‘I am feeling extremely proud’: Proud mother of Kaamya Karthikeyan, youngest Indian to climb Mt Everest

MUMBAI : After 16-year-old Kaamya Karthikeyan became the youngest Indian, and the second youngest girl in the world to scale Mt Everest, Lavanya Karthikeyan, mother of Kaamya Karthikeyan expressed happiness and said, “As a mother, I am feeling extremely proud.”

Speaking with ANI, Kaamya’s mother Lavanya Karthikeyan spoke with pride and informed about Kaamya’s upcoming venture and said they feel blessed that Kaamya could host the tri-colour flag at Mt Everest.

“As a mother, there is no doubt that I am feeling extremely proud. At the same time, I am also experiencing immense gratitude and I feel blessed that Kaamya got such an opportunity to hoist the national flag on the world’s highest mountain. We are grateful to the almighty and everyone who made this happen,” Lavanya Karthikeyan said.

#WATCH | Mumbai: Kamya Karthikeyan becomes the second youngest girl in the world to scale Mt. Everest. Her mother Lavanya Karthikeyan says, “There’s no doubt that I feel extremely proud and at the same time we feel immensely blessed as a family that Kamya got a chance to hoist… pic.twitter.com/8hRHJsIWlS

— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2024

Kaamya has now completed six milestones in her mission to summit the highest peak of all seven continents and aims to summit Mt Vinson Massif in Antarctica this December to become the youngest girl to accomplish the Seven Summits challenge.

“Hopefully this December she will climb Mt.Vinson Massif and complete her 7 Summits challenge…. Kamya has sacrificed a lot to train herself to achieve everything that she has achieved. Kamya got Pradhanmantri Balshakti puraskar in 2021. Prime Minister’s words have inspired her…. I want to give a message to the mothers of the country that if we mothers are strong then we can raise stronger girls,” said Lavanya.

Kaamya Karthikeyan, a 16-year-old, class XII student of Navy Children School, Mumbai and her father Cdr S Karthikeyan of the Indian Navy successfully summitted Mt. Everest (8849 M) on 20th May: Western Naval Command, Indian Navy.

(Pics: Western Naval Command) pic.twitter.com/c8x2uc5ve5

— ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2024

While speaking about her experience of talking to her daughter, Lavanya said, “I am waiting for her. I believe she will return home by the end of this month. When she reached the top of the mountain, I spoke and congratulated her while she was standing on the Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) and congratulated her. That was a moment of pride as a mother. It was an amazing experience.”

Lavanya Karthikeyan also spoke about the practice routine of Kaamya and said that her daughter used to give 2-3 hours for her practice. “She used to go on run for 10-20 km. We live in Mumbai so we used to go to Malabar Hills for trekking practice. And since we live in a 21st-floor building, she used to move up and down with 10 kg-20 kg of bag to increase her stamina and develop muscles used for climbing.”

Notably, Kaamya Karthikeyan, a class 12 student of Navy Children School, Mumbai, at 16, successfully summitted Mt Everest on 20 May 2024 with her father Cdr S Karthikeyan of the Indian Navy and became the 2nd youngest girl in the world to scale Mt Everest.

After this feat, she has become the second youngest girl in the world and the youngest Indian Mountaineer to summit the world’s highest peak from the Nepal side.

The official X handle of the Spokesperson of the Indian Navy had also congratulated Kaamya Karthikeyan on her accomplishment. It said, “Indian Navy congratulates Kaamya Karthikeyan, daughter of Cdr S Karthikeyan on becoming the youngest Indian and the second youngest girl in the world to summit Mt Everest from the Nepal side. Kaamya has exhibited immense courage & fortitude in summiting the highest peaks in six of the seven continents. IndianNavy wishes young Kaamya the very best in her aspiration to summit the highest peaks of all seven continents, becoming the youngest girl to do so.” (ANI)