Reach for the Top Summary: A Story of Perseverance

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 8 Reach for the Top is the Biography of two prominent figures, Santosh Yadav the only woman mountaineer, who climbed Mt. Everest twice and a Siberian girl Maria Sharapova, who became the world’s number one women tennis player in 2005. Both the women show that with determination and hard work, one can overcome all obstacles and achieve success.

Theme

There are two parts of Chapter 8 Reach for the Top. The first part is about Santosh Yadav, a record-holding mountaineer. Santosh Yadav was born in a very conservative society in Haryana, where daughters had no freedom but Santosh took control of her life with her strong will power and dedication. As a result, she became the first woman to climb Mt. Everest twice.

The second part of Chapter 8 Reach for the Top is about Maria Sharapova, a teenager who achieved the number one position in World’s Women Tennis. Maria had many sacrifices and also suffered humiliation to reach the top. However, all these only made her tough and more determined. Her hard work and her mental toughness finally led her to achieve her goal.

Summary of Reach for the Top Class 9 English

Part I

Santosh Yadav is the first woman in the world who has climbed Mt. Everest twice. She was born in a society where a son was considered as a blessing and a daughter was not welcomed. Once, a holy man visited the family to bless Santosh’s mother with a son but Santosh’s grandmother told him that they wanted a daughter. Santosh was the only sister to her five elder brothers. She was born in a small village in Joniawas of Rewari district in Haryana.

Santosh’s name means contentment or satisfaction but she was never satisfied with the traditional life of her society. She started to live her life according to her own terms from a very early age. When other girls of society wore traditional dress, Santosh wore shorts.

While her brothers were educated properly in good schools, she was sent to the local village school because of the family custom. Santosh decided to fight the system. When Santosh’s parents wanted to get her married at the age of sixteen as per the old tradition, Santosh refused to marry and threatened parents that she would not get married until she gets a proper education. She left home and got admission in a school in Delhi. Initially, her parents refused to pay the fees but later agreed because Santosh threatened them that she would work part-time to pay the fees.

Santosh passed her high school and got admission in Maharani College in Jaipur. Her room in the Kasturba hostel faced the Aravalli hills. She used to see some villagers going up the hills and then disappearing after some time. One day, she checked herself to know where the climbers were disappearing. She found that those people were mountaineers. They motivated Santosh to take interest in climbing.

Santosh was a determined girl and she took admission in Nehru Institute of Mountaineering without informing her parents. In Uttarkashi, Santosh went on expeditions every year. She developed climbing skills and an amazing immunity to cold and high altitude. Her hard work and determination led her to climb Mt. Everest, the highest peak in the world in 1992. She was only twenty years old when she first climbed Mt. Everest. Apart from her mountaineering skills, Santosh also impressed her seniors with her humanity. Her concern for others and her desire to work together as a team made her a special person.

After a year of her first success, Santosh joined an Indo-Nepalese Women’s Expedition and again climbed Mt. Everest. She became the first woman to climb Mt. Everest twice. Her achievements brought glory to her and also gave India a unique place in mountaineering. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian government. Santosh Yadav is not only a mountaineer but she is also an environmentalist. She collected five hundred kgs of garbage from the Himalayas.

Part II

Maria Sharapova was born in Siberia, Russia. She was a calm, confident and friendly teenager who reached the top position in only four years.

Maris’s journey towards becoming the biggest women tennis player started when she was nine years old. She went to America to get formal training. In her journey to Florida, only her father went with her. Her mother could not accompany them because of visa restrictions. She had to live without her mother for two years. She missed her mother very much and her father could not give her much time as he was earning hard to earn money for her training.

At the training centre, Maria was the youngest child and she was bullied by others. Her experience during the training period made her more determined and tough. She struggled hard and learned to take care of herself. She was determined to reach her goal so she never thought about quitting. Her strong determination and will power made her win the Women’s Single Crown at Wimbledon in 2004. In 2005, she became the number one women tennis player in the world.

Maria’s journey inspired many youngsters. She believes that all the sacrifices that she had made were worth it. Maris’s way of answering clearly indicated her confidence. For her, hard work is the mantra for success. Maria wishes to play in the Olympics for Russia because she is actually a Russian by birth. Her other hobbies are fashion, singing and dancing. She loves reading and she is very fond of evening gowns.

Maria’s talent, determination and readiness to sacrifice led her to the path of success and fame.

In English, Reach for The Top Summary

Reach for the Top is divided into two segments, one about Santosh Yadav and the other about Maria Sharapova. Santosh is the protagonist of the first part. Santosh was the only woman in the world to have conquered Mt. Everest twice when she wrote this narrative. It opens by describing her birth in a community that regarded girls as a curse. We learn that Haryana is her birthplace, and she defies cultural expectations by claiming her identity.

She had been subjected to gender prejudice since she was a child, and she determined to forge her own path. She applied for admission in Delhi and paid for her education entirely on her own, performing part-time jobs. She then moved to a hostel in Jaipur, where her life began to alter. She decided to join a mountaineering adventure and never looked back. She earned it through hard effort and a professional course in which she succeeded.

Then, at the age of 20, she scaled Mount Everest in 1992. She was the first woman to do it, and she even helped another climber by sharing her oxygen. She made India proud by making history, and the government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri award. After that, we get Part II, which focuses on Maria Sharapova, a well-known tennis player. We hear about her rise to the top of the women's tennis rankings. She worked hard, put in a lot of effort, and made a lot of sacrifices to become a top tennis player.

The intimate story of her life reveals that she began her journey to become a great tennis player at a young age. She was born in Siberia, Russia, and left her home at the age of nine to pursue her goal. At the age of nine, she had to separate from her mother and relocate to Florida with her father. Her father worked long and hard hours to pay for her education, and he was bullied because she was a foreigner. We hear about her dance, singing, and fashion interests. Finally, we discover that, while money is important, she has always aspired to be number one.

The End of "Reach for The Top"

To summarise the Reach for the Top summary, we learn from these two amazing women that if we put our minds to it, perseverance, hard work, and dedication will always be rewarded.