest.”
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