Last days at HMI

We came back to HMI campus in Darjeeling on 28 April. While coming back we all were quite happy because everyone did good training. When we reached the campus, everyone welcomed and congratulated us. Now we were left with some tasks such as written test, cross country Competition, sports climbing competition and a personal interview. Before all this, we were given a day for an outing and we had fun on that day.

There were two competitions that I already knew that they are out of my league but still I gave my best. Both the competitions were new for me and I was participating for the first time. However, it was a nice experience. Now written test left. I was not at all worried about the test because I attended all the classes so I knew almost everything which is going to be asked in the test. The test was gone well. I answered all the questions. The interview was taken by the HMI Principal. He just asked simple questions like how was your experience, how was the food and training, and etc.

Graduation ceremony:

Initially, we were given a demonstration of the graduation ceremony and then we did the practice of the same. We were quite excited for this day as this was the main day for all of us. We were about to receive a badge (a small ice ax) and the badge was the sign of a Mountaineer 😎

After the graduation practice, we all came back to our room and got ready for the ceremony. Then we were given HMI pullovers and monograms to wear in the ceremony. After all the setup, HMI Principal came and started giving the badges and simultaneously we started doing swiss claps. Then the time came when my name was announced "Manu Khandelwal, private candidate from Agra". Woah! That moment cannot be described in words. I was literally on cloud nine. Seriously, when I received the badge, it was one of the best moments of my life.




After all this, all the competition winners were awarded by the medals and HMI Principal Capt. Rahul Goyal gave an ending speech. Firstly he congratulated all of us and told incidents related to Mountaineering.

He said "a Mountaineer should always be cautious and courageous. In 1952, when Tenzing Norgay Sherpa was trying to attempt the summit of Mount Everest, he was just 830 feet below the summit. Unfortunately, the weather turned bad and he decided to come down. He could have taken a risk and reached the summit to set the world record, but he did not make hurry and that is why now he is called a 'legend'. In 1953, he summited Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary and became the first man to climb Everest and then he climbed many other peaks and made so many records. To climb a peak, caution and courage are two most important things that one should have. All the best. May you climb from peak to peak." and he ended.

Later we had a photo shoot and refreshment and then we started leaving the campus as we were going back to our home. I met with all my friends and instructors and then started my journey back to home with lots of memories.



So this was the whole experience of my basic Mountaineering Course at HMI. Hope you liked it. For any query related to HMI, comment below.