KUNTAL JOISHER: I proudly flew the Vegan flag on the top of Mt. Everest knowing that no animal had to suffer or die for my dream to come true.
SINDHU MV: In 1993, eighth-grader Kuntal Joisher wrote his first piece of software code. “Somehow, I felt that I would be doing that for the rest of my life,” he says. But, that’s only a tiny part of what he does today. A part-time software engineer, Kuntal is now a well-known name in mountaineering and vegan circles. In 2018, he summited Mt. Lhotse, the fourth-highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres, and became the first person to ascend an 8,000 metre mountain on a 100 percent vegan lifestyle. A year later, he repeated the feat on Everest, another first for the vegan community.
Born in Kharagpur, a small town in West Bengal, Kuntal moved to Mumbai when he was four. He says, “It is the city I call home today.” After completing his bachelor’s in Computer Engineering, Kuntal moved to the US to pursue a master’s in Computer Science at the University of Southern California in 2001. It was here that he was introduced to veganism. He adds, “I realised how the ‘harmless’ glass of milk or that ‘tasty block of cheese’ came from cows, which were impregnated over and over and their calves stolen and sent to slaughterhouses.” With that realisation, Kuntal became a vegan. “I learnt the true meaning of the words empathy and compassion the day I decided to turn vegan. However, little did I know this one decision would completely change the direction of my life”…
Kuntal trained in the Himalayas for almost four months a year for four years. He was not just training to climb Everest, but he was also training to do so as a vegan. But there was a lot of scepticism in the mountaineering community. “The recommended diet for extreme climbing expeditions includes salami, spam, cheese, processed meats, eggs, and dairy. I, on the other hand, couldn’t eat any of these high-fat high-protein animal products.” He adds, “One of the biggest myths about vegan diets is that they’re nutritionally deficient because they lack protein. I wanted to dispel that myth. I wanted to climb to the top of the world in the harshest conditions. I told myself, I would climb Everest as a vegan or not climb it at all”…
Having failed twice, he began to have self-doubt. But he reminded himself of how he had spent every waking moment of the last six years chasing a dream, and the sacrifices he and his family had made… Kuntal recalls, “Standing on top of the world, quite literally, instead of feeling happy, I felt otherwise. After all, I was wearing a one-piece mountaineering Down suit, which was not cruelty free. Even though an alternative did not exist, it was no excuse.” So he decided to climb once again, this time a 100 percent vegan ascent of Everest. Collaborating with a company that specialised in making animal-free jackets, eight months of R&D later, Kuntal received the world’s first animal-free one piece suit for 8,000 metre mountains, 50 percent of which is made from recycled materials…
In 2018, he climbed Mt. Lhotse, the fourth-highest peak in the world, wearing his new suit. “There was no scratch, no frostbite, no cough, no illness at all,” says Kuntal, who now returned to Everest in May 2019, and fulfilled his long-pending dream. “I had finally completed the biggest dream of my life – a 100 percent vegan ascent of Everest! This time I proudly flew the vegan flag on the top knowing that no animal had to suffer or die for my dream to come true”…
He says his diet during an expedition depends a lot on where he is climbing. If it’s the Himalayas, then most of the local food tend to be vegetarian, and hence easier to veganise. “The food typically comprises vegetable stews, curries, fruits, lentils, beans, soups, wheat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, noodles, etc. At the same time, I do carry comfort food – a trail mix of dried fruits and nuts, nutrition bars made out of dates and nuts, electrolytes and energy powders, freeze dried meals, instant soy milk oatmeal, cookies and a few local snacks”… He says the vegan diet has not only helped him train harder, but also derive performance benefits and faster recovery. “In addition, I have noticed that I never catch a stomach infection that most mountain climbers catch at some point during the climb either due to lactose intolerance or infected meat”. SOURCE…
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