This blog is not just a motivational read, but real stories of two men who dared to be different to follow their passion. Rupesh Khopade from our technical team narrates his story of climbing Mt Everest.
A regular day in our life- a morning jog, healthy breakfast and the rush to the workplace, meetings, presentations, solution thinking, conflict management etc. We all go through this in our own ways and capacity. However, there is something beyond this that motivated Rupesh to think differently and achieve this unique feat.
“Mountaineering was a childhood dream which I perceived while watching a documentary on Bachendri Pal –the first Indian woman to scale world’s highest peak Mt. Everest (8848M). This dream took me to learn basics of mountaineering at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) located in foothills of the Himalayas. It was a journey that started with a 30-day long rigorous course on mountaineering and after five years on May 19, 2012, our team was privileged to scale Mt. Everest and live the dream. ” Back then Rupesh was part of the 3DPLM team working on R&D for the 3D design industry.
“Success lies in Courage! is the motto of NIM and climbing Mt. Everest has taught me several lessons which helps me in juggling work-life with a perfect balance. The journey has transformed me as an individual in learning, self-awareness and cross-team collaboration. Mountaineering brings many positive changes in one’s personality. Mental robustness, character building, self-discipline, leadership, self-confidence, endurance and kindling spirit of adventure are the positive impacts of mountaineering. Above all the courage represents the core value of mountaineering. It is an essential quality to possess in all walks of life, including personal and professional life.”
Recently at the Value Solutions Sales Convention India 2018 #VSSC2018, the team at Dassault Systèmes got an opportunity to hear the story of legendary climber Jamling Tenzing Norgay on his experience of climbing Mt. Everest. In 1996, Jamling followed the footstep of his father to scale Mt. Everest and the experience has been documented in the 1998 IMAX film, Everest. At the #VSSC2018, Jamling narrated his story of the treacherous climb of 1996 that took away the life of several climbers however their passion, teamwork and tenacity helped them overcome the hurdles as they reached the summit, filmed on way and came back safe to the base camp. When asked about his inspiration in mountaineering he mentioned – “I respect and admire all mountaineers, who are working hard from the grass route level, trekking, rock climbing, ice climbing and slowly increase the level of challenges. Because when you do that you enjoy it, when you reach the highest point you feel you earned it.”
People like Jamling and Rupesh gives us pride and more so as mountaineering is a collaborative effort where the persistence of an individual is put to test alongside the collective team efforts who are from different geographies. It is fairly similar to what we undergo daily as corporate citizens wherein we collaborate to create campaigns that create long-term benefits for people, society at large. Currently Rupesh is associated with a group of like-minded friends in Giripremi (Pune based mountaineering club) and along with Jamling, they contribute to the society through adventure education to children and mountaineering enthusiasts at the same time inspiring colleagues and team members to learn personal and professionals lessons from the hardships in mountaineering and scaling Mt. Everest.