Premlata Agarwal – First India Women To Conquer Seven Summits

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Premlata Agarwal, a homemaker who became a Mountaineer, is the perfect example for “Age is just a number”.  Premlata is the first Indian woman to have climbed all the seven highest summits across the globe. Being a housewife and mother of two daughters didn’t stop her from conquering the Mountains.

 It all started when Premlata Agarwal took her daughters to the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur, for their tennis training. She came across a poster about Dalma hill Trek( a small hill on the outskirts of Jamshedpur) contest that is being organized by the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation. Even though she was 35 years old, she made up her mind to participate in it. Much to her surprise, she stood 3rd among the 500 people who participated.

 Following her win, when she visited Tata Steel Adventure Foundation to collect her Certificate, she was awed by the pictures of legendary Bachendri Pal’s Himalayan journeys. At that instance,  she decided she wanted her daughters to get into an adventure sport. But after meeting legendary Bachendri Pal her perception changed and she herself got into adventure sports.

 Mountaineering Journey of Premlata Agarwal

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After 2 years, Premlata started her mountaineering career at 37 under the guidance of Bachendri Pal. In the year 2000, she completed her basic mountaineering course. After that, she  kept on going for treks and expeditions with Bachendri Pal and others every year,

Further, Bachendri Pal helped Premlata get a sponsorship deal from Tata Steel Adventure Foundation and guided her throughout her journey.

 In the year 2008, she went to an all women’s expedition to Kilimanjaro with Bachendri pal and she treasures this as one of her best and that made her go to the next level in Mountaineering. While they were getting down Bachendri told Prem “ that she thinks Prem was ready to attempt Mount Everest, as she has all the abilities to summit Everest”.And these words from the legend motivated Premlata and laid the foundation for her successful mountaineering venture.

In 2011, Premlata climbed  Mt Everest at the age of 48, but her journey didn\’t just stop at Everest as she went on to climb the highest peaks of the seven continents. 

Premlata Agarwal was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2017 for her great achievements in mountaineering.

Premlata is planning for her next venture and is getting ready to unfurl the Tricolour in the South Pole and the North Pole.

Her story is a great inspiration for all of us who set out to achieve their goals.  Her story is proof that tells us” Age is just a number, and if you are ready to work hard in perseverance all your dreams will come true for sure”.

Also, read: A Tea-seller Couple Traveled The World.

Checkout:  Premlata\’s Profile

Vijayan And Mohana – The Tea-seller couple From Kerala Who Travelled The World

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If you think only rich people can travel around the world, then think again. You are sure to change your mindset, once you read this story as in how a normal tea-seller couple traveled to different countries and conquered their dreams. 

\”If you really want to chase your dreams, nothing can stop you from it,\” a line like this may seem surreal for many of us, but not for Vijayan who runs a tea stall in Kochi and traveled to 25 countries. 

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Vijayan got addicted to traveling from his dad at the mere age of 6 when his dad took him around south Indian to the various temples. Later, when he was a teenager, he would steal food grains from his kitchen, sell it, and run away to see new places. To your surprise, his obsession for travel hasn’t stopped yet, even when he is as old as 70.

Vijayan has been running a tea stall by the name “Sree Balaji Coffee shop” along with his wife Mohana for over forty years now.in Gandhinagar, Kochi. Vijayan and his wife have managed to tour India extensively and have traveled to  25 countries around the world by using whatever they earned from the coffee Stall.

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Even though everyone makes fun and calls him crazy, Vijayan says“I want to see the world. This is my desire, my only desire. Yes, I am crazy. Everybody has his own craziness,”  Together, they have gone to Himalayas, Madras, Delhi, Kanyakumari, Haridwar, Bangalore, Egypt, Jordan, London, Paris, Switzerland, Venice, Singapore. Argentina, Brazil, Newzealand, Australia, and Malaysia, to name a few places from their list.

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How Vijayan and Mohana The Tea-seller Couple Save Money To Travel

Usually, they save INR 300 a day for their tickets and take bank loans to travel and then work relentlessly upon their return to pay it back. Besides this, they try restricting themselves to 10 dollars or less on picking up some tiny souvenirs from the places they visit and also refrain from spending anywhere else. They haven’t even employed any person in their stall to cut costs. 

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The couples continue to fuel their wanderlust and are already planning their next dream destination, the United States, Apart from this, they are also planning to start a travelogue and tell their travel stories through that.

Mohana’s and Vijayan\’s story is not just about their travel, but something much more than that like their philosophies, beliefs, perspective, and the way they see life. Their story can inspire anyone who dares to follow their dream. Ultimately their story conveys “ success is not the same for every individual, but if you follow your heart anything and everything is possible in this world”

Also, read:

Things to do in Fort Kochi.