It’s not often that the students of Druk School get to meet someone who has been on top of the world, literally. Hence, when Krushnaa Patil arrived at the school to talk about her mountaineering expeditions, she was greeted with a lot of anticipation and excitement. She was the youngest Indian women to summit Mount Everest in 2009, at the young age of 19. Later she summated the highest peak of every continent including Antarctica. She addressed the senior students of the school and showed them pictures from her various expeditions around the world. The children listened with rapt attention as she spoke of some of her adventures and the challenges that she faced as a climber. Krushnaa spoke of some of her ordeals while trying to find sponsors for her Mount Everest expedition. She also mentioned as to how the journey was a zero-impact one where all the team members carried down all the waste that they had generated, including biological waste. They carried tonnes of garbage down from Mount Everest. Following this inspiring narrative, she answered some of the questions that the children had about her adventures.

A second motivational talk was conducted by Varun Saini. A volunteer with the Druk School for over a month, he spoke to the seniors about MBA as a career. He told the children the various pros and cons of having an MBA degree along with the different job prospects after college. It wasn’t all work though; his presentation also gave the children a glimpse of college life at IIM Bangalore. The other part of his talk focused on a career in the armed forces. The students were told all about the different sections in the armed forces, and a career in the army both as an after school and an after college alternative.