K. Jayalakshmi, 58, had never imagined that one spontaneous decision would take her all the way to the base camp of Mount Everest.

With polio affecting her right leg with a minimum 40% disability, Ms. Jayalakshmi became the first woman with a disability from Tamil Nadu to accomplish the feat in April this year.

She says it was by all accounts a last minute leap of faith. Roughly a week before the expedition, Ms. Jayalakshmi was at her usual calisthenics class when she learnt that a few members of her gym were heading to Everest Base Camp.

“Mainly, what drew me into that was how they were accompanied by Tamil Nadu’s first woman Everester and a seven continent highest peak summiteer Muthamilselvi. That is why I just did not want to miss out,” she says, who had only a week left to prepare with an unpremeditated decision.

Ms. Jayalakshmi has been active for years, practicing calisthenics, working out at the gym, trekking and mountaineering. “Muthamilselvi’s faith in my ability was my final push. She instilled so much confidence in me and kept saying that I would be able to do it,” she recalls.

Ms. Jayalakshmi, however, is not a full-time mountaineer. For decades, she has been working as a Higher Grade Assistant at the Life Insurance Corporation of India. After clocking out from her job, she is also an emcee who has hosted more than 2000 shows from sabhas to corporate events and makes it a point to surely hike almost every month, having trekked places including Parvathamalai trek, Vagamon, Gandikota, Puligundu,and others. So, while Everest arrived rather abruptly, the 58-year-old has been preparing for years unintentionally.

“I had to take a sudden 20-day leave from work and obtain clearances, including a vigilance check because of my job at LIC, but my workplace was extremely supportive about my expedition. When I told my senior officials about it, they immediately encouraged me to pursue this. They were in fact proud of me,” said Ms. Jayalakshmi, who also went to the base camp carrying her organisation’s flag and planting it there. “But this was no easy feat at all and, at that moment when we reached the Base camp on April 14th, nothing was in my mind. I finally reached the top - that was all I was thinking about. Nobody in my entire bloodline has done this,” she says, who is particular about keeping her profession and passions apart.

LIC, she says, is her livelihood and the organisation she remains loyal to. “I am faithful to my organisation because that is my livelihood and that made me who I am today. But after livelihood, life happens which is emceeing and mountaineering because the adrenaline rush from that is indescribable.”

14-day trek

The trek took 14 days while she relied heavily on her left knee but years of physical activity and the current strength training helped her with the terrain. “My entire body weight is only on my left knee, but I was able to take this risk even though my children were really scared. I really had to challenge myself,” she says, with grit flooding her voice. She also warns not everyone should take a quick decision as her in pursuit of something like trekking to Everest.

For Ms. Jayalakshmi, she says she never wishes to settle into the familiar. She also advises the younger generation without much ornamentation. “Growth happens only when you push your fear away,” she says. “Travel. Travel as much as you can. That is how you learn,” she adds.

Published - August 13, 2026 06:00 am IST