Yesterday, I saw a pretty big wall, kinda as big as “The Wall” from Game of Thrones? Okay, who am I kidding? It wasn’t that big! Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m suddenly talking about a wall.

So here’s the catch: when I saw that wall, I felt like climbing it. And that’s because I’ve been doing this mountaineering course for about a week now. Much like “The Police”, Every wall I see, anytime I see, I’ll be climbing on.

Okay, let’s get real. Most of these crooked walls would be painted with dry pee.

Anyhoo, I gathered the courage to learn mountain climbing after we did a weekend activity with Mr. KN Singh of Mountaineering And Adventure Institute. Remember how we were scared to death?

Meet this Jaipur man who isn’t. He’s not afraid for a good reason. He’s left fear far behind him, and why? His close encounter with death made him a man of steel.

I watched Bhupendra Sharma climb the Aravali Hills on my first day of Mountaineering class. The son of a driver, Bhupendra Sharma always strived for success. Coming from a village, moving to the city was a big deal for him. His only dream had been to be a rich and a successful man.

He worked hard and earned himself a place in the marketing team of JK Cement.

The Accident

My job had posted me in Sikar. I had just left for work on my bike. Fortunately, I had my helmet on. As fate had it planned, a jeep was speeding right behind me. And then, it happened. My bike and I were being dragged with the jeep. The driver probably thought that I was dead, and he thought that the easiest option was escaping. After being dragged for about two kilometers, he was finally stopped by another vehicle.

I was immediately rushed to a local hospital, and quite apparently, the doctors refused to touch me. All that was left of my leg was only the skin which was keeping it together. After a couple of hours, it was decided that I would be taken to Jaipur. The Ambulance took 6 hours to reach SMS, and my family had reached Jaipur from Bikaner much before I did.

My leg wasn’t amputated until a couple more days as the doctors tried avoiding it. Unfortunately, the step had to be taken, and my right leg was taken off. I had to change a lot of doctors. I faced incorrect skin grafting, leading some part of my skin to rot, hence attracting flies. At one point, I did want to give up. Everything.

And then my son became my ray of hope. He wanted to play football with me, and the best I could do was throw it with my hands.

Acceptance

I visited RU with my old college friends, a little after I’d gotten myself a prosthetic leg. They pushed me to try a hand at Table Tennis; once we visited the college. You see, I was the college hero because I was the only one with a girlfriend in our group. *Laughs*

That day I realized that I was not useless. In fact, I could do a lot, even with an artificial limb.

Eventually, I got selected to represent India for Table Tennis for the disabled. Unfortunately, due to a lack of funds, I couldn’t get too far.

After that day, I never touched the TT racquet. Soon after, I developed an interest towards Swimming, and from swimming, here I am.

I know that my body defeated me at one point, but I won’t defeat my body.

Mountaineering

Thirty-three-year-old Bhupendra didn’t stop at Table Tennis or Swimming. He wanted to learn more, and then, he discovered mountaineering. The first day that I saw him, honestly, I wasn’t sure how he’d do it.

But he left me astonished. He trekked uphill to perform zip-lining. Yes, he was slower, but he tried, and succeeded.

He climbed the mountains using his tips and toes. I know how it feels to be climbing with a constant fear of falling, but I saw him do it every day.

He’d come rappelling down, and climb back up to do it one more time.

That man, and oh, that kind of courage just makes me ask myself:

What’s your excuse?

Dreams and Vision

I still want to be a rich man, maybe a disabled fashion model. Because of my disability, I’ve not been able to build up my career graph.

Marriage & Children

I was still in college when I was married to my wife. She’s the most supportive wife in the world.

I saw Bhupendra’s son climbing the mountain; I saw the man of steel encourage his son as he had his knees folded in fear at a distance from his father. He didn’t have the courage to come down, but Bhupendra called out to him.

“You can do it! Just create a gap between your legs. I did it, why can’t you?”

The five-year-old heard his father’s voice and geared up.

Parting Words of Wisdom

I’m lucky to be alive.

He jumped on his scooty, and did not forget to put that helmet on that saved his life.