A CISF Sub-Inspector/Exe from Vizag, 32-year-old Seerapu Srikant, has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro; the highest single free-standing mountain in the world. Incidentally, he is the first person from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and the first male from Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), to have ever achieved this feat.
#CISF always encourages its personnel to take up new challenges and strive hard to take CISF to newer heights. Congratulations SI/Exe Seerapu Srikant of CISF on successfully summiting Mount Kilimanjaro
(5,895 mtrs / 18,150 ft) in Tanzania, Africa. pic.twitter.com/GnvDs5II8f— CISF (@CISFHQrs) September 9, 2021
In 2019, Srikant was introduced to mountain climbing through a mountaineering course organized by the CISF. Since then his love for climbing has only grown. Today, as he aspires to conquer higher peaks, in a conversation with Yo! Vizag, Srikant shares his journey on achieving this feat. “I have always been good at sports and athletics since my younger days. With this, anything that was adventuresome invariably enthralled me and so did the mountaineering course organized by the CISF. After completing the course, usually, a team of eight is selected to climb Mount Everest. I qualified for the preliminary list but didn’t make it to the final list. This incident fuelled my desire to scale the peaks on my own.”
For Srikant, scaling the highest peak was not another ordinary show of physical capability, but a unique moment of celebrating the role of teachers in one’s life. On reaching the summit on 5 September, which is celebrated as the National Teachers Day, Srikant says “I’m a proud alumnus of the Kendriya Vidyalaya, so I carried the Kendriya Vidyalaya flag to the mountain peak. On finally reaching the summit, I waved the flag in an act of expressing gratitude and love to all the teachers out there for playing a key role in shaping the society.”
Yo! Vizag Feature Articles An Inspiration
“I’m currently posted in Delhi, so it’s a ritual every morning at work to follow the Yo! Vizag website for South Indian news. Every time there would be a feature article of a Vizagite achieving a feat, I would invariably ask the question, how can I feature on Yo! Vizag. In fact, as soon as I finished scaling the summit, the first thing I did was I procured the portal’s contact details and wrote to the admin. I personally feel getting recognized from a local website is fulfilling and at the same time inspires and motivates to achieve even more,” adds Srikant
After spending six enduring days up the summit, this proud Vizagite is finally happy to be back in the city. Speaking about his future goals and ambitions, Srikant adds that he plans to scale Mount Everest, North America’s Denali, and Mount Aconcagua of South America, amongst others.
Education And Career
SI/Exe Seerapu Srikant started his mountaineering journey by completing the Special Basic Mountaineering Course from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS), Manali in the year 2019. He completed his training with Grade ‘A’ and was awarded the “Trainee of Best Rope” and the “Keep the Himalaya Clean” badge for extraordinary performance. He also participated in the Mount Satopanth Expedition by CISF which was held in August-September 2019 in Uttarakhand, India.
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano in Tanzania, Africa. It is the highest peak in Africa and is also called ‘The Roof of Africa’. It has an elevation of 5,895 meters and requires an average 10 km climb a day to reach the summit.
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