She climbs, with her mind's eye
From a sudden retina detachment to mountaineering
and winning the world's Best Girl Guide Award, Kanchan
Gaba's life is a story of grit and determination.
Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey reports.
When she was eight years old, the light went out of
her eyes permanently. For ace mountaineer, Kanchan Gaba,
her blindness is not a hindrance, it's a boon rather,
as up there on the summit, her head does not reel because
she cannot see the deep chasm far below! At 24, Kolkata's
Kanchan became the only person from India to bag the
Best Girl Guide in the World Award.
When
Kanchan was in class II, one morning she woke up to
find that all was dark around her. "I rubbed
my eyes several times and then screamed out in horror.
I felt the world closing up around me; as if someone
had cut the breath of life." Her parents refused
to believe that their daughter had become blind and took
her to Shankar Netralaya in Chennai, where the doubts
about her retina detachment were reconfirmed.
"I was admitted to the Calcutta Blind School. After
a year, when I came to terms with my blindness, I decided
to break free." Later she joined the Girl Guide
programme with able-bodied children. "Once again
I was happy. The programme included first aid training,
tent pitching, fire fighting, forest and mountain trekking." While
on the one hand, Kanchan completed her secondary and
higher secondary level exams with elan, coming first
among the handicapped examinees from the state, on the
other, she completed her four-state Girl Guide course
with other able-bodied competitors.
Later, Kanchan did a full-fledged course in rock climbing
at the Darjeeling Institute of Mountaineering, scaling
the Tenzing Rock, the Gambhu Rock and the Sandakfu. She
won the state's Best Girl Guide medal, and qualified
for the national meet. Here, she defeated nearly 600
able-bodied competitors from all over the country to
win the President's award in 1994.
The President of India is the chief patron of the Bharat
Scouts and Guides, which is affiliated to the International
Scouts and Guides, headed by the Queen of England. In
1997, Queen Elizabeth wrote a letter inviting her to
an international Girl Guide meet in London, where she
was expected to compete with other qualifiers (all able-bodied)
from around the globe.
She
did everything much faster and better than others. "I
climbed the difficult Harrison Rocks, abseiled from a
150 feet high tower, rappelled down rocks and did river
rafting...," and scored much higher to win the Best
Girl Guide in the World Award.
Queen
Elizabeth II, while presenting the award, admitted, "I
would not have believed Kanchan's story had I not seen
her perform with my own eyes." A dinner was hosted
at the Buckingham Palace in her honour.
Now, Kanchan is taking a break and concentrating on
her forthcoming law exams which she will take along with
her IAS prelims in May.
Source: The Sunday Review
Dated 25th March, 2001
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