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Colonel Narendra "Bull" Kumar (also spelled Narinder; born 8 December 1933) is an Indian soldier-mountaineer.[1] He is known for the mountaineering reconnaissance expedition he undertook in Teram Kangri, Siachen Glacier and Saltoro Range for Indian Army in 1978 at the age of 45.[2][3][4] If he had not undertaken this expedition, all ofSiachen Glacier and its adjoining regions, including the Nubra Valley, would be Pakistan's. That is an area covering almost 10,000 km2(3,900 sq mi), but because of his expedition, India conquered all the entire area.[5] Kumar crossed seven mountain ranges—Pir Panjal Range, Himalayas, Zanskar, Ladakh, Saltoro, Karakoram and Agil—to give India Siachen.
Narendra Kumar entered the Indian Army in 1950. He took part in boxing, riding and cycle-polo during his years of training. He was commissioned in Kumaon Rifles in June 1954 and then became interested in winter sports and mountaineering. He earned "Bull" sobriquet at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, during the first boxing match he fought. His rival was a senior cadet, Sunith Francis Rodrigues, who went on to become the Chief of the Army Staff. Kumar lost the bout, but helped earning himself a nickname: "Bull." The nickname "Bull" comes from his tendency to charge relentlessly into whatever he does.
The mountain bond was born when Colonel Kumar met Tenzing Norgay, director of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, in Darjeeling.In March 1958, Narendra led the successful Army and Navy expedition to Mt. Trisul(23,360 ft).He also scaled Kabru Dome (21,780 ft) in 1959 and Yellow Needle Peak (22,480 ft) in 1960. He was the first Indian to reach up to 28,700 ft, in his first attempt at climbing the Mount Everest in 1960, before having to turn back due to inclement weather.In 1961, Kumar led a harrowing 5-men expedition to climb Neelkanth (21,644 ft) in the Garhwal Himalayas. While descending from the summit,Kumar lost four of his toes due to frostbite and stopped 200m short of the summit. In 1964,he was first Indian to scale Nanda Devi.In 1965, he was deputy leader of a team that put nine Indian Army climbers at the top of the world's tallest peak. Capt. Mohan Singh Kohli, who led the 1965 Everest expedition, said Kumar's climbing career was "astonishing". He also scaled Mont Blanc (15,782 ft), the highest peak in the Alps in 1968. In 1970 he led the first recognised ascent of 23,997 ft Jomolhari(Chomo Lhari), the highest mountain in Bhutan. Kumar successfully climbed theKangchenjunga from the toughest north-east spur in 1976.
Kumar followed up his 1981 Siachen feats with the challenge, as Antarctica Task Force member, of acclimatising the First Indian Expedition there, led by Dr. S. Z. Qasim in 1982. Training was carried out at Dras, where temperatures touch minus 56 degrees Celsius. In 1983, Kumar conquered Kamet (25,595 ft) and Abi Gamin (24,272 ft). He superannuated on 1 January 1984 but that did not slow him down. Later,Kumar was put in "permanent category C" by the Indian Army, which meant no postings above 7,000 ft. Every time he was in the mountains, he had to give the government a non-liability certificate saying that he absolve them of all responsibilities should anything happen to him. He has entered the oxygen-depleted death zone above 8,000 m, twenty times. He spent 35 years in the Indian Army. Lieutenant General V. R. Raghavan, commanding officer of Operation Meghdoot, called Colonel Kumar 'a mountain of information'. Wing Commander T. Sridharan, now the treasurer of the New Delhi-based Indian Mountaineering Foundation called Kumar "India's Chris Bonington". He is a lifelong camaraderie with Tenzing Norgay.
Three years later, on 13 April 1984, the Indian Army launched its first major offensive attack,known as Operation Meghdootagainst the Pakistani army at Siachen Glacier and established bases along the glacier. The detailed maps, plans, photographs and videos made by Kumar and his team,helped Indian Army to conquer the whole of Siachen Glacier and also the area to the west of it,along with the main ridges and passes-Sia La (7,300m), Bilafond La (6,160m), Gyong La (5,640m), Yarma La (6,100m) and Chulung La (5,800m), along the Saltoro Range.[12] The key Bilafond La (Pass of the Butterflies) is on the ancient Silk Route linking undivided India and China.Now he lives in new delhi.