china – The Metrognome

Dr Murad Lala is the first doctor from India to scale the world’s highest mountain. The journey took two months.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Scaling the highest mountain in the world must give one a huge high. Setting a record in the process must be simply fabulous.

Mumbai-based consultant oncosurgeon Dr Murad Lala reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 19 this year at exactly 9.10 am to become the first doctor in India to have summitted the mountain successfully. Dr Lala, attached to the PD Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, took seven weeks of climbing to reach the top.

Mount Everest is 29,035 feet high and lies in the Himalayas along the border of Nepal, China and Tibet. Dr Lala set out on the journey from Mumbai on March 28. “I reached Kathmandu the same day,” he said. “After completing the formalities set by the Nepal Government, my team and I set out on April 1 to Lukla and from there, we walked approximately 63 km and reached the base camp on April 8.” From there on, it was a short three-hour journey to Camp 2, and from Camp 2 to 3, and from Camp 3 to Camp 4 was a journey of approximately 16 hours in all. “The whole process of climbing Everest takes time because mountaineers believe in ‘scaling high and resting low’, which means even though one reaches Camp 1, climbers have to come back the same evening to base camp and rest. This is done so that one’s body gets acclimatised to high altitudes,” Dr Lala explained.

Why Everest?

Dr Lala said, “Since childhood I always I had this dream of climbing Mount Everest. The Hinduja Hospital management has been kind enough to allow me to take time off and realise my dream. Trekking the Everest is a no mean task. I did my training by doing the ‘Triple Crown Expedition’, which means scaling the three peaks Lobuche East – (6,119 metres high), Pokalde (5,806 metres) and Island Peak (6,145 metres).

“We were a group of eight (excluding the personal sherpas and Western guide, Marty Schmidt) and our group motto was ‘One Team, One Dream’. The 12-hour journey was the walk of a lifetime for me. When I finally reached the top, I finally realised that just because we are ordinary people, it does not mean we cannot have extraordinary dreams.”

Congratulating Dr Lala for his accomplishment, Dr Gustad Daver, Director-Professional Services, PD Hinduja Hospital said, “Dr Lala, apart from being an excellent cancer surgeon with our hospital since 2001, has been an epitome of courage and determination by achieving this act. As a fellow consultant, I feel proud that he has managed to excel in his professional life and in the same time achieved his personal dream to become the first doctor from India to have scaled the Everest.”

(Pictures courtesy Dr Murad Lala)

More Americans studying in India

12 per cent increase in numbers of Americans studying in India; however, India sent fewer students to US last year.

by The Diarist | thediarist@themetrognome.in

The numbers of foreign students coming to India and its metros to pursue education are only increasing every year. And while the US still remains the destination of choice for most Indians wishing to pursue a post-graduate degree, a new trend to emerge in recent times is the rise in numbers of American students coming to India for studies.

As per the Open Doors 2012 report for 2011-2012, published by the Institute of International Education, a not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organisation in the US, 273,996 American students studied abroad for academic credit, an increase of one percent from previous years. The report says, “US students studying abroad increased in 17 of the top 25 destination countries. Five per cent more students studied in China and 12 per cent more students studied in India than in the prior year.”

Open Doors further reports that while the United Kingdom was still the top destination for American students , as also Italy, Spain, France and China, an increasing number of Americans were opting to study in “several non-traditional destinations outside Europe, such as Brazil, Costa Rica, India, and South Korea.” The increase in numbers of Americans coming to India in the 2011-2012 academic year has thus made India the 11^th leading destination for away studies.

Further, in an effort to increase opportunities to study abroad in priority countries, the “State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs awarded 10 grants to expand capacity of American institutions to send US students abroad, and the capacity of host institutions overseas to receive them.”

Says Adam J Grotsky, Executive Director, United States India Educational Foundation (USIEF), “US universities are making strategic efforts to engage in India, which include comprehensive initiatives on India at their home campuses. US universities and study-abroad consortiums have developed more programmes in India, and I believe more American students are attracted to India because of the efforts made at their home institutions to teach about the economic, strategic and cultural importance of this region of the world.”

But Indians going to US have decreased

As per the report, there were increases in the numbers of students going to the US to study from 12 of the top 25 places of origin such as Brazil, China, France, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, and Vietnam. “At the same time, numbers declined from several major sending countries, including India (down by four per cent), South Korea, (down one per cent), and Japan (down six per cent). The factors driving these declines may include global and home country economic factors, growing higher education opportunities at home, and stronger employment opportunities at home after graduation.”

(Picture used for representational purpose only. Picture courtesy www.nvonews.com)