Very Short Questions and Answers
1. In which year did HPS Ahluwalia undertake the expedition to Everest?
Ans. HPS Ahluwalia undertook the expedition to Everest in 1965.
2. Which was the most dominant emotion that he experiences on reaching the top ?
Ans. Humility.
3. According to Ahluwalia, why do people climb mountains?
Ans. According to HPS Ahluwalia, people climb mountains because they wish to face challenges and overcome obstacles.
4. During the climb up to the mountains, who inspires the climbers.
Ans. While climbing up the mountains, the fellow climbers inspire each other.
5. What does Ahluwalia have to say about the relationship between mountain climbing and life?
Ans. According to HPS Ahluwalia, there is a very close connections between these two journeys. His experience as an Everester gave him the inspiration to face life’s ordeals with great confidence.
6. How does the author view himself in the light of his surroundings, as he reaches the summit?
Ans. The author becomes more and more conscious of his smallness as he sees the universe from the mountain peak.
Short Questions and Answers
1. Why does the author become sad on reaching the top of the mountain?
Ans. On reaching the top of the mountain, the author becomes sad because their goal had been attained and now a certain vacuum had overcome in the absence of an aim. Also, the highest had been reached and the author realises that from here on the journey would only lead downwards.
2. Why does HPS Ahluwalia compare climbing the mountain to a battle?
Ans. While climbing the mountain, one faces many obstacles and hindrances which consume every bit of the climber’s energy.
The passage back is also as difficult as the passage forward and it exhaust you entirely.
Just like in a battle it is a matter of life and death, similarly in mountain climbing, the climbers are always putting their life at sake with every single movement that they make.
3. Why does the author not abandon the climb halfway?
Ans. Even in moments of sheer exhaustion, the author refuses to abandon the climb because climbing the mountain is all about team work and the companions are always a source of inspiration.
They keep pushing the limits, ” another fifty feet or hundred may be:. Also, there is something unexplainable that does not allow the author to go back halfway. It urges him and other to reach the top, perhaps because they were the first ones who would have done it.
4. Was reaching the top of the Everest the last challenge that the author wished to face?
Ans. No, the author is inspired by the beauty of nature and mountains being the best example of that.
On reaching the top of the Everest, the author sees another silvery peak, which the author felt was drawing his attention and calling him. So, having had climbed the highest did not put an end to the author’s expeditions.