Ichhapur (Barrackpore subdivision of North 24 Parganas District), WEST BENGAL :
KOLKATA:
Forty eight hours after they had scaled Mount Everest on Sunday, Shaikh Sahabuddin and Kuntal Karar were flown off to Kathmandu. Families of both of them are now praying hard for the speedy recovery of Karar whose tryst with the mountains has left him battling serious frostbite. However, Karar has assured his family that all is well and he would be back soon to savour home-cooked ‘doi chicken’ with naan.
Sahabuddin, who works in the Metal & Steel Factory of Ichhapur, has become a big hero for his colleagues. “Having scaled many mountains, my husband was always a hero in office. But with the Everest mission, he has become a bigger hero. His office colleagues and bosses are in Kathmandu to receive and congratulate him. Even my father is hoping to come down on May 28 from Kashmir to wish him,” said Sahabuddin’s wife Ruksana, who hails from Kashmir.
His younger brother, Shaikh Salauddin, works as a heating ventilation air conditioning engineer and is proud of his sibling’s achievement. Apparently, two months before the expedition, Sahabuddin underwent a surgery. Yet, nothing could stop him from wanting to reach the Everest. Salauddin is waiting to begin the celebrations back home once he returns. “Whatever happens, we were always sure that he would make the summit,” said Salauddin, who also dreams of scaling the Everest one day.
The family has been told that Sahabuddin is perhaps the first Indian Muslim mountaineer to have scaled the Everest. “We have been living in Ichhapur for 30 years. For us, divisions based on religion, caste or creed don’t matter,” he said.
Sahabuddin’s two-and-a-half-year-old son Shaikh Uzair is excited. He keeps on telling everyone he meets about his father having reached the top of the world. “On Tuesday morning, my husband made a video call at 8.30am. Both of us started crying. There were tears of happiness. He kept on saying that it was our collective good wishes that had helped him reach the Everest. My son was asleep when the first call came. When he later called at 11 am from Kathmandu, the entire family spoke to him,” Ruksana added.
Initial euphoria of having reached the summit died down when the Karar family heard about Kuntal’s frostbite. On Monday evening, the family got tense after news trickled in about Kuntal being seriously ill. “We couldn’t sleep the whole of Monday night. In the morning, we were thinking of organising funds so that we could reach Kathamandu. But thankfully, he called up at 8.30 in the morning and assured us that he is fine. He even sent us photos from the hospital,” said Kuntal’s sister-in-law Mamomi from their Howrah residence.
Mountaineering has been an addiction for Kuntal. After completing his diploma in engineering, he took up a job before shifting to his own business. “Kuntal’s teacher Anol Das had died in the mountains. A year later, Kuntal had rescued his body. However no amount of persuasion could dissuade him from being smitten by the mountaineering bug,” said his brother, Kanchan.
While at the summit, Kuntal had wanted to use a satellite phone to speak to his family. “But a fellow-mountaineer who had the phone was too exhausted. Kuntal couldn’t ask him to lend the satellite phone so that he could speak to us from there. That’s his only regret,” she said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kolkata News / by Priyanka Dasgupta / TNN / May 23rd, 2017