Kaivan Mistry Memorial Lecture

Kaivan Mistry, born in Mumbai on 17 September 1968, became one of Bombay’s most respected theatre light designers. But mountains were his first love. Kaivan was an avid trekker in the Western Ghats and a regularly seen at the rocks around Bombay. In 1989 Kaivan undertook his first trek to the Himalaya, to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal. This stoked his love for the mountains and he continued his tryst with the Himalayas over the years.

Kaivan himself made the first ascents of Mangala (5800 m), Saponang (5836 m) and Ghunsarang (5800 m). He was a good climber but never over-ambitious. He enjoyed going slow and steady, relishing the views and clicking away with his camera. Kaivan meanwhile became an active part of the team that produced The Himalayan Journal and was responsible for indexing of the Journal for a few volumes.

In 2000, Kaivan had injured a ligament in his ankle just a few weeks before he was to leave for the Karakoram. Determined as he was, Kaivan exercised and nursed his ankle back to shape and went off on the Indo-French Expedition to Rimo IV. The team reached the historic Karakoram Pass (5569 m), Col Italia and explored the Central Rimo glacier systems. On 25 September 2000 on their return, while crossing the swollen Shyok river near Gapshan, tragedy struck. Kaivan slipped and fell into the river and lost his life.

His parents, Pola and Burjor Mistry donated a fund in his memory with specific instructions that the interest received must be utilized by the Club for conducting talks, lectures, slide shows, film shows etc on Himalaya and similar educational programmes. Thus was born The Kaivan Mistry Memorial Lecture Series.

Since 2003, this event is organized annually, usually delivered by a notable speaker invited from abroad at the Annual Seminar celebrations of THC.