“I am not inferior to anyone, I shall never give up.” These are 'commandments' that kept 13-year-old Poorna Malavath going as she braved the chill of the Himalayan air to conquer a dream, for herself, her family, her teachers, her community and other girls in her village. For a tribal girl from a remote village in Telangana, her state-run school in the city was the farthest she might have ever thought of coming from home. But life had other plans, and Malavath grabbed it by the horns. Now 16, Poorna made her way into the record books in 2014 by becoming the youngest woman to scale Mount Everest.
She may be the cynosure of all eyes now in Pakala, a small village in Nizamabad, but nothing came easy in life for Poorna. With her parents Devidas and Lakshmi toiling in the fields to make ends meet, making or breaking records was the last thing on young Poorna's mind. “I had never thought I would step out of my village or school, but now I am seeing the world,” she said, her voice brimming with excitement. Poorna, a class XII student of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), said her parents never held her back. "They have been supportive of all my activities."
Speaking to THE WEEK, Poorna said she believed her feat has inspired the marginalised sections of the society to dream big. Even three years after her feat, the fire in her belly comes through when she said: “I wanted to prove to the world that there is nothing a girl from a backward caste cannot do.”
If Mount Everest brought unforeseen joy to this teenager and her family three years ago, this year it is something else—the story of her life playing on the silver screen. Inspired by her story of grit and endurance, actor Rahul Bose directed Poorna, which is set to release on March 31. The teenager, however excited she is, sounds composed when she talks about this new milestone in life. “Now more people will get to know my story,” she said. She has even struck a good rapport with Aditi Inamdar, the girl who portrays her in the film, she added.
One can't help but wonder what, or who inspires this young girl to scale heights, literally. The wind beneath her wings is R.S. Praveen Kumar, an IPS officer belonging to the 1995 cadre. He is the secretary of TSWREIS, which was set up for the education of students from backward castes and poor families. "He is my role model," she said.
Motivating young minds like Poorna is Kumar's way of “paying back” to his state and alma mater. Kumar, himself a product of Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (now TSWREIS), gave up a lucrative police career to work for the improvement of the “absolutely depressing” government education system in the state. A fellowship programme at the Harvard University paved the way for several job offers from the US, but he turned them all down and, instead, sought a posting with the TSWREIS. “Here the canvas is much bigger. I get a chance to inspire people, to touch lives, and to inspire parents and children to look at the world differently,” he said.
Poorna Malavath (L) with R.S.Praveen Kumar
Bose reprises the role of Kumar in the biopic. The film will be screened at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 25, and will be attended by Poorna, her family members and Kumar.
For Poorna, mountaineering just happened, a serendipitous journey. Her life turned around when a summer camp—Summer Samurai— was introduced for students of TSWREIS in 2013. The camp, initiated by Kumar, provided the students a chance to explore their interests such as art, music, sports and mountaineering. The summer camp was also a revolutionary step in the history of the educational society. Till then, many students who went home for summer vacations never returned—girls were married off, boys toiled in the fields, and dropped out of school—said Kumar, who has been the secretary for the past five years.
Poorna, along with her Everest teammate Sadhanapalli Anand Kumar, then 16, were two of the 110 students selected for a rock-climbing course at Bhongir in Nalgonda district. There has been no turning back ever since. “She is a very bold and hard-working girl,” said Shekhar Babu, her trainer at the institute. Babu, one among the first from united Andhra Pradesh to climb the Everest in 2007, later led Purna's Everest expedition. “It was very difficult to convince parents to send their children for something as dangerous as rock climbing. Poorna is a normal girl, but very aspiring—one who wants to grab every opportunity to progress in life,” said Kumar. “We also wanted a girl to lead the expedition,” he added.
After getting an A+ grade at Bhongir, she was selected, along with 19 others, for a 15-day course at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. But the training was not enough to prepare them for the hostile environment and terrain of Everest. So, she went to train in Ladakh, amid the harsh minus 30 degree Celsius.
Poorna and her team scaled the Everest from the Tibetan side. In spite of all the training and preparation she had received, the climb was not easy for Poorna. “I had developed vomiting and uneasiness on the first day because of packaged food. After a day's climb, we went down to the base camp, and climbed back the next day,” she recalled. What is interesting is that Poorna's record of being the youngest woman to scale the highest peak has not been broken, and will never be, thanks to a change in rules. Babu explains: “The year after Poorna's expedition, the minimum age to scale Everest was raised to 15 years. And so, the young girl will remain unbeaten.”
Her feat broke conventions, and changed mindsets. “Now every parent wants his daughter or son to become like Poorna, to join the government residential schools, and see the world,” Kumar said. “Now, parents look beyond marrying off their children at a young age. Putting it simply, the aspiration levels have gone up,” said Kumar. After her success, the district collector adopted their village and developed roads and basic amenities, she said proudly. Before that, the closest shop was 7km away, she added.
After schooling, Poorna hopes to become an IPS officer, like 'secretary sir'.
