Three Cups of Tea - A book review...

Three Cups of Tea ~ Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.


Relin has obviously been commissioned to write this book for the Central Asia Institute as a PR and outreach tool. This, however, does not take away anything from the phenomenal and towering achievements of one man’s determination and passion.
Greg Moretenson’s failed attempt to scale the much dreaded K2 is a wonderful story by itself. Had he actually failed to scale it, it would have been one thing…but he summoned up and used every last bit of his strength and energy, not to make the last few metres of the ascent, but to rescue and evacuate another member, Etienne, who had climbed too quickly and collapsed. In the hours after Greg and his three climbing partners heroically evacuate the Frenchman, Greg is lost in the maze of the Baltoro glacier and accidentally wanders into a small hamlet called Korphe. This turn of events, becomes the defining moment in Greg Mortenson’s life.
Relin has brought to life, the harsh and dramatic terrain as well as the hardy, stoic and incredibly patient people who live there, with elegance and economy. Greg’s recuperation period in Korphe slowly steers his life in a completely different direction – a passion for mountaineering and a training in emergency nursing, become mere milestones in his new calling. Three Cups of Tea is an unfolding saga of one man’s relentless pursuit of his dream for others….
The book spans almost a decade of painfully slow “three steps forward, two steps back” dance that Greg is lead into, and that is typical of the bureaucracy that exists even in India. What surprised me was the complete absence of any local NGO or Pakistani facilitation agency. Since we (India and Pakistan)a re such close neighbours, I am tempted to juxtapose the situations and I wonder if any humanitarian effort undertaken directly and without the aid of such NGO’s might not be more effective, even in India…
Parts of the book were stark reminders of how much the US Foreign Policy has contributed to the mess in Central Asia. Reminded me of the movie ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’…! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472062/
The book covers too many regions and too long a time period…perhaps it would have been easier in two parts. But then again, as an effective outreach tool for CAI, one book does make more sense than two. It reads in parts like a fantastic adventure and in parts like a painstaking record of events. Having said that, Three Cups of Tea is an enduring lesson in humility and passion.
One of my favourite passages from the book is the last paragraph of Relins preface – “…. If we American’s are to learn from our mistakes, from the flailing, ineffective way , we, as a nation, conducted the war on terror after the attacks of 9/11, and from the way we have failed to make our case to the great moderate mass of peace-loving people at the heart of the Muslim world ,we need to listen to Greg Mortenson. I did, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life”