The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Scaling new heights

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Scaling new heights

Staff Reporter

Prakash wishes to join the Army and excel as an officer

HONOURING A HERO: Deputy Director General of NCC P.P. Singh felicitating S. Prakash for scaling Sudarshan Parvat, at the NCC Group Headquarters in Chennai on Tuesday. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI: He braved several odds and scaled heights. Literally.

S. Prakash, a corporal with the National Cadet Corps and a student of Gurunanak College, has climbed the Sudarshan Parvat in Uttaranchal, scaling 21,350 feet.

This feat he achieved on June 9, wading through a thick blanket of snow and carefully avoiding avalanches. By his side were a Junior Commissioned Officer, three Ladakh scouts and another cadet from Uttaranchal.

"I owe this success to Subedar Negi who helped me climb the peak," Prakash told reporters on Tuesday. "I was first asked to get off because the technical equipment for climbing was not sufficient. It was he who said he would want me to go along."

He was composed while receiving a memento from the Deputy Director General of NCC, P.P. Singh. Commodore Singh said the achievement was extraordinary because Prakash happened to be from the plains, and not one from the hills.

Reaching the Sudarshan heights was only a step towards his goal. He wishes to join the army and excel as an officer.

"Last summer, he worked part time to earn some money so that he could pay his fees," said I. Babu Rathinam, the NCC officer of Gurunanak College.

His father, Subramanian, is a daily wage earner while his mother, Anusuya, helps out in nearby agricultural fields and grows a little of her produce too. They shifted from Kancheepuram to Tambaram so that he could continue his studies.

VAM Hussain, Commander, NCC Group Headquarters, Madras A, said the last time the Sudarshan peak was captured was in 1986 but it was done mostly by cadets and scouts from Garhwal and Ladakh.

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