Cut Out All The Noise And Stay On Your Track

The power of focus is extraordinary. Once you set your eyes on the goal, you have to cut out all the noise and stay on your track.

- Chitman Kanwar Ahuja

Aditya Gupta is not your average golf-playing corporate honcho. He is someone who pushes the envelope. He just raised the bar by scaling the world’s highest peak at the age of 50. Narrating his exhilarating experience of climbing Mount Everest, excerpts from the conversation.

You are a successful businessman. How did you get into mountaineering?

I got into mountains and nature before I got into business. During my college days at IIT Roorkee, I joined this mountaineering club named Himalayan Explorer Club and started enjoying trekking. In 1987, I went to Pindari Glacier as my first expedition and since then took a liking to adventurous trips. In 1991, I even did a course in mountaineering and going on serious expeditions became a way of life for me.

At the age of 50, you set an example for not just physical fitness but mental fitness too. What inspired you to conquer this mountainous feet?

My goal and motivation here was also to prove that ordinary people like me can achieve anything. I believe that passion plus preparation is equal to performance. Mentally, one cannot really change much as the basic attitude of a person is what comes out in extreme situations. You cannot fake it on Everest. Climbing mountains, they say is 98 per cent attitude and 2 per cent aptitude.