5. What would you have done if you were a part of the group?

What is the right thing to do

as per you? How would you have influenced the group to do the right thing?

I would have helped the sadhu. The sadhu was an old and feeble man. Due to the severe weather
conditions at the top of the mountain, he was shivering and as a result hypothermia had set in.
During such situations it is extremely important to take care of an affected person, be it your friends
or family or an unknown sadhu. It would have been unethical to leave him there on his own with just
cloths and food.

The right decision would have been to forego the opportunity to reach the summit and help the
sadhu. This way after achieving, the author would have had the fulfilled feeling of achieving
something great. This decision would not only have given him a greater sense of achievement at that
time but, would have given him satisfaction for the rest of his life when he turns back and evaluates
his past decisions. The feeling of helping someone would always overthrow the feeling of personal
achievements.

In my opinion, radical change or much effort isn’t required to extract a positive outcome from the
group. Stephan had already had some intention in him to do the right thing towards the sadhu. It
only required one more person to assist him. That person could have been be the author. Both
together could have helped in taking the sadhu back to his monastery.

9.Why do you think Mr. McCoy wrote about this experience? What must he be thinking? Was
he disturbed by something? What kind of dilemmas led him to write about this experience?

Mr. McCoy was deeply disturbed by the decision he took during his trek in Himalayas to reach
Mulkinath. This is supposed to be a once in a lifetime opportunity for him. He was unsure whether
he would ever go on another sabbatical or whether he would be able to achieve something grand in
his life. He writes about his expedition and the case of the sadhu because he is deeply disturbed by
the decisions he took.

Mr. McCoy still thinks of the egoistical nature of the entire group. He doesn’t find fulfilment in
achieving his objective now. His thoughts are about the sadhu and the ever-evading answer to the
question of what happened to the sadhu.

He says that every member of the trekking group took risks only to a certain extent which they were
comfortable with to save the sadhu. The egoist nature of every member of the trekking group led to
this situation of Mr. McCoy. He never found out whether the sadhu reached his destination and got
treated. The author is in a dilemma by not knowing the result of his decision. He would probably
remain in a confused or discontented state until he gets to know whether the sadhu lived or died.