Question

When did she leave home for Delhi and why?

Answer 1

Hint: The context of the above question is given in the chapter ‘Reach for the Top’ part 1. It is about Santosh Yadav, the only woman in the world who scaled Mt Everest twice.

Complete answer:
She in the question refers to Santosh Yadav. She was born in the small village of Joniyawas of Rewari District in Haryana. She had five brothers and she was the only girl child to her parents.

She was born in a society where the birth of a baby boy was celebrated while the birth of a baby girl wasn’t generally welcomed. Girls in her village were married off at a very young age. Santosh never wanted to pursue the life that had been designed by society. While the girls around her would wear traditional dresses, she would prefer to wear shorts. And while girls around her were getting married at the age of 16, she was determined to study further.

She was also being pressured by her family to get married at an early age, but marriage was the last thing on her mind. She then threatened her parents that she will not get married ever, if she does not get a proper education.

Therefore it was due to the pressure of marriage that she left home for Delhi to complete her high school.

Note: Santosh Yadav scaled Mt. Everest at the age of 20. She became the youngest person to scale the Mountain in 1992. In 1993 she scaled Everest for the second time. Also being a fervent environmentalist, Santosh collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.