TEJAS TEWARI The Golden Boy of India's chess

With just 53,483 sq km of land, Uttarakhand is the 18th largest State among the 28 States of India. Although larger than Punjab, Haryana and Kerala, 24,305 sq km of the State is Forest Area, that is, 45.44% of the State’s area.

- GP CAPT ACHCHYUT KUMAR

Also, the free land available is not all plain and a substantial part of the plain grounds are stony because of the very nature of the earth’s surface. Thus, diving and sliding which are the essentials of almost all outdoor games are not something with which sportspersons of Uttarakhand are able to grow.

Consequently, in recent times, I can hardly recollect any other name other than that of cricketer Ekta Bisht who, coming from the mountainous regions of Uttarakhand, has made it to an international level in any outdoor game.

However, the State’s terrain has given a huge impetus to encourage mountaineering and the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi and the Nainital Mountaineering Club at Nainital have given that adventure sport a big impetus. Last year, in the May issue of The Teenager Today, we carried an article on mountaineer Tusi Anit Sah, and now her daughter, Nandadevi Sah who is yet to turn six years old, this 6th November, is trekking to various mountain peaks under the guidance of her mother and father, Anit Sah.