Tamil Legend Gemini Ganesan S Granddaughter Dr Priya Selvaraj Creates History And How

What saved her was a safety rope, her guide’s instructions, and the calm instincts of a doctor used to high-stakes moments. At 52, the granddaughter of the late legendary Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan has now made history as the only known Indian woman above 50 to have climbed two 8,000-metre peaks within seven months: Manaslu in September 2025 and Everest last month.

For a fertility specialist who has lived a life of a high-stakes, managing nerves and bringing new lives into the world, it’s no easy feat to invest time, energy in a passion that too like mountaineering. Dr Selvaraj, however, has not only continued to fuel her passion for over two decades, but even made history! On May 27, she tested her mettle against the ultimate giants by successfully completing Mount Everest summit, after years of gruelling training that prepared her for the physical toll. But, nothing could prepare her for the treacherous Khumbu Icefall during her descent and an accident that almost ended it all.

In a split second, life came full circle and her instincts of a doctor became the only anchor. “I was doing the final descent of Khumbu Icefall in the dead of the night,” recalls Dr Selvaraj, elucidating, “It was just me, my guide, Anup, and we had the stars and our headlights as the other 10 members of my team had already crossed. As fate would have it, I fell into a crevasse. It was not soft ice, it was (sharp like) glass! I hit myself several times as I went down and there was only one thing that pulled me up and kept me hanging while I was dangling there: my safety rope. Had I not listened and paid attention to my guide, and been overconfident thinking ‘I can always fix this later, let me do the jump first’, I wouldn’t be alive to tell this story.”

Any other climber could have been left paralysed after such an impact, but Dr Selvaraj found a familiar rhythm as just like the operating theatre, the mountains too demanded exact same psychological armour. “There is an overlap because my profession is all about challenges and performing under nerves, pressure,” she explains, adding, “It’s birthing, you know? It’s not easy at all... And I was thinking during that moment: if I am strong enough to bring life into this world, then I am strong enough to save my own.”

As she swung over the abyss, panic struck her guide. But inside the crevasse, Dr Selvaraj’s medical training kicked in. “In that moment, Anup was in emotional shock. All he was saying was, ‘Are you all right?’ And the only thing I told him while dangling was, ‘Anup, I am a doctor. I know I have no bruises, no fractures. Just don’t worry, I am not going anywhere. I am alive and breathing, and also aware of everything, Now let’s think.’”

With extraordinary composure, she orchestrated her rescue. “I was dangling, and I found at the back... an ice ledge, and I just perched on it. It was like God just yanked me and made me sit so that I can recover.” Working together with Anup, using her crampons against the sheer glass walls, she finally fought her way out.

She admits that the high-altitude climb felt almost cinematic, even triggering vivid childhood memories and visions of her ancestors. “Being at the Everest feels like a film. The higher I climbed, I started having childhood memories coming to me,” she confesses, recalling how it all began four years ago after losing her father to Covid-19. Back then she sought refuge from grief in trekking and conquered Kilimanjaro in 2023 before setting her sight on the Everest. “Apart from my prayers, I’m also thinking in my head about childhood, and about what I ate, how I was raised... everything flashed It could be because you are supposed to be hallucinating, you know, you do have these thoughts even when you’re sleeping in high altitude. A lot of food ideas came into my head. That’s why I’m rethinking my diet now. What am I being all of this? What am I eating? Why am I eating? And why did I give up what I ate in my childhood? The question—the why, why, why came back. So now, I’m revisiting and I’m thinking I want my life like how I had when I had my grandparents and my dad around. I have turned vegan in the last 16 years, but this expedition might turn that around.”

To sustain the gruelling balance between profession and passion, Dr Selvaraj adheres to a relentless discipline that is capable of exhausting people half her age! “I am past 50 so I have to be at the peak of my fitness,” she shares, adding, “It is 50 minutes to an hour of training every day. I will go running sometimes to the beach at 4.30am in the morning first and then my trainer would complete my training by 9.30am. By 10 or 10.30am, I’m at work.”