Nurses from Karnataka scale Mount Rumtu in Himalayas

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Mysuru: In a tribute to the nursing community for serving patients during the Covid pandemic across the country, Tiger Adventure Foundation in association with ‘The Mountain Goat’ under the patronage of Ladies Circle India and Diya Foundation organized a 15-day trekking expedition to the Himalayas in Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh recently.

Of the total 40 participants from various parts of the State, 12 were nurses and 28 trekkers from Mysuru and Bengaluru. The team started from the Chheti base camp on May 9. They had a spectacular view of the Kullu Valley, Parbati Valley and Bhuntar Airport.

They were simply mesmerized, said Agatha Smitha D Souza, a nursing officer from the District Hospital, Mysuru. They trekked almost for 4-5 hours to reach the summit of Mt Rumtu on May 12 where they hoisted the National Flag along with the expedition flags.  Sister Reena Jyoti of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology said they were the first ones to celebrate International Nursing Day in a unique way by climbing mountains.

Geetha Madhu Kiran, a nurse from Cheluvamba Hospital said “ never in my life had Idreamt I would come here.’’ “ I have come three times to this range and this is the first time I have encountered so much snow,’’ said Anil Kumar, Founder and Chairman of the Tiger Adventure Foundation. The team was flagged off by Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Governor of Karnataka at Raj Bhavan on May 3.

They were trained extensively by Harshavardhan, Nanjunda Swamy, Anil Kumar A and Punitha Pradeep for more than one month at various places like Bettadapura Betta, Chamundi Hills, Kabini backwaters, Kunti betta, Gangotri campus and Kukarhalli Lake. The programme was coordinated by Santosh R, of Tiger Adventure Foundation and Namrata Shenoy of Diya Foundation