Author: M S Kohli
Publisher: Penguin/Viking
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 322
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0670057878
Description
One More Step: An Autobiography is a spirited recounting of a life more adventurous than most. The author, Captain Kohli, is best known as the leader of the first successful Indian expedition to Everest in 1965 that saw a record-breaking nine climbers atop the peak. The success followed two earlier heartbreaking attempts, in one of which he spent a harrowing three nights in the death zone (above 27,650 ft), thus setting a world record. But that is not all. Captain Kohli has led a remarkable life, having had a career in the Navy, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and in adventure tourism.
Captain Kohli’s skill as a mountaineer was put to the test when, while working as an intelligence operator, he was involved in the misguided exercise to place plutonium-powered monitoring devices on Nanda Devi and Nanda Kot during the mid-sixties. The episode stirred up a storm internationally when the possibility of water contamination became known.
The author’s turbulent childhood prepared him for the rigours of life later on. Born in the scenic Haripur, now in Pakistan, he survived a hair-raising train journey to Amritsar at the time of Partition. The experience was to leave a permanent mark, but the chief outcome was an abiding faith in God.
Apart from the indefatigable spirit of heroism and adventure, One More Step conveys an amazing zest for life. And as the title amply illustrates, Captain Kohli’s autobiography reveals his never say die philosophy-as he says, It saved my life.
REVIEW
Captain Kohli has been an outstanding mountaineer an inspiration to young Indian climbers.
-Sir Edmund Hillary
Contents
PREFACE
The Martyrs Summit
Pillar to Post
Train to India
Struggle for Survival
Summit Forts of Shivaji
The Revelation
In the Karakorams
Over the Waves
Naval Siege of Nanda Kot
Stumped at South Col
Loot and Ransom
Tenzing’s Darjeeling
Lost on Everest
The Highest Frontiers
Nine Atop Everest
Cathedral in Ice
Encounters with Death
Playground of the Gods
Islands in the Sun
Down Under Days
Climbing the Ganges
Corridors of Power
Sojourns in Bhutan and Hong Kong
Back to India and the ITBP
The IMF and I
Saving the Himalayas
Epilogue
Index