While growing up in Satara, Priyanka Mohite, 27, spent her weekends exploring the Sahyadris on the outskirts of the Maharashtrian town. The climbing bug had bitten her hard; when it came to choosing between the final examination to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in biotechnology and the opportunity to attempt Mt Everest in 2013, she elected to climb to the top of the highest mountain in the world and appeared for the exam later that year.
But, before she scaled Lhotse and Makalu (both located on the border of Nepal and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region) in 2018 and 2019 respectively, she graduated with a master’s degree in the same subject and joined contract research and manufacturing firm Syngene International. “After Everest, I thought I would continue climbing mountains for the next few years. But my mentors advised me to finish my education and find a job before attempting another big mountain. So I picked my next climb only after I started working,” Mohite recalls.
Women like her, who cannot dedicate all their time to their passions, have only managed to strike the fine balance between chasing the highs of endurance sports and pursuing a full-time career after years of practice.
Solonie Singh Pathania, 33, and Anjali Saraogi, 46, too, decided to test themselves in the outdoors a little later in life.
This story is from the December 2019 - January 2020 edition of Verve.
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This story is from the December 2019 - January 2020 edition of Verve.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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