Class 8 English Chapter 5 Question Answers - The Summit Within

Q1: Why did the author say that “internal summits are, perhaps, higher than Everest”?
Ans: He said, “Internal summits are perhaps, higher than Everest” because his experience as an Everester has provided him with the inspiration to face life’s ordeals resolutely. Climbing mountains gives worthwhile experience.

Q2: What does Ahluwalia have to say about the relationship between mountain climbing and life?
Ans: According to HPS Ahluwalia, there is a very close connection between these two journeys. His experience as an Everest climber gave him the inspiration to face life’s challenges with great confidence.

Q3: Why did the author feel a change within himself?
Ans: He experienced a change within himself, which he called mystical, due to the beauty, aloofness, might, ruggedness, and the difficulties encountered on the way.

Q4: Why does the author become sad on reaching the top of the mountain?
Ans: On reaching the top of the mountain, the author becomes sad because his goal had been attained, and he now feels a certain emptiness in the absence of a goal. Also, he realizes that he has reached the highest point, and the journey ahead would only lead downward.

Q5: Who was Major HPS Ahluwalia?
Ans: Major HPS Ahluwalia was a member of the first successful Indian expedition to the Mount Everest in 1965.

Q6: Why did the author say that “instead of being jubilant” there was a tinge of sadness?
Ans: The author said that “instead of being jubilant” there was a tinge of sadness because he had already done the ‘ultimate’ in climbing and there would be nothing higher to climb as all roads hereafter would lead down.

Q7: Write the physical and spiritual aspects of summiting a mountain?
Ans: Whether the mountain you climb is physical or emotional and spiritual, the climb will certainly change people. It teaches us much about the world and about ourselves.

Q8: Why did the author climb mountains?
Ans: The author has been attracted to mountains since his childhood. He felt miserable and lost when he was away from mountains in the plains. Their beauty and majesty posed a great challenge, and they were a means of communion with God. So, he climbed mountains.

Q9: Explain why the author summited Everest?
Ans: According to the author, summiting presents great difficulties. Man takes delight in overcoming obstacles. The obstacles in climbing a mountain are physical. A climb to a mountain requires endurance, persistence, and willpower, making it very exciting.

Q10: “The man who has been to the mountains is never the same again”. Why?
Ans: “The man who has been to the mountains is never the same again” because the climb is not easy. Although it involves physical exhaustion, the obstacles in climbing a mountain are not just physical. The experience is worthwhile and transformative.

Q11: Why did they leave the picture of God on Everest?
Ans: He left on Everest a picture of Guru Nanak. Rawat left a picture of goddess Durga, Phu Dorji left a relic of the Buddha, and Edmund Hillary had buried a cross under a cairn (a heap of rocks & stones) in the snow. These are not symbols of conquest but of reverence.

Q12: How was the experience of the author when he climbed mountains?
Ans: By climbing the summit of Everest, the author was overwhelmed by a deep sense of joy and thankfulness. It was a joy that lasts a lifetime. The experience changed him completely.

Q13: How does the author view himself in the light of his surroundings, as he reaches the summit?
Ans: As the author reaches the summit, he becomes more and more conscious of his smallness in comparison to the vastness of the universe that he sees from the mountain peak.