Sania Mukhtar
Coming out of never-ending hopelessness while something incredibly miraculous happens and all the hard work finally pays off. Rizza Alee a 22 year-old mountaineer and film maker from Baramulla district of Kashmir has set one such example of hope and hard work .
Sharing his experience of climbing Mount Everest, Rizza said, “2019 was one of the deadliest climbing seasons on Everest, eleven people died due to the traffic jam
and over crowdedness on the mountain. I was at eight thousand meters when my oxygen regulator broke off, there was a lot of traffic. So, I couldn’t summit and had to return back.”
But right there a new door of opportunity opened for him.
He said, “At the same time, coincidently I clicked a photo of the traffic jam which later on went viral over the internet and was featured on New York Times and Washington post then eventually I met a film maker from Delhi working for Channel News Asia who featured me in CNA’s forty-seven minutes
documentary and that’s when I started making films professionally. I started working with a French production house, that’s how it all began and since then I have been making films with the elements of nature in them as I am very close to nature.”
Rizza also talked about his film ‘Hamain Ast, It Is This.” Which was recently released on February 5 th 2024. About the inspiration behind making such films he said, “Something I realised was: we see a lot of people like foreigners coming to our land making films and leaving, then it occurred to me that as a filmmaker it is my responsibility to make a film about my own land and feature my own people in it.”
The film features Firdous Ahmad Challa A Kashmiri man who introduced snowboarding to Kashmir. This film was also screened at the Himalayan Film Festival in Leh and has been doing pretty good. His film has won the audience award at the New York City’s Astoria film festival recently.
Lately, he has also started a volunteering campaign to remove the trash left in Sheshnag and other places.
Rizza also shared that even though he dropped out of high school he still continues to educate himself by all means. When asked about handling criticism from people all around, he shared a thoughtful advice. He said that he turns the criticism into a motivating factor and it drives him to do better.
Rizza also supports spreading awareness about mental health issues. He said that nature has helped him a lot in being mentally fit. “I think it is my responsibility as someone who has been going through this issue till this day to raise awareness about it and let people know that they are not alone in this especially because mental health issues are usually looked down upon.” He added.
His message to the parents is to give children a chance to prove themselves and let them chase their dreams because at the end of the day what matters is happiness. Some people might make a lot of money but they are not happy so it is very important that we do what we love as long as it is right.”
Rizza’s story serves as an example that if you believe in yourself even when nobody believes in you and if you truly work hard to make your dreams come true then new doors to better opportunities will definitely open up to you.
