You climbed Mt Everest at 16! Were you born with an extra pair of lungs or something?
That’s funny! But I did play volleyball and football at the district level as a kid and I am a student of karate and taekwando. I think my stamina comes from being a sporty kid. But it was always about climbing, ever since I went on a trek at the age of 10. By the time I was 14, I had convinced my parents to enroll me at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Darjeeling. I knew then that this was my true calling.

When did you graduate to climbing more than just hills?
I was 15 when I faced my first tough test in 2009. I went on an expedition and reached the summit of DKD2, an 18,000-feet high Himalayan peak. I was short of oxygen and struggled towards the end but somehow pulled through. I then followed it up by reaching the top of the Island Peaks (21,000 feet) a few months later. Since then, there has been no looking back.