Total NRG - issue 20

Hari Budha Magar

Hari: I think, mainly, my inspirations is simply just for me, is just passing my day, you know, you’re not just making, you know, how can I make my life meaningful? You know, I survived. And when I die, maybe there’s people around me that can say that, yeah, he was a decent guy, and he inspired some people.

Daniel: a legacy for your children, and for others to kind of follow in your, your wake as it were to not give up. And to kind of keep pushing and be motivated, and, and so on. Is that fair to say?

Hari: Yes, yeah. Absolutely.

Daniel: You’ve worked with NIMS, and Krish. How has that been? Have they been very inspirational to you? Have they kind of pushed you to do more and more challenges?

Hari: Yeah, especially Khrish , you know we served together in the regiment. But also, after my injury, I met him since 2016, then, you know, he taught me the basics of mountaineering, and how to walk on ice and snow to you know, how to put harnesses all the very basic & important things. Things, so yeah, I’m climbing with Khrish since 2016. And without him, possibly, you know, I wouldn’t be here. And also, it’s a great inspiration that, you know, what Nims achieved, It’s just amazing. And, you know, after I lost my legs, then I did all types of sports and adventures, and I realized that, that nothing is impossible, but it just kind of added, you know, you know, things and just make sure that Yeah, absolutely, there is an amazing pushing.

Daniel: You’ve done so many amazing challenges what have been the big lessons that you’ve learned, building up to this next expedition, that you think not only going to help you, but also will be things that other people can take away from your own experiences?

Hari: Yeah, the first of all I started was because, you know, as I was, you know, after, you know, my injury, you know, I live in a culture that even I’m living in the UK, I live in with my culture quite closely. And the way you know, they look at disability and I grew up to age of 19. And the way in that society is looked into the disabled people. So one thing that I was, I was very unaware that, you know, what disabled people can do, I Personally, myself when I was injured, if I knew that

maybe I could pick up my life much quicker, you know, so, I thought that, you know, it leads to more awareness to make, you know, I spent about one and a half, two years of my time just figuring out you know, what can I do and try to learn the things so, so, if I, you know, was aware, I wouldn’t waste that amount of time you know. So, that is the thing that I want to make a disability awareness. So, that is the one thing that it kind of, you knowp ushed me on, to do the things as much as I can. Another thing is, how can I make it physically possible but also in other ways is how can mentally can this be possible? So this is the thing is that I want to make our awareness and I think whatever we are having Right now, I think is somebody has given their time, you know, their effort, they challenge themselves. So for me challenging myself, I can make at least something possible for future generation that whether or not they have disabilities, it’s about chasing your dream.

Daniel: Fantastic. So in terms of, what you’ve had to do in terms of preparation? What does a normal day look like for you? I mean, is it like, are you having to do any specific exercises, you’re having to eat a lot of food?

Hari: So at the moment, it depends on how busy I am on the day, generally, I wake up at half, five, and hit the gym at six and six to eight, then I come back and do my parents responsibility. So take my son to school, and come back, have a breakfast and do the work that I need to do. I am to train five days a week. When you’re talking about food, I need to kind of control my food. Because if I put the more weight than, you know, my legs can’t go in inside the sockets. And if I lose too much weight also and my sockets, start digging in my groin, so yeah, I need to maintain my kind of weight, as well. So, there are many things that I consider.

Daniel: When you’re training what kind of exercises are you’re doing? Is there anything specific that you’re having to do? Or is it just general fitness and wellness?

Hari: Mainly, as the expeditions are on the mountains it is more

about the lungs. So, I make sure my lungs are pumped up, it’s also important to have overall strength and conditioning. I often go swimming, as this is a great all-round exercise.

Daniel: Excellent. So is there any reason why you decided to do this epic challenge now? Was it that you wanted to build up to it? Or was it like the stars aligned and you had to do it?

Hari: So the first thing is, I thought that for the rest of my life, I would be in a a wheelchair, and I would need to be taken care of. That’s what I thought initially. And later, once I started doing sports and adventure, and my aim was to what can I do physically after losing both legs, and I tried to try as many as sports. Then I thought Yeah, nothing’s impossible. And when I was skiing in the Alps, and, you know, in the USA in Colorado, I was looking up at the mountain s and just thinking when I was growing up, I grew up looking at the mountains every day. And you know, we were taught that you as a very small child that, Mount Everest is the tallest peak in the world. It’s in Nepal and we Nepalese are very proud of that. So one thing is was that and I was inspired by reading, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing. Even when I was serving, I wanted to climb Everest do but I was busy with my career, so didn’t have the opportunity. And after losing my legs, when I was skiing and thinking, you know, how can you tackle them. And in 2016, I met Khrish and I asked him if a disabled person could climb Everest and he said yes, it was possible. So yeah, let’s do it, climb Everest.

Daniel: Okay, great. From your experience as an explorer and a soldier? What advice would you give people you know, just for getting the most out of life?

Hari: I think simply just, you know, be positive and do whatever comes our way and that door will start opening and if you as long as you take it positive, when you are on your way just take a challenge wherever you have on your way you know sometimes in life is you know, doesn’t go gradually

up it has to go up and down. So you know, whatever comes just sometimes we need to be passed on to you know this to go you know to happen this even this my Everest is I start to start climbing. You know, I thought about climbing 2018 and were in an EPA. Gov banned double amputees and visually impaired. And we had to go to Supreme Court and fight that case. And then then that Corona popped in, and it’s finally happening, right? 2023. So, nothing, pretty much everything doesn’t go as we have planned. So, you know, I never planned to be, you know, disabled with my legs, I thought that I would fight until in my breath, but it wasn’t the case. So I survived. And my friends did a great job to save my life and simply, yeah, just be positive. And this whatever the you, you can put your hands on this, do it. And it just opens the way and they’ll be happy, I think.

Daniel: Great. So I’ve got three fun questions we always ask everybody. So the first one is, if you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Hari: I would change the perception on a person with a disability. And definitely the people disabled people around the world and make sure that they have got the same opportunity like that, or what I have.

Daniel: If you could train anywhere with anyone, past or present, who would it be?

Hari: That definitely be Sir Edmund Hillary, I think he’s one of if he hadn’t climbed Everest, I think I wouldn’t have dreamed of even climbing right now. So

Daniel: Third question, your favourite meal?

Hari: I love seafood.

www.haribudhamagar.com