On May 18, at 5 am IST, 16-year-old Nameirakpam Chingkheinganba scaled Mount Everest. This is his story.

O ver the course of these past few years, Manipur teenager Nameirakpam Chingkheinganba made it a ritual to wake up at 5 every morning and take a walk that lasted four hours.

Upon his return, a breakfast of milk, bananas and honey followed and he would be off to school, then to tuitions and finally back home, where he would study. At the end of each day, he would meditate, reflect on its occurrences and take rest. And Sundays were dedicated to running for about seven hours.

In between all of this, he found the time to play the guitar, watch a bit of television and managed to keep within the top 15 in a class of about 55.

All of this had been in preparation for the one dream he's had for as long as he remembers -- to scale Mt Everest, a dream that his father Nameirakpam Tomba also once harboured but gave up for domestic responsibilities. Tomba is now a civil contractor and a pradhan of the Patsoi gram panchayat,

Last year, Chingkheinganba undertook a basic course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi and participated in two pre-Everest expeditions.

And the faculty at Kanan Devi Memorial School, where he studies, was happy to let him pursue his dream, helping him catch up in any way possible.

On May 18 this year, his efforts finally paid off. As part of the first North East Indian Top of the World Mt Everest Expedition 2013, which the President flagged off on March 20 from Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, Chingkheinganba became the youngest Indian from the North East to have scaled Everest.

Born on October 7, 1996, he was exactly 16 years, seven months and 11 days old when he accomplished the feat, beating a previous record set by Arjun Vajpai of Noida, who reached the summit when he was 16 years, 11 months and 18 days old.

Days after Nameirakpam achieved this feat, 15-year-old Raghav Juneja from Moradabad, broke his record too.

"Father always wanted to climb Everest, but he never could. There was never enough money. I did it for him," an ecstatic Chingkheinganba said over the phone from Everest Base Camp.

Tomba, one of the founding members of the Manipur Mountaineering and Trekking Association, which organised this expedition, is of course over the moon. "I felt as if I had set foot on top of the world," he told Imphal Free Press in an interview.

Chitra Ahanthem, the paper's Resident Editor tells me that despite the popular perception that Manipur is highly supportive of sporting activities and sportsmen, the prevalent attitude actually isn't very different from most other states. Chingkheinganba had to switch from a private missionary school in class VIII, because they didn't appreciate his absence from class in order to undertake expeditions.

Kanan Devi Memorial School -- where he a student of Class XI -- has been an exception. "They'd help me (catch up) if I was out for an expedition, or let me write an exam later," said Chingkheinganba, adding that he wouldn't be able to achieve half of what he has had it not been for their support.

Then of course there was the MMTA, through which he participated in adventure activities, treks and endurance camps.

"They taught me how to survive in forests, engage in search and rescue missions, understand the mountains and most importantly, helped me understand the value of endurance," he says.

In the following pages, Nameirakpam Chingkheinganba tells the story of his expedition and just how all that hard work has paid off.