Reach for the Top

Summary

Santosh Yadav, the mountaineer was born in Joniyawas village in Rewari district in
Haryana, India. She attended Maharani College in Jaipur, where she was able to see
mountaineers from her hostel room. This inspired her to Senroll in Uttarkashi's Nehru
Institute of Mountaineering.
In 1992, Yadav became the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat of scaling
Mount Everest. Within twelve months, she became a member of an Indo-Nepalese
Women's expedition, and scaled Everest the second time, thus setting the record as the
only woman to have scaled the Everest twice.
Yadav was awarded the Padma Shri in recognition of her achievements.

Comprehension Questions

1. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
Santosh, out of curiosity, accompanied some mountaineers on an expedition of the
Aravalli hills. She liked that and thus she began to climb mountains.

2. What kind of society was Santosh Yadav born in? How was her grandmother different
from others?
Santosh Yadav was born in a society where the birth of a son was regarded as a
blessing and a daughter was generally not welcomed.
Her grandmother wanted a girl instead of a boy.

3. Why did Santosh’s grandmother ask the holy man for the blessings of a daughter?
Santosh’s mother already had five sons. So, they no longer wished for a son. That’s why
her grandmother asked the holy man for the blessings of a daughter.

4. How was Santosh unlike other girls of her village?
Santosh, unlike other girls of her village, was not content with the traditional way of life.
She used to wear shorts and did not get married at sixteen as most of the girls of her
village did.

5. Why did Santosh want to fight the system?
Santosh’s parents were affluent. They could have sent her to best schools but according
to tradition, she was sent to the local village school. She felt discontented and decided
to fight the system.

6. What was the right moment? What did Santosh do at the moment?
The right moment to rebel against the custom came when she turned sixteen.
At that moment Santosh refused to marry like other girls at sixteen and left home to
pursue higher education.

7. How did Santosh fulfill her wish to study in Delhi?
Santosh’s wish to study in Delhi was fulfilled when she threatened her parents to never
getting married if she didn’t get proper education. She left home and enrolled herself
in a school in Delhi.

8. How did Santosh Yadav get into the record books?
Santosh Yadav got into the record books for the first time when she scaled Mt. Everest
at the age of twenty. She became the youngest woman in the world to climb Mt.
Everest. She scaled the Everest for the second time the following year, thus becoming
the only woman in the world to do so.

9. How did Santosh make her parents pay for her education at a school in Delhi?
Santosh threatened her parents that she would start working part time to earn for her
school fees. Her strong sense of conviction and dedication enabled her parents to
understand her passion. Thus, she made them pay for her education at a school in
Delhi.

10. What is the secret of Santosh’s success?
Santosh had a strong will power, great physical endurance and an amazing mental
toughness. The single-minded determination and dedication helped her overcome all
hurdles to emerge as a winner. She possessed a remarkable resistance to cold and high
altitude. Her climbing skills and hardworking nature helped her achieve success.

11. Why and how did Santosh get enrolled in Nehru Institute of Mountaineering,
Uttarkashi?
Santosh wanted to pursue climbing as a hobby and as a profession. To get trained in
climbing, she got herself enrolled in the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi
by saving money.

12. What made Santosh popular among her teammates?
Santosh’s dedication and determination made her a role model for others. Her climbing
skills, physical fitness and mental strength impressed her seniors. Her concern for
others, her will to help others by going out of the way and desire to work together with
them made her popular among her teammates.

13. What made Santosh scale Mt. Everest the second time? How was it important?
Santosh scaled Mt. Everest the second time as a member of an Indo-Nepalese Women’s Expedition.
It was important as it secured a unique place for her and India by becoming the only
woman to have scaled the Everest twice.

14. How did Santosh feel when she was literally ‘on top of the world’?
It looks Santosh sometime to understand the enormity of her achievement. She
unfurled the Indian tricolor there. She felt proud as an Indian. It had a spiritual
significance for her. She described her feelings as ‘indescribable’.

Part II: MARIA SHARAPOVA

D. Maria Sharapova is a famous woman tennis player. She won the women’s singles title at
Wimbledon is 2004 and became the world’s No. 1 woman tennis player in 2005. She is a
Russian by birth. She got the professional training in United States of America. She loves
singing, dancing, reading novels and is very hardworking and dedicated.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Why did Maria have to stay away from her mother? How did she feel about that?
Maria had to go to the United States of America for her training at the age of nine.
While her father accompanied Maria, her mother could not come with her because of
visa restrictions.
She used to feel lonely and missed her mother terribly. She did not see her father much
either because he was working hard to pay for her tennis training.

2. What does Maria declare to be her ‘mantra for success’?
Maria worked really hard to fulfill her dreams. She did not allow herself to be emotional
and sentimental. She is very competitive and works hard at whatever she does. This is
her mantra for success. She was led by the dream of becoming the world No. 1.

3. Maria possesses some contradictory characteristics. What are they?
Maria appears to be highly fashionable as far as her looks are considered. But she
possesses a specifically disarming nature that proves her to be friendly and simple. She
appears to be sophisticated and delicate but is a hard worker with never-die-spirit. Her
love for pancakes and orange drinks appears odd with her fondness for evening gowns.

4. How does Maria describe her journey from Siberia to United States?
Maria was just nine years old when she had to leave her home, mother and even
country to go to the United States. She had to sacrifice many things. She also had to
face a lot of humiliation and insults. But she did not give in before the adverse and
challenging conditions. Her competitive nature and hard work helped her become No.
1 tennis player in the world.

5. Why did Maria not retaliate against the humiliation at the hands of the other pupils?
Maria was working hard to become world’s No. 1 tennis player. She had no time to
retaliate to others discouraging tactics. She also had no time for sentiments. So, instead
of retaliating against the humiliation at the hands of the other pupils, she took it as a
challenge and worked harder to achieve success.

6. Describe Maria’s struggle to reach at the top of the world in the field of the women
tennis.
Maria started working to achieve her goal at a very young age. She had to face
separation from her mother and stay in completely unfamiliar and hostile surroundings
for years. She also faced humiliation but never let it affect her. She took it as a
challenge and with her mental toughness and competitive nature; she succeeded in
achieving her goal.

7. How are Maria’s achievements significant?
Maria exemplifies the achievement of success through hard work and dedication. Her
patience and persistence and her success make her an ideal role model for the girls all
over the world. She cannot be pigeon-holed or categorized. Her talent, unwavering
desire to succeed and readiness to sacrifice have lifted her to the top of the world.

Answers to Textbook Questions:

1. Why was the 'holy man' who gave Santosh's mother his blessings surprised? 
The 'holy man' had assumed that Santosh's mother wanted a son as the part of the
society she belonged to regarded the birth of a son as a blessing. However, he was
surprised when the unborn child's grandmother told him that they did not want a son.

2. Give an example to show that even as a young girl Santosh was not ready to accept
anything unreasonable. 
Santosh, from the very beginning, lived life on her own terms. She was not content with
the traditional way of life and was not ready to accept anything unreasonable. One
example which proves this is that Santosh, unlike other girls who wore traditional
Indian dresses, preferred wearing shorts.

3. Why was Santosh sent to the local school?
Even though Santosh's parents could afford to send their children to the best schools,
she was sent to the local village school due to the prevailing custom in the family.

4. When did she leave home for Delhi, and why?
When she turned sixteen and was under pressure to get married, Santosh threatened
her parents that she would never marry if she did not get a proper education.
Therefore, she left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi.

5. Why did Santosh's parents agree to pay for her schooling in Delhi? What mental
qualities of Santosh are brought into light by this incident?
When Santosh informed her parents about her plan to do a part time job to support
her education, they agreed to pay for her schooling in Delhi.
This incident shows that Santosh was a strong headed and determined girl who knew
her way towards her goal.

II. Answer each of the following sentences in a short paragraph. (about 30 words)

1. How did Santosh begin to climb mountains?
The Kasturba Hostel in Jaipur, where Santosh was living while in college, faced the
Aravalli Hills. She used to watch the villagers going up the hills and then suddenly
vanishing after a while. It inspired her to explore the hills. She met a mountaineering
group. The mountaineers allowed her to join them and encouraged her to take up
climbing. Thus, she developed liking for climbing.

2. What incidents during the Everest expedition show Santosh's concern for her team- mates?
During the Everest mission, Santosh showed immense concern for her fellow climbers.
Though she was unsuccessful in saving the life of one of them, she did manage to save
another climber through artificial respiration.

3. What shows her concern for the environment?
Santosh was a fervent environmentalist. Her concern for the environment is evident
from the fact that she collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the
Himalayas.

4. How does she describe her feelings at the summit of the Everest?
Santosh asserted that her feeling at the summit of the Everest was ‘indescribable’. Unfurling the Indian flag on the top of the world was a spiritual moment for her and
she felt proud as an Indian.

5. Santosh Yadav got into the record books both times she scaled Mt. Everest. What were
the reasons for this?
When Santosh Yadav first scaled Mt. Everest, she became the youngest woman in the
world to achieve the feat. When she scaled the Everest the second time, she became
the only woman to have scaled it twice.

Q3 Complete the following statements.

1. From her room in Kasturba Hostel, Santosh used to watch the villagers going up the hill
and suddenly vanishing after a while.

2. When she finished college, Santosh had to write a letter of apology to her father
because she had got herself enrolled at Uttarkashi without her father’s permission.

3. During the Everest expedition, her seniors in the team admired her climbing skills,
physical fitness and mental strength while her concern for others and desire to work
together with them endeared her to fellow climbers.

Q4 Pick out words from the text that mean the same as the following words or
expressions. (Look in the paragraphs indicated.)

1. took to be true without proof (1): assumed
2. based on reason; sensible; reasonable (2): rational
3. the usual way of doing things (3): custom
4. a strong desire arising from within (5): urge

5. the power to endure, without falling ill (7): resistance

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Q 1 Read the extracts given below and answer the following questions.

(a) I asked if I could join them. To my pleasant surprise, they answered in the affirmative

and motivated me to take to climbing.

i. Who is referred to as ‘them’? Where did she meet them?

The mountaineers, whom Santosh Yadav met on the Aravalli Hills, are referred to as

‘them’.

ii. What was the effect of the meeting on Santosh Yadav?

The mountaineers motivated Santosh Yadav to take to climbing.

iii. Which course did Santosh Yadav enrol herself in?

Santosh Yadav saved money and enrolled in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of

Mountaineering.

iv. Find the antonym of ‘discouraged’.

motivated

(b) “I used to be lonely,” Maria Sharapova recalls. “I missed my mother terribly.”

i. Where had Maria come and why?

Maria had come to the United States from Siberia with her father to receive training in

Tennis.

ii. Why was her mother not with her?

Maria’s mother could not be come with her because of visa restrictions.

iii. Why did Maria feel lonely?

Maria was in a foreign land was not well treated by the older tennis pupils. Her father

couldn’t see her because he working hard to keep her tennis training going.

iv. Give the synonym of ‘recalls’.

remembers

Q 2 Answer each of the following questions in about 30-40 words.

(a) What surprised the travelling ‘holy man’? Did his blessings work?

The travelling ‘holy man’ assumed that like everyone Santosh’s mother also wanted a

son. When Santosh’s grandmother requested him for a daughter, he was surprised.

Yes, his blessings seemed to work.

(b) Why did Santosh go to Jaipur?

Santosh always wanted to study more, and her father got used to her urge for more

education. So, after passing high school, she went to Jaipur and joined the Maharani

College.

(c) Why did Santosh write a letter of apology to her father?

Santosh saved money and enrolled in a Mountaineering course at Uttakarshi. Due to

lack of time, she headed straight for the training at the end of her college semester.

And did not go home. Hence, she wrote a letter of apology to her father without

whose permission she had enrolled at Uttarkashi.

(d) What does Maria declare to be her ‘mantra for success’?

Maria worked really hard to fulfill her dreams. She did not allow herself to be

emotional and sentimental. She is very competitive and works hard at whatever she

does. This is her mantra for success. She was led by the dream of becoming the world

No. 1.

(e) What makes it amply clear that Maria Sharapova considers all the sacrifices

worthwhile?

Sharapova’s journey from the frozen plains of Siberia has touched the hearts of tennis

fans but for her there seems to be no room for sentiment. The straight looks and the

answers she gives makes it amply clear that she considers that all her sacrifices

worthwhile.

Q3 Answer each of the following questions in 100-150 words.

(a) Describe Santosh’s fight against the system.

Santosh’s parents were affluent. They could have sent her to best schools but

according to the tradition, she was sent to the local village school. She felt

discontented and decided to fight the system.

Right from the beginning Santosh had to assert for her right to equality and

education. She never lost her spirit and determination. She defied all the customs and

traditions which limit the girls within the spheres of family, marriage and children. She

ventured into a man’s domain to become a role model for others.

Santosh threatened her parents that she would start working part time to earn for her

school fees. Thus, they agreed to pay for her education.

(b) How did the other tennis pupils at the training treat Maria? How did she cope with it?

Maria was young, only around nine years old and would go to bed early. The older

tennis pupils would come in at eleven and wake her up and order her to tidy up and

clean the room. She did not let that depress her. She became more quietly determined

and mentally tough. She learnt how to take care of herself. She never thought of

quitting because she knew what she wanted. According to her, When you come from

nothing and have nothing, it makes you very hungry and determined. She would have

put up with more humiliation and insults to steadfastly pursue her dream.