On January 14, 2019 @ 9:30 a.m. IG Headquarter, Mr. Daljeet Singh Chaudhary got a call from South Pole Station.  One of their own, 44 year old, Indian Police Services Aparna Kumar currently attached as DIG Training, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Seemadwar, Dehradun had hoisted the Tricolour on the South Pole. Aparna had trudged hauling a 40 kilo sledge skiing nine to ten hours a day on the illustrious footsteps of ‘Scotts of the Antartica.’

Annually, many trekkers take up the challenge to reach the place. It is the coldest and driest place on earth, and no small wonder why the place remains the least visited continent on the earth. But braving minus 37 celsius, is not for everyone and only a few succeed.

Aparna is a mother of two. She is from the 2002 batch of IPS and is in the Uttar Pradesh cadre. She is the first IPS and ITBP officer to successfully scale the southern most tip of the earth. Karnataka-born and brought up, Aparna set out on the 30th of December, 2018 from Dehradun and completed this arduous 111 mile trek within 8 days of being dropped off at 89 degree south latitude on the 13th of January, 2019, making history.

For the last six years, Aparna Kumar trained with all her might in advance mountaineering and has successfully scaled prominent peaks in six continents. In May 2016, Aparna summited Mount Everest from the north face. Post this feat, she trained for a little over six months during which she learnt to ski. What almost upset the applecart was that just a month before the expedition, she was diagnosed with right lung pneumonia and advised complete bed rest for almost three weeks. But not the one to give up and with her never-say-die spirit Aparna became part of a seven member expedition team along with two guides to South Pole. Of course being the only woman member in the expedition had its own set of challenges.

Talking to Newspost, retracing her footsteps, Aparna gets nostalgic, “The most challenging part of the journey was the extreme cold conditions and low visibility and high speed chilly winds.” Almost a month post the mountaineering journey, Aparna Kumar has a message for the women of the world know: ‘One should keep trying and never quit. It is very important to pursue one’s passion with a single minded focus and devotion.“

When asked what was next on her bucket list? She is quick to reply, “I am scheduled to ski to North Pole in April this year and will then scale Mount Denali in Alaska in June.  A peak which remains un-scaled on my two previous accounts in 2017 and 2018.”

Completing the seven summits and winning the coveted explorer’s Grand Slam, is what we wish for Aparna Kumar in the months ahead.