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| Reach For The Top Summary |
Part I:
Santosh Yadav was born in a traditional family. She had five brothers. She was born in the small village of Joniyawas in Haryana. The girl was given the name Santosh, which means contentment. But Santosh was not always content with her place in a traditional way of life. She began living life on her own terms from the start. Where other girls wore traditional Indian dresses, Santosh preferred shorts. Santosh’s parents were affluent landowners who could afford to send their children to the best schools, even to the country’s capital Delhi, which was quite close by. But, in line with the prevailing custom in the family, Santosh had to make do with the local village school. At the age of sixteen years, her parents wanted to marry her. She threatened her parents that she would never many if she did not get a proper education. She left home and got herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. When her parents refused to pay for her education. she politely informed them of her plans to earn money by working part-time to pay her school fees. Her Parents then agreed to pay for her education. Santosh passed the high school examinations and went to Jaipur. She joined Maharani College widget a room in Kasturba Hostel. She developed a love for mountaineering while watching the Aravalli Hills’ She saved money and enrolled in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. Thereafter, Santosh went on an expedition every year. Her climbing skills matured rapidly’. Also, she developed a remarkable resistance to cold and the altitude. Equipped with an iron will, Physical endurance and an amazing mental toughness, she proved herself repeatedly. The culmination of her hard work and sincerity came in 1992, just four years after she had shyly asked the Aravalli mountaineers if she could join them. At barely twenty years of age, Santosh Yadav conquered Mt. Everest, becoming the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. If her climbing skills, physical fitness, and mental strength impressed her seniors, her concern for others and desire to work together with them found her a special place in the hearts of fellow climbers. During the 1992 Everest mission, Santosh Yadav provided special care to a climber who ‘lay dying at the South Col. She was unfortunately unsuccessful in saving him. However, she managed to save another climber, Mohan Singh, who would have met with the same fate had she not shared her oxygen with him. Within twelve months, Santosh found herself a member of an Indo-Nepalese Women’s Expedition that invited her to join them. She then conquered the Everest a second time. – She was given a Padmashri Award. She is also a fervent environmentalist, Santosh collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.Part II:
Reach for the Top (Part II) briefly narrates the life and career of Maria Sharapova, one of the world’s best-known tennis stars.
Maria’s father brought her to the U.S. to be trained in tennis when she was barely nine. Her mother Yelena could not accompany her due to Visa restrictions. In the U.S. she missed her mother badly but she knew that the sacrifice was an inevitable part of her big aspirations.
Apart from the pangs of separation from the mother, the child also suffered harassment from her inconsiderate fellow trainees, who were older in age. At the training academy, Maria would go to bed at 8 p.m as she was very young. Her fellow trainees would return at 11 p.m. and to bully her, would wake her up and make her tidy the room. Instead of getting frustrated at this treatment, Maria saw its positive side and drew mental strength from this humiliation. This mental toughness gradually became a trait of her personality that helped her both as a person and as a sportswoman. It proved to be instrumental in helping her to reach the zenith of glory in the world of tennis. She bagged the women’s singles crown at Wimbledon in 2004 and became the number one tennis player in the world.
Hard work, dedication, and mental courage paved the way to success for Sharapova. Imbued with patriotic sentiments, she feels proud to be a Russian. Though grateful to the U.S. for bringing out the best in her, she would like to represent her own country Russia at the Olympics.
Although Maria is fond of fashion, singing, and dancing, she focuses all her attention on tennis. She considers tennis as both a business and a sport, which has poured riches in her life. However, her main aim is to shine as a tennis player. It is this aspiration that constantly governs her mind and motivates her for ceaseless efforts.
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