Once you make up your mind, do not look back, students told

Kalpana Chawla Award recipient Muthamil Selvi motivates students at 150th Coffee with Collector session in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu Government’s Kalpana Chawla Award recipient Muthamil Selvi asked the students to never give up their efforts once they set their eyes on a goal.

Addressing students at the 150th session of Coffee with Collector here on Tuesday, she said that relatives and friends might try to discourage one from pursuing their dream. “If you do not take any risk, you would not go up in life. Unmindful of the talking behind your backs and discouraging words, one should move forward with self-confidence,” she said.

Ms. Muthamil Selvi, who has climbed the summit of mountainsin six continents, has been eyeing the record to become the fastest woman from India to conquer peaks in seven continents.

She detailed the challenges involved in climbing up Mount Everest.

Despite having been mocked by fellow mountaineers for her lack of technical knowledge on mountaineering and seeing bodies lying around on the way, she did not give up mountaineering. Every time she succeeded in her targets, she felt that she got the power to speak up among the people.

Sharing the experiences of achieving success would help fellow people in following them, she said.

While answering a question from students, she said that it was very important to teach boys, more than the girls, from young age about how to behave with girls. She also advised students to share any incident of harassment first with their parents to get the best solution.