Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru)

A class XII student of Mumbai’s CBSE-affiliated Navy Children School, Kaamya Karthikeyan (16) became the youngest Indian to scale Mt. Everest — the highest point on Planet Earth. On May 20, she accomplished this eight-hour gruelling feat from the Nepal side for the first time after pioneer woman mountaineer Bachendri Pal four decades ago.

Conquering new heights is Kaamya’s mission. Since age ten (2017), she has ascended Africa’s highest Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,756 m); Europe’s Mt. Elbrus (5,642 m), Australia’s Mt. Kosciuszko (2,228 m), South America’s Mt. Aconcagua (6,962 m), and North America’s Mt. Denali (6,190 m).

Born into an adventure sports-loving family — Western Navy Commander S. Karthikeyan and her mother Lavanya, an early childhood educator — Kaamya developed interest in mountaineering on her father’s knee as he recounted his several Himalayan mountain-scaling expeditions. “My father has been my role model, coach and in recent years, climbing partner as well! But it was my mother who accompanied me on my first Himalayan trek,” she recalls.

Starting with weekend treks in Lonavala near Mumbai at age three, by the time she was nine, Kaamya had completed several high-altitude Himalayan treks with her parents including Roopkund, Harki Dun and Chandrasheela in Uttarakhand, and reached the Mt. Everest base camp. In 2017, she scaled Stok Kangri peak (6,153 m) in Ladakh.

Kaamya has no regrets about the time invested in her mountaineering expeditions. She believes it has enhanced her academic performance. However, the downside of her climb-every-mountain compulsion is the expense involved. “For instance, Kaamya’s recent Mt. Everest expedition cost Rs.30 lakh. We drew Rs.17 lakh from family savings and the rest through sponsorship for which I’m eternally grateful,” says mother Lavanya.

Kaamya is now bent on completing her mission to climb every major mountain worldwide. “I have drawn up a plan to climb Antarctica’s Mt. Vinson Massif in December this year and become the youngest girl ever to accomplish this mission,” she says with élan.

Go girl!