On April 22, Dushyant Rathore stood atop Mount Lobuje East (6,090m), a peak neighboring the world’s highest, Mount Everest. Raised in the arid sands of Bikaner, Rajasthan, he became the first person from his state to achieve this remarkable feat.

For someone who grew up amidst the endless sands of the Thar Desert, mountains had never been part of his everyday view. Reaching the summit of a Himalayan peak and witnessing several towering 8,000-meter giants up close felt surreal, he said.

“I looked around and realized I wasn’t just standing on snow and rock,” Dushyant recalled, speaking from Kathmandu after his return.

The conditions at the top were brutal — fierce winds and thin air — but what he remembers most is the profound silence. At the summit, he proudly raised the flag of Bikaner and Maa Karni Ji. "I wanted to prove that someone from the Thar Desert could stand tall in the Himalayas," he said.

The dream began years ago, sparked by an old photograph of his father undertaking a mountaineering course in Jammu and Kashmir with his cousins. "That picture lit something inside me," he said. "It gave me the first idea of mountaineering. Then came a thought that wouldn’t leave me — to do something unique, something no one in my family or community had ever done."

His outfitter, 14 Peaks Expedition, suggested Lobuje East — a peak known for its grueling, technically demanding sections — as the ideal challenge to test the strength and endurance he had built through months of hard training under the desert sun.

When he learned he had become the first person from Rajasthan to summit Lobuje East, Dushyant became emotional, tears welling in his eyes — not from the cold, but from pride. "I felt like I had written a new chapter in the story of my state," he said.

He was accompanied by Tenging Gyaljen Sherpa, an experienced guide from Phortse Village in Nepal's Khumbu region.

The journey to the summit was far from easy. Dushyant credits religious worship, the unwavering support of his family and mentors, and a relentless inner drive for helping him persevere through the toughest moments.

During the climb, exhaustion and doubt crept in. "At one moment during the ascent, I thought about turning back," he admits. "But then the image of my village and city — waiting for the news — pulled me forward."

The most physically demanding part, he said, was descending over rocky sections where crampons made footing treacherous. "I had to move very slowly, carefully, to avoid injury," he recalled.

Throughout the expedition, his family’s prayers and words of encouragement were his invisible strength. His mother prayed daily for his safety. His father offered simple but powerful advice: "Just be careful and don’t take any stress."

Their pride upon his safe return was unmistakable. His community celebrated his achievement like a festival.

Now, Dushyant hopes his journey will inspire young people across Rajasthan and beyond to dream bigger — whether in mountaineering, art, science, or any other field.

"If a desert boy can summit a Himalayan peak," he said, smiling, "anything’s possible."

Beyond personal achievement, he is determined to use his climbs to raise awareness about climate change and the retreat of Himalayan glaciers — critical issues that are often overlooked in his home region but impact everyone globally.