Being born and brought up in a small village in Uttarkashi, in the foothills of Himalayas, hard work runs in her blood. India’s first woman to scale Mt. Everest, Bachendri Pal was always very fond of the outdoors, but her life took a major turn in the early 80’s, when she met a renowned mountaineer Colonel Premchand, who motivated her to take a mountaineering course at Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
“A leader is person who makes several more leaders. My first guru Colonel Premchand was one of those leaders who himself took to adventure to teach students like us lessons of leadership, teamwork and discipline in life,” says Pal, who was recently conferred with Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
“Women were not taken seriously in the field of adventure. Even my parents were a bit hesitant of the risk and challenge involved in mountaineering, but I had made my mind. After my training started for Mt. Everest, there was no looking back. I was focused and committed to my goal of reaching the summit of Mt. Everest,” recalled Pal.
Born on 24 May 1954 in a village in the Himalayas named Nakuri in Uttarkashi, District of Garhwal, what is now Uttarakhand, a state in the northern part of India, Pal was one of seven children to Hansa Devi and Shri Kishan Singh Pal. “My parents taught me lessons of good values, hard work and honesty. These teachings have played important role in my life. Whatever I am today is because of these teachings and support of Tata Steel,” says Pal with a sense of pride.
She presently heads the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) in Jamshedpur. The Arjuna awardee says, “The love for country keeps me alive and motivate me to achieve more. Tata Steel trusted me and helped me experiment and make advancement in the field of adventure,” noted Pal.
Bachendri Pal continued to be active after ascending the highest peak in the world. She successfully led an Indo-Nepalese Women’s Mount Everest Expedition – 1993 team comprising only women, which set benchmarks for Indian mountaineering when 18 people reached the summit including seven women.
“Great visionaries of Tata Steel like JRD Tata inspired me to experiment. TSAF was founded immediately after I returned from the successful Everest climb. Then, we conceptualised the whole thing and wanted to make it like an institution. We focus on developing qualities like honesty, tolerance, patience, self-awareness, and decision making,” she said.
“My advice to the youngsters and the society at large is to be positive and do the best in every possible way. The same will return back to you. As long as we are honest and work hard, one must fear none and just follow his passion, this will lead to new heights. It is only when one meets with challenges and critical situations that one learns lessons of life,” she opines.
