The autobiography of India’s living legend of the Himalayas, Captain M.S. Kohli, One More Step, published recently by the Penguin Books India, has been acclaimed as one of the most thrilling life stories of our times. It includes 19 years of Captain Kohli’s eventful association with Air-India, from 1971 to 1989, during which he pioneered several new ventures – Trekking in the Himalayas, Congresses and Conventions, Luxury Sea Cruises in the Indian Ocean, Tourism to Andaman and Lakshawdeep Islands, Tourist Charters to Goa, White-Water Rafting and Aero-Sports. A few excerpts from the book are reproduced here:

In the opening chapter, Capt. Kohli describes his hometown:

“I was born in Haripur in the Hazara district of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) bordering Afghanistan. Surrounded by the Kaghan hills of the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram ranges, Haripur stands 1,650 feet above sea level and provides excellent opportunities for climbing and adventure. With the Indus and its tributary, the Dor, flowing just a kilometre away, Haripur is distinctive in its own way.”

Captain Kohli has had 18 narrow escapes from death in his life. Of these, the most dramatic was during Capt. Kohli’s journey, in a goods train, from newly formed nation Pakistan to India in 1947. He writes:

“The dawn brought a deadly silence. Many had been killed during the night, others were thirsty and hungry. A few had fainted and those who ventured to get down to the platform to drink from a tap were shot like sitting ducks. Children were in stupor. The more thirsty squeezed their vests soaked with sweat to extract some liquid. One or two persons even resorted to drinking their urine. The non-stop firing for nearly twenty hours had left nearly half of the passengers in the train dead. We pushed out the bodies, one by one, over the sides of the bogie. There was to be no cremation for anyone. Over one thousand persons had died in the train.”

In 1961, Capt. Kohli led the Indian Expedition to Annapurna III. This was the most dramatic expedition in the history of Indian mountaineering. The expedition was looted by the local population and two members taken hostages. He describes his meeting with the Prime Minister on return to Delhi:

“Prime Minister Nehru called us to tea. Though thrilled to hear of our achievements, Jawaharlal Nehru was unhappy that we had not paid the Bhotias the sum of Rs.2,000 (ransom) that we had promised. He was adamant that the amount must be sent to the Bhotias without delay. The next day, the President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, S.S. Khera, then the cabinet secretary, sent a draft of Rs.2,000 to the Nepal Government. But it was politely returned.”

In 1962 Capt. Kohli set a world record by spending three nights at nearly 28,000 feet. Missing the summit by sheer 100 metres, Capt. Kohli and his two colleagues were on the frontiers of life and death for several hours. He writes:

“And then the worst happened. Sonam, who was leading the rope, suddenly slipped, taking down Hari who was caught unawares. We were heading for a vertical fall of several thousand feet. Intuitively, I dug my ice axe in the hard ice. It held us back. Thunder rumbled and lightning lit up the terrain around us. The wind, which had dogged our footsteps all along, rose in all its fury again.”

In 1965 Capt. Kohli led the third Indian Expedition to Everest which put nine climbers on the summit – a world record by itself. On return to India, the team received unprecedented receptions. Capt. Kohli was invited to address both the Houses of Indian Parliament. He writes:

“There was a large crowd of officials, friends and relatives at the Palam airport to receive us on our return home. Gulzari Lal Nanda, the then acting Prime Minister (Prime Minister Shastri was abroad); Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan; A.M. Thomas, Minister of Defence Production; Deputy Education Minister Bhakt Darshan; and H.C. Sarin, on behalf of the IMF, were present at the airport.”

Capt. M.S. Kohli congratulating Sir Edmund Hillary during the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the maiden ascent of Everest.

On 1st February 1971, Capt. Kohli, on joining Air-India, writes:

“Having served in the Indian Navy and the ITB Police for nearly seventeen years, it was a big change when I joined Air-India in Bombay on 1st February, 1971. I travelled to Bombay by an Air-India Jumbo, which had been recently acquired. We had been presented a Lhasa Apso by Tenzing, the first man to climb Everest. In order to commemorate my first flight in a Jumbo jet, I named our dog Jumbo.

“Initially, there was a lot of uncertainty about my assignment in Air- India. I kept moving from one division of Air-India to another. Bobby Kooka kept his mind open. Only a week after my joining Air-India, Bobby Kooka received a letter from the Director General, Tourism, suggesting that I should take over the Winter Sports Project of the Department of Tourism in Kashmir. Another request came from the airline’s Regional Director in Europe, Nari Dastur, suggesting that I should be posted to Geneva to look after the recently established ‘Operation Europe’. It was a tourism promotion project conceived by Dr. Karan Singh, then the Minister of Tourism, and jointly operated by Air-India and the Department of Tourism. Kooka, however, felt I would be useful to all regions, if I remained posted at the Air India Headquarters.”

After a few months Captain Kohli took over as Manager Himalayan Tourism and became the first man in the world to introduce trekking in the Himalayas. In his new job, his first visit was to Japan. He writes:

“On 15 November, I reached Tokyo. The launch function had been arranged in a big hall in the centre of Tokyo. There were some 2000 Japanese mountaineers present, despite heavy snowfall that afternoon. The presentation included the climbing of Everest by our 1965 team, followed by glimpses of various parts of the Himalayas. The response was heartening. Having myself experienced several treks, I was talking from a position of authority. That evening I signed over 500 autographs. Similar functions followed at Nagoya and Osaka. After ten days I returned to Mumbai. Before the end of 1971, over 300 bookings for trekking in Nepal and India had been received.

“The success was beyond our expectations and unprecedented in commercial marketing. Kooka and I were overjoyed. Himalayan Tourism had now become a reality. Kooka asked me to visit several countries, one after the other. All Air India offices worldwide were informed of this new segment of tourism. There was overwhelming response from everywhere. The Director General of Tourism had also issued orders to its overseas offices to cooperate in the promotion. Twentyfive thousand copies of my book on Himalayan trekking were printed and flown to various parts of the world and were distributed. Copies were also kept on Air India flights. Himalayan Tourism thus started with a bang.”

At Sanjay Gandhi’s death in 1980, Captain Kohli was the Regional Manager, North India. He writes:

“I decided that if Rajiv and Sonia were to return home the quickest possible course would be to instruct the Air-India pilot of the London flight to stop at Rome and pick them up. Both the MD and the Deputy MD were at that moment away from Mumbai. I took the liberty and decided to divert the flight on my own. I rang up Air-India, London. Fortunately, I was able to give the instructions about diverting the flight via Rome minutes before the plane was to take off from London.

“I rushed to Indira Gandhi’s residence to inform her about Rajiv’s return programme. It was 12 noon and Indira Gandhi was entering with Sanjay Gandhi’s body. I quickly informed her about Rajiv’s return plan. Despite her great personal loss, she looked quite composed. She asked me the time the flight would land at Palam. I told her it would be around midnight. I received the flight at midnight. Indira Gandhi had sent Dhirendra Brahmchari and Amitabh Bachchan to receive Rajiv and Sonia.”

Capt. Kohli with Rajiv Gandhi

In 1980, Rajiv Gandhi started taking interest in politics. He was particularly interested in civil aviation and tourism. In respect of his interest in tourism, Capt. Kohli writes:

“In the middle of 1982, on a particularly busy day, there were as many as three messages for me, informing me that I should meet Rajiv Gandhi at once. When I met him, Rajiv said: “Kohliji, I am very keen to promote tourist charters to India. I believe you are the best person for the job. Can I rely on you to handle this?” It meant my switching from the present job of regional head to be the headquarters divisional head of tourism. Rajiv Gandhi then added: ‘Kohliji, feel free to take your decision. Only if you agree, will I’ll tell Raghu Raj about the change in your assignment.’ I responded enthusiastically to Rajiv Gandhi’s suggestion. Tourism had always been a passion for me and I would be happy to revert to it!”

Capt. Kohli was also instrumental in getting Air-India to fly domestic passengers. He writes:

“During all these years, I never discussed anything concerning Air-India with Rajiv Gandhi barring one occasion. Our conversations were invariably confined to adventure and sports. One day I took the Air-India flight to Bombay to meet Raghu Raj. It was half empty. It occurred to me that Air-India operated some thirty-two flights on the Delhi-Bombay sector and most of them were half empty. Due to an old agreement with Indian Airlines, Air-India was not allowed to carry any domestic traffic.

“On reaching Bombay, I spoke to the chairman who informed me that he had discussed this issue earlier, but Indian Airlines had been very adamant. On returning to Delhi, with our chairman’s consent, I requested Rajiv Gandhi to waive the old rule. “Would you give them (Indian Airlines) the Gulf route in return?’ he inquired. I had no idea of the bickerings between the two airlines. My only concern was to save the nation a loss. Rajiv Gandhi agreed and Air-India got the freedom to carry domestic traffic, though at a price – some percentage of this revenue would have to be given to Indian Airlines as royalty. “

Nanda Devi was the scene of Joint Indo-American Expedition 1965 to put up a nuclear-powered censor on the summit.