Krushnaa Patil: Climb That Mountain

What does it mean to find your true calling? For some of us, it means discovering our inherent passion. It means having a gift and sharing it with the world. For others, it means doing something that makes you happy. That makes you feel whole. That makes you feel free. But finding your calling doesn’t come without compromise — and sometimes — sacrifice.

Until the age of 18, Krushnaa Patil wanted to be a dancer. She was certain that was who she was meant to be — that is until she climbed her first mountain. Through mountaineering, Patil discovered a sense of freedom that she had never felt in her “normal” life, and in 2009, at the age of 19, she became the youngest Indian to climb Mount Everest. She was also the first Indian woman to reach the highest summits in Antarctica, South America, and Europe, having completed ultimate peaks in six of the seven continents. But in pursuing her calling, Patil was faced with the difficult decision to accept help from the person she was trying to be free from.