High on heights

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Mountaineers Love Raj and Reena motivate and give each other some good advice before every climbMountaineers Love Raj and Reena

From his lone house in the periphery of about 500 metres in Munshyari, Uttarakhand, Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu used to see the high mountain range. On a bright morning, claimed the village folklore, gods worshipped at the top of the hills.

This curiosity to see gods praying was the first seed of desire that ultimately led Love Raj to becoming the leading Indian mountaineer, who has conquered the highest mountain of India including the third highest of the world, Mt Kunchenjunga, and has climbed the Mt Everest four times. He is also a Border Security Force instructor who has climbed 26,000 feet without oxygen on Mt Everest.
He is not alone in his quest to touch the high peaks. His wife Reena, with many climbs to her credit, became the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole in 2010.
The two met in 2004 in Ladakh when Love Raj was coming back from an expedition with a Japanese troupe and Reena — originally from Darjeeling — was on her way with a German troupe. “Our love for heights brought us closer,” says Reena. Unfortunately the two have never had a chance of mountaineering together but hope to do so soon.
Love Raj has been to 36 Himalyan expeditions, out of which he completed 21 peaks.
Touching new heights is the way of life for this couple. However, it’s not easy to stay back home and wait for the better half to return home safely. “During these climbs temperature can be as low as -25 degree Celsius while within seconds the sunlight reflection can give you burning pains. When Reena was on her way to South Pole sometimes she could not talk for about four days at a stretch. I used to have sleepless nights unless she returned home,” he adds.
On one of his first climbs in 90s, remembers Love, he had cried inconsolably when he thought he would not be able to reach his camp. Over time he learnt the importance of relying on team members for support.
“One should take only calculated and careful risks,” says Reena, a mother of one and a half year old child Ojhasvie. And before you ask, she adds, “Yes, we will train our child in mount climbing and hope he will take it up seriously.”
As Reena works as a leader for bird-watching groups and coach at National Outdoor Leadership School in US while Love Raj is busy with his BSF duties, the two are now based in Delhi. However, they insist that it’s hard to even fall asleep in a city where there are no mountains even in the distance. “We plan to shift to Munshyari after retirement. So that we can be as close to the mountains as close as they are to our hearts,” sign off the couple.