Rating: 5 out of 5
Three Cups of Tea is an exceptional story of Greg Mortenson, an avid mountaineer who fails at climbing the K2 and nearly gets himself killed on the descent. He survives, thanks to his porter and the people of Korphe village, and for his life remains indebted to them. He promises to repay them by building a school for their children.
Upon returning to the US, with only a concrete objective but zero resources, he writes hundreds of letters to various millionaires, and celebrities. Not surprisingly, 579 of his 580 never get a response, except a hundred dollar check from Tom Brokaw, the famous NBC TV journalist, who I had the honor of seeing when he spoke at Stanford. Greg later meets Jean Hoerni, who gives him sufficient money to get his first school started.
From there begins one of the greatest tales, I have ever heard or read. Of a single man, powered solely by his ambition, in one of most dangerous war zones on earth. As chance (you may read God) will have it, Greg Mortenson goes on to build many schools and live dozens of breathtaking adventures.
To me, personally, this book spoke on many levels.
Historically, this man was there in Pakistan and Afghanistan, during the Kargil "Conflict", 9/11, both the Iraq and the Afghan war, and Dick's search for Weapons of Mass Destruction. He meets interesting people like Donald Rumsfeld, Sir Edmund Hillary, and Musharraf's pilot offers him occasional helicopter rides.
As a story tale, its backdrop is exceptional and depicts, in their full glory, the beautiful Hindu Kush mountains, the Khyber Pass, NWFP, post 9/11 Afghan etcetera; places I can be sure I will not be able to visit in this life.
Mortenson's character, too, seems unreal for his unimaginable adventures: lost in the glaciers - sleeping on the ice, kidnapped and almost getting killed in northern Pakistan, Tea with the Taliban, and hiding in a truck underneath dead goat's skin while escaping into Afghanistan.
Lastly, the book speaks on a philosophical level. It gives hope, inspiration and meaning. I won't go into the details for this part. This, in my belief, is a personal experience and you will need to read the book for it. But I am sure you'd agree if you did.
Give this gem a try, you will not be disappointed.
- Mayank
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When your heart speaks, take good notes. - Judith Campbell
