In a story of great courage and might, a teacher from Chennai, became the first woman from Tamil Nadu to climb Mount Everest. Muthamizh Selvi, who teaches Japanese in Chennai, set out on the quest to scale the world's highest peak on April 2. After 56 days of a challenging journey, she reached the summit on May 23 and returned to Kathmandu on May 27.
Tamil Nadu sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who helped her arrange funds for the expedition, congratulated Muthamizh on the rare achievement.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin also took to Twitter to congratulate her.
Selvi faced many challenges and even came across dead bodies on her way to the summit. Even after her sherpa fell ill, Selvi didn’t give up and continued her journey. Despite losing two campmates, Selvi completed the feat in 56 days to become the first Tamil woman to scale Mount Everest.
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“While I was crossing Camp 4, I saw many bodies there. I was afraid, but I didn't give up as I had to create a record for Tamil Nadu’s history,” Selvi, told PTI.
Selvi left Chennai for Delhi on April 2 and set out on the 38-day climb of 7,150 metres peak. She also recorded a video of her experience from Mount Everest.
Who is Muthamizh Selvi?
Muthamizh Selvi hails from Johilpatti near Kariapatti in the Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. She was interested in mountain climbing since her childhood and was actively engaged in sports and rock climbing. The mother of two daughters has extensively worked to spread awareness of women's empowerment.
In 2021 she set a new world record by rappelling down blindfolded from a 155-foot mountain in less than a minute. The record was registered in the UNICO Book of World Records.
Story of her expedition
Muthamizh Selvi told the Times of India that she always had a dream to climb Mount Everest and for that she approached Asian Trekking, a private company. She first scaled the Kang Yatse in Ladakh to become eligible for the expedition.
However, as she was short of funds, she approached the TN Government for aid. Tamil Nadu sports department and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin arranged Rs 25 lakh for her, out of which Rs 10 lakh was from a government fund and Rs 15 lakh was from sponsors.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
