J U L 2 0 2 0 - S E P T 2 0 2 0 I S S U E 4 THE OLD SANAWARIAN SOCIETY NEWSLETTER FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR IN THIS ISSUE Dear Old Sanawarian, 1. Girls Expedition to We are back with yet another engaging edition of the newsletter. Mt. Kilimanjaro With the Covid 19 Pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, the 2. Everest Expedition OSS has curated and supported a kaleidoscope of events ranging 2013 from great adventure stories and book launches, to talks on college 3. Fall Semester 2020 life this year in the US & Canada. US & Canada Along with organising the many webinars, the Executive Committee 4. Stoned, Shamed & spent the month of September preparing for a historic online Depressed - Book election for OS President as well as an online AGM. While the Discussion pandemic has restricted our activities in the physical world, it let us travel virtually. This has resulted in an enormous geographic 5. Sanawar's Great diversity in engagement with OS. Adventurers 6. Through The Lens - As OS adapted to the virtual world, each session received a large OS Photographers audience and we look forward to many more such interactions in 7. Where Safety, the future! Entrepreneurship, This year the executive has made an enormous push in trying to AI & Bollywood meet improve communications among the whole community of OS. We 8. OS Poetry Circle have improved reporting of OS news across various platforms, the 9. NOM COM Meeting website, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook. This Newsletter was also an initiative in the same direction. This improved communication 10.OS Newsmakers will in time help to re-unite bonds that were severed after we left 11. Obituaries the hilltop. Look out for the new "PLAY BUTTON" feature in the Newsletter! Clicking it will give you the opportunity to watch webinars you may have missed. Do keep enriching us with your words, thoughts and news. You can mail your articles and ideas to us at [email protected]. Stay home, Stay safe & Keep reading! - Praneet Bubber (NGD '90) BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING July 11, 2020 SANAWAR GIRLS EXPEDITION TO MT. KILIMANJARO August 2019 Climbing members: Mrs. Priya Dhillon, Major Priya Jhingan, Meghan Bhagirath (VGD U6), Avanti Aggarwal (NGD L6), Ishampreet Kaur Ahuja (NGD U6), Mahika Goel (HGD U6), Ananya Panchhar (VGD L6), Kashish Pathania (VGD U6) and Roshni (HGD (U6). Expedition Coordinators: Padma Shri Mr. Ajeet Bajaj (OS '83), Mr. Chander Lal, Mr. Umed Singh and Mr. Venkatesh Maheshwari The untold story behind one of the greatest adventures in Sanawar’ s history was revealed. The sweat, tears, pain and exhilaration. Breaking the glass ceiling, the girls of Sanawar, scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest single free- standing mountain in the world, a dormant volcano at 19,340 metres above sea level. Their journey to the top of Kilimanjaro was the best experience of their lives. It truly exceeded all expectations. It brought new experiences to be cherished for the rest of their lives. Their stories and ability to get prepared and ready for the climb proved to themselves that they had the strength, ability and persistence in the face of this mighty mountain. They made us believe that they can achieve anything that they put their minds to and truly represented the Sanawarian spirit of ‘Never Give In’! "Great things happen when men/women and mountains meet. " - Mrs Priya Dhillon (OS '88) Jambo, (Hello) "Go where u feel most alive this is exactly how I feel whenever I climb”. Growing up in Sanawar, following my passion to climb by enrolling in various courses in mountaineering in N.I.M. Uttarkashi, a never to be missed opportunity to climb with the Girls expedition team to Mt. Kilimanjaro given to me by Mr. Pandey, our Headmaster was thrilling. It was a journey to climb a beautiful mountain in a beautiful land with Team Sanawar... the team with the, "Never give in" spirit from start to finish. The team which stood together, encouraging, laughing, helping and stretching themselves to the limit through four temperature zones was beautiful. Never letting anyone limit them, doubt never entering their young minds, a great sense of self belief and will power, admiring everything and appreciating everyone was extremely satisfying. To reach beyond one's fears and doubts, embracing Mrs Priya Dhillon (OS '88) people of another land all in one pursuit...that of climbing the mountain. Camaraderie, humility, respect and team spirit, is what was learnt by me with this young team. And yes, "take every chance, drop every fear," is what should be the ones guiding light, for, to miss opportunities is to miss a large part of life itself. And like Edmund Hillary said, It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves, "so go where you feel most alive." Asante Sana (Thank you) Mr. Pandey, Mr. Ajeet Bajaj, Chand, Venki, Umed, Sebastian and everyone on the team and yes of course the 'Never Give in Spirit of Sanawar, the best This booklet was made to commemorate the Brave Hearts school of all. Like they say, "Great things happen - Girls who summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. when men/women and mountains meet." Live life now.... LEARNINGS FROM THE CLIMB! Courage doesn't always roar. A ship in harbour Sometimes is safe, but that is courage is the not what ships are little voice at the built for. end of the day that says 'I'll try again tomorrow'. ANANYA PANCHHAR AVANTI AGGARWAL L6 VINDHYA L6 NILAGIRI It isn't about the You never know height, the victory how strong you are or the fearlessness. until being strong It's the climb. is the only option left for you. KASHISH PATHANIA ISHAMPREET KAUR AHUJA U6 VINDHYA U6 NILAGIRI Suddenly the light As my mind asked, becomes sharper , “how different The sounds are could the world richer , and you feel from the top?” are filled with the deep , powerful I reply today, “it presence of life. only got better!” MAHIKA GOEL MEGAN BHAGIRATH U6 HIMALAYA U6 VINDHYA EVEREST EXPEDITION 2013 SANAWAR'S GREATEST ADVENTURE July 25, 2020 In a story apt for the movies, one of tears, sweat and exhilaration, seven boys of Sanawar created history by setting two records for scaling the highest peak in the world. First, by becoming the youngest team to summit the top of world and second, Raghav Joneja (15 years) became the youngest Indian to scale the peak. The invigorating webinar was the first time the entire team got together to share their experience with the OS fraternity. Receiving a fantastic response the webinar showcased the boys and the support team as they took us along on their hair-raising journey by sharing their emotions and anecdotes from the expedition! Climbing members: Hakikat S. Grewal (VBD '14), Ajay Sohal (VBD '14), Guribadat Singh (HBD '14), Fateh S. Brar (VBD '14), Prithvi S. Chahal (VBD '14), Shubham Kaushik (VBD '14) and Raghav Joneja (NBD '16). Support Team: Lt. Col PS Grewal (Retd) (VBD '85), Cdr. Ranbir Singh (Retd) (VBD '79), Capt. SS Brar (VBD '84) and Mr. Bunny Chahal. They say it's easier to go down a hill than up. As with everything else, Everest proved this wrong. 16 hours uphill, an exhausting yet successful conquest, the way back to camp 3 was the scariest thing I have ever encountered. That is when I had to keep reminding myself "Never, never, NEVER give in." Rappelling down the infamous yellow band at an elevation of 24000 ft. - Shubham Kaushik 'We cannot control the wind, but we can direct the sail' The Lhotse Face was a challenging descent with the constant risks of whiteouts reducing visibility to almost zero. Usually people can't see because it's too dark, I was blinded by the light, white, which gave me a sense of what living on the edge is, there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. - Shubham Kaushik 'Why climb Everest? Ever since the first successful ascent (maybe second) of Everest in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, mankind has always been fascinated with the idea of pushing the boundaries of human endurance, will and strength at the altitudes where our bodies aren't simply designed to function.The idea of climbing Everest has changed its meaning in the past 60 years. People climb Everest for all the different reasons. The meaning of Everest shouldn't be just limited to a mountain top, but facing up to your personal challenges. It represents the idea of being able to overcome the biggest obstacles of life, you look forward to. Take the first step, go out, explore, find your Everest and work hard enough for it, you'll get there one day. "Your faith can move mountains, and your doubts can create them." - Shubham Kaushik Sanawar Everest Team as they sing the School Song A FACULTY AND STUDENT PANEL DISCUSSION ON FALL SEMESTER 2020 IN US & CANADIAN UNIVERSITY AN ONLINE INITIATIVE BY EASTERN REGION USA & TORONTO CHAPTERS July 26, 2020 Sunday Through the summer months and now into early fall, we have been surviving the COVID lockdowns by keeping in close touch with OS across North America and with Sanawar, of course. Individually and in small groups, we have been meeting in socially distanced ways with one another, whether on the golf course in North Carolina or for patio lunches in DC and Chicago, whether hiking in Montana or meeting for drinks and dinner in San Francisco and Toronto! And we continue to connect with old and new friends on the OSNA WhatsApp page and through the redesigned OSS website.