Making it special for both the family and Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to have conquered the Mount Everest, was in her hometown to celebrate her birthday. The legendary mountaineer born on May 24, 1954 celebrated the occasion in her native district of Uttarkashi among the lofty hills that were her first inspiration as a child.
In keeping with her simple unassuming personality, Pal spent the day in a low-key fashion, having a small ceremony with her mother, trainees and friends. “I do not fancy elaborate and grand celebrations for my birthday. For me it is being in the mountains that is the real celebration. I am very happy to be in my home district on my birthday and it has brought back very fond memories of my growing up years,” Pal told The Pioneer in a telephonic conversation on Friday. Adding she recalled the strong impression made by her father in her formative years.
“We had a tough economic situation and even expenses for my studies were hard to fund. But I have learnt from my father to have an indomitable spirit. He worked very hard and taught me to be courageous and not give up no matter how tough the going got.” Initially shy of holding a birthday ceremony, Pal joined a group of 40 students from DAV Public School, Babrala who are training under her and the locals in commemorating the day in true native style-with local sweets and samosas.
During the day she trekked for 3 hours to a high altitude mountain forest above Uttaron village where she stayed with the children who were thrilled to be with the legendary mountaineer on her birthday. “The children had been planning this day for a month. It is a lifetime memory for them,” said Rajendra Pal, manager of the TSAF camp in Uttarkashi.
It was a typically adventurous day of hoisting tents in a jungle, cooking meals on wood fire and relaxing under the sprawling sky atop the mountain. After returning from the jungle around 7 pm, Pal had a small celebration of sweets, music and talks in the camp enroute Gangotri and Sangam Chatti in Uttarkashi where she was present with her mother.
Well-liked for her disarming smile and humility, Pal was born in an economically restricted family in Nakuri. An adventurous child, she was an avid sports enthusiast even as a child. And it was a chance climb on a high peak during a school picnic that began her undying love for conquering the mountains.
It had become dark by the time they reached the summit and she had to spend the entire night on the mountain top. And that was her life changing moment. She remembers that she was mesmerised by the larger-than-life experience. That was her initiation into mountaineering, the birth of her Everest dream.
The third among five children of a financially weak household, “I was determined not to take a back seat in the Pal family and to not only do what the boys did, but do it better.. The exposure to nature made me independent and fearless,” she writes in her memoir ‘Everest: My Journey to the Top’.
Sharp in both academics and sports; she did her Master’s in Sanskrit, becoming the first woman in her village to complete graduation. However, her degree could not fetch her a decent job, steering her way to the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering where she was acknowledged as ‘Everest Material’.
In 1984, came her moment of glory. Along with six other Indian women she flew to Nepal to summit the highest mountain in the world. “We hill people have always worshipped the mountains. My overpowering emotion at this awe-inspiring spectacle was, therefore, devotional,” she writes.
Recalling that moment of euphoria she writes, “When I was on top, my whole hopes were on getting back safely. I could not enjoy on top. So I was there for 45 minutes, we placed that small image of the goddess on top and something given by the friends. And we took photographs of each other, with our Indian Nepalese Tricolor flag, but my whole conscious was, ‘Will I be back safely, to get to camp.’”
Her first significant ascents were Gangotri (21,900 ft) and Rudugaria (19,091 ft) in 1982. More than three decades later, her expedition continues, as she trains youth the values that saved her on the Everest- courage, teamwork, hope.