Risking life and limb for his dream

For 19-year-old Amgoth Tukaram of Thakkelapally tanda in Ranga Reddy district, following his passion has become challenging than scaling the peaks of some of the most difficult mountain ranges in the world!

The spirited youngster, a student of Noble College who has undergone specialised training to chase his dream of scaling the Mt. Everest through the toughest route – South Col – comprising Hillary Steps, has now hit a roadblock in his hunt for sponsorship to realise the trip.

Originally, Amgoth was scheduled to join the American squad on April 5, but he missed it for want of financial support. If he does not raise funds of ₹25 lakh for the 55-day-long trip before May, he would have to wait for another year to get a second chance to realise his dream. In June 2016, Amgoth faced nature’s fury when his bid on Telangana Formation Day to scale Mt Norbu (17,145 ft) had to be cut short owing to snow bridge collapse, while in June 2017, again on Telangan Formation Day, he braved a hailstorm on summit day, but continued 500 metres technical climb to the top and completed it successfully.

Within a month after that, he hoisted the Indian tricolour on 19 flagpole at base camp at Stok Kangri (20,187 ft), despite adverse weather conditions.

“I am planning to scale Mt. Everest through South Col unlike the preferred choice of North or China route. It’s risky and challenging, but I am trained to counter these factors,” says the confident mountaineer. “I always stay positive, and I am not afraid of anything since my dream is to scale the Mt. Everest which very few have dared to from across the world,” he says.

“I am grateful to Sudhakar Rao sir (MD, TSREDCO) for his great support. Not just to me, but to about 5,000 youth by guiding them to get decent jobs,” he says, even while pleading for corporate support to fulfil his dream.