LearnNBlog #14: Because It's There

“Because it’s there… Everest is the highest mountain in the world, and no man has reached its summit. Its existence is a challenge. The answer is instinctive, a part, i suppose, of man’s desire to conquer the universe.” - George Mallory

16th May, 2018. 

As part of the daily ritual, started the morning by flipping through The Times of India. Mostly filled with political stuff, which I ignored. Ended up reading an article on Everest “Trophy Hunters”. Basically people with more money than actual climbing experience, who are using Eeverest tour operators to pay their way through knocking off the achievement of having climbed Mt. Everest. It had quotes from Guy Cotter (he is also featured in the movie Everest), a New Zealand based adventure tour operator. And then comes the concluding paragraph in the print edition.

“They are not mountaineers. They are just people who want to claim the prize of climbing Mount Everest. They are hunting for that trophy,” said Tenzing Norgay, the first man to summit Everest together with Edmund Hillary in 1953. 

Now Tenzing Norgay passed away in 1986. So there was no way, he could have given this quote in 2018. And it could not have been an old quote either as Everest commercial climbing became a business only in the 90s! Unless, the reporter was time traveling or just using quote generators!

Now, we live in a world increasingly filled with “fake news” and propaganda. But why would anyone put in a fake quote? Turns out, the truth was a little less complicated. Times of India had run out of column inches and just ended the story at that point with minor edits! The actual article as per the News Agency AFP read:

"Nowadays people can go on the internet and buy the cheapest expedition onto the mountain. But there is no criteria for experience with some of these operators," said the owner of New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants. "They are not mountaineers. They are just people who want to claim the prize of climbing Mount Everest. They are hunting for that trophy." 

Tenzing Norgay, the first man to summit Everest together with New Zealander Edmund Hillary in 1953, only reached the top on his seventh attempt. 

Today amateur climbers expect to do it on their first try, prompting many to take higher risks blinded by "summit fever" and lulled into a false sense of security by the thousands who have succeeded before…. 

So who do we blame for this glaring editorial stupidity? Just goes to show how much Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V goes on in the journalistic world? How careless our news sources can be? Little knowledge is dangerous. And in the wrong hands, it can become downright perilous. 

P.S. And why this fascination with climbing Everest? I guess, as the legendary mountaineer George Mallory had said “Because it’s there”. 

P.P.S. And all this while I thought this was a quote by Sir Edmund Hillary. Well, we all learn something new everyday.

Further Links:

• Because It's there: The Quotable George Mallory (Clymb.com)
• Guy Cotter: (Adventure Consultants)
• Tenzing Norgay (Tenzing Norgay Adventures)
• Sir Edmund Hillary (Encyclopedia Britannica)
• George Mallory (Wikipedia)

Previusly on Learn N Blog: Few or A Few

The Newspaper

January 27th. Day after the Republic Day. Also a normal Monday (universally agreed as the worst day of the week). Nothing unusual about the day, except for one little thing missing in the morning. 

There was no newspaper on account of Republic Day holidays.

Not that the newspaper is of much relevance in this day. Most of the days, it is is just skimmed through. The big headlines (which mostly comprise of tales of political drama / rapes / corruption) are what register while flipping through the content between the ads. Many of the supplements are barely even seen. In fact there are days when the paper goes straight to the trash next day without having been opened at all. 

So why do I still have a newspaper subscription? 

Do I take it for the news? I already get my fair share of news through the news websites and twitter (which is an excellent medium for breaking news as well as rumours) and television. In fact I read what I want to and the chances of missing news stories is quite low. So the newspaper's main news reporting function is not what I look for.

Do I take it for the editorial views? Well, given that I normally flip through the pages, the editorial is the last section which I will read through. Also I can get multiple views on the same subject better online.

Do I take it for the event listings? Well, smartphones now have an app for just about everything. Special events, sports telecasts, breaking news items, weather alerts, traffic updates, TV listings. And all of these with alerts and alarms set in. So they do a better job than the newspaper.

So why is the newspaper subscription still active?
Mostly it is out of habit. Since I can remember, a newspaper has been reaching the doorstep almost daily (save for the holidays). And I have been hooked on to the newspaper at quite an early age. My initial introduction was to the comic strips, the sports pages and the black and white pictures. The rest of the paper wasn't seen much. As I grew up the interest range increased. I always read the paper back to front (sports news has always been a big priority). In fact still flip through starting from the sports section. Also looked forward to the more colourful supplements which came on the weekends. Had developed a habit of keeping cuttings of interesting facts, pictures, news items (All of which were discarded during major clearing exercises). Eagerly awaited were the special supplements which came out on occasion. Later on also developed a habit of attempting the daily crossword and moved on sudoku. The newspapers used to be quite thin - around 12 pages. But the time devoted in perusing it was a lot. And the day felt incomplete without having read the newspaper. Also nothing improves one's general awareness and vocabulary better than this daily habit.

Guess it is this life-long habit which I still cling on to. Even though now I just glance through the newspaper rather than reading it, and attempting those puzzles is way out of thought, something still seems amiss when the newspaper offices go on leave.

And I guess that feeling of absence vented itself out in this post.