Women are considered inferior in our society. The result of remaining inferior is that women have to struggle more.
Because of her unwavering courage and conviction, Bachendri Pal's name is inscribed with golden letters in the history of mountaineering.
In the village where she was born, the education of girls was not given much importance. Bachendri Pal is the first woman of that village, who obtained a degree after taking higher education. Before her, not a single girl in her village had any degree in any subject.
Hailing from a farming family, Bachendri Pal Completed studies up to B.Ed.
Bachendri Pal is also known as Iron Lady.
Bachendri Pal is the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest. Also, she is the fifth female mountaineer in the world to touch the height of Everest.
Presently she is working in the steel company Tata Steel, where she trains selected people on exciting missions.
Bachendri Pal was awarded the gold medal by the Indian Mountaineering Association for the adventure of the first Indian woman mountaineer. She has also been honored with Padma Shri and Arjuna Awards.
Birth and Early Life
Bachendri Pal was born in 1954 in a simple family in Nakuri Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand. She is the third child among the five children of her parents. Her mother Hansa Devi was a housewife. And her father Kishan Singh was a farmer. Her father used to go from India and sell goods (flour, lentils, rice, etc.) in Tibet. She has two sisters and two brothers.
Her elder brother Bachan Singh was an Inspector in the Border Security Force. And her second brother Rajendra Singh is also a mountaineer.
She was interested in mountaineering since childhood. Her brother Bachan Singh used to inspire his younger brother Rajendra Singh to mountaineering. But even after she was interested in this, being a girl, her elder brothers did not encourage her. Her mind used to get upset due to this type of discrimination.
Bachendri Pal was a very talkative and mischievous girl. It is said that one day her father was reading Ramayana. And she was troubling him again and again. Her father got angry and pushed her slightly backward. She got stuck in the bushes rolling down the mountain slopes. Seeing the ditch below, she hanged herself holding a bush. Her father panicked for a moment but got her out safely and gave her lots of love. This incident gave birth to the desire to climb the heights in his mind.
Bachendri Pal's first chance at mountaineering came at the age of 12 when she climbed 400 meters with her school classmates.
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Education
Bachendri Pal received her early education from a government school. After schooling, her father refused to further her studies. But her mother had faith in Bachendri Pal. And bachendri pal's mother convinced her father to allow her to pursue further studies.
Seeing the weak economic condition of the family, she also started sewing work. At that time she used to get 5 or 7 rupees for stitching a suit-salwar. She used to spend the earnings from this to buy the necessary equipment for mountaineering.
She did B.A. She did his graduation and post-graduation with M.A. in Sanskrit language. Along with this, she also obtained the degree of B.Ed. Along with this, he also received many awards in sports.
Despite being brilliant and talented, she did not get any good employment. What I got was temporary, junior level and the salary was very less. This disappointed Bachendri Pal. In 1981, she left her teaching job. And applied for training at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. She was selected for higher training in mountaineering in 1982 as all seats were filled that year.
When her family members and relatives came to know about her becoming a mountaineer, all were against her. But Pal made her dreams come true by going against her family members.
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Mountaineering Career
Bachendri Pal's performance in mountaineering training was appreciated. And she got an 'A' grade for her performance. During that time she also climbed the Kalanag mountain of 6387 meters.
While taking training in the year 1984, he scaled Gangotri's 6,672 m. And 5,819 m of Rudragaira. hoisted its flag on the peak. She and her 16 female companions completed this journey in 39 days.
After this, she got an invitation to join the team going to climb Mount Everest.
When Bachendri Pal was selected for the Everest expedition, she was working as a mountaineering instructor with the National Adventure Foundation (NAF).
At that time she did not believe in herself, that she could climb the peak of Everest. But due to his good performance, the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) selected him for the team sent to Everest in the year 1984 from India.
She started practicing mountaineering by taking more burden. In 1983, Bachendri Pal met Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who climbed Everest, and Petit Junko Tabai, the first Japanese woman to climb Everest, which made her very excited.
Colonel DK Khullar was the leader of the 1984 Indian team that climbed Everest, whose team consisted of 11 men and 7 women. Bachendri Pal was also one.
Her team reached Kathmandu on March 7, 1984. Walking for 10 days from there, saw Everest for the first time from Namche Bazar.
Bachendri Pal bowed down to Everest and wished for his wish to be fulfilled.
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On 16 May 1984, during the Everest expedition, she was hit by a snowstorm. Their survival had become impossible, as they were completely buried under the snow. But her companions did not give up and after a lot of effort took her out of the snow. She was breathing and seeing this all the team members were happy.
After this incident that happened at an altitude of 23 thousand feet, she was brought to the base camp, where after her health became normal, the leader asked her if you still want to go to Everest, then Bachendri Pal's answer was 'yes'. Two days later she again joined the expedition team.
The first phase of this campaign was the base camp. After starting their journey from the base camp, Bachendri Pal and her companions reached the camp. The height of this camp was 9, 900 feet i.e. 6065 meters. After spending the night at Camp 1, they all made their way to Camp 2 the next day. Which was situated at an altitude of 21,300 feet i.e. 6492 meters. Camp 3 was the next phase after Camp 2. And the height of this camp was 24,500 feet i.e. 7470 meters.
As Bachendri Pal's team was reaching heights, their problems were also increasing. With reaching the height, the cold was increasing and the members associated with this campaign started having difficulty in breathing. During this many members were also injured. Due to this many members had to leave this campaign midway.
Bachendri Pal did not give up even after a million difficulties and continued her journey ahead. And proceeded towards Camp 4 with her remaining companions. The fourth camp was located at an altitude of 26,000 feet i.e. 7925 meters.
By the time they reached the fourth camp, all the women present in their team gave up. And from there she went back to the base camp. In this way, Bachendri Pal was the only female member left in the team sent by India to complete this mission.
The next lesson after Camp 4 was the summit of Everest. The total height of Everest is 29,028 feet i.e. 8,848 meters.
With the help of a nylon rope, she set out on the climb of Everest. At that time the wind was blowing very strongly.
Bachendri Pal stood facing her with great difficulty, having buried the ice axe. Both her companions were moving forward, and Bachendri was walking with new energy.
Sherpa Angdorji and Sherpa Lhatu also joined her for the Everest climb on 23 May 1984.
Bachendri Pal's team managed to reach the summit of Everest on May 23 at 1.07 pm.
30-year-old Bachendri Pal created history and a day before her birthday, she became the first woman in India to step on the summit of Everest and hoist the Indian flag.
Bachendri Pal had also collected some stones from this peak, which she wanted to take with her. After 1.55 minutes she started coming down. Descending from the mountains is also no less dangerous. With patience and courage, Bachendri Pal and her team reached down safely. After this, her courage and journey to grow as a mountaineer increased.
After completing her Everest expedition in 1984, Bachendri Pal joined the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation as Head of Training and is still a part of this foundation.
Shortly after climbing Mount Everest as a member of the Indian expedition team, she led a successful expedition of a team of women to the summit. She covered 2,500 km from Haridwar to Calcutta in the river Ganga in 1994. led a long boat expedition
4,000 km in the corridor of the Himalayas passing through Bhutan, Nepal, Leh, and Siachen Glacier and ending at the Karakoram mountain range. The long expedition was accomplished by her, which is said to be the first women's expedition effort in this inhospitable area.
Regarding the challenges of Everest journey, Bachendri Pal says that the tough lifestyle of the mountain has made him able to become a skilled mountaineer and face the challenges during this time. Because of this, she could make her dream come true.
Bachendri Pal also successfully climbed Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe in 1986, and Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in 2008.
In the year 1993, under the leadership of Bachendri Pal, a team from India and Nepal successfully climbed the summit of Mount Everest. There were seven members of this team, in which all were women. This team, which reached the summit of Mount Everest, made a total of 8 world records.
In the year 1999, she started 'Vijay Rally to Kargil'. The rally was started from Delhi via motorbike. The last leg of the rally was Kargil. All the members present in this rally were women and the goal of this rally was to pay tribute to the soldiers who were martyred in the Kargil war.
Bachendri Pal is also very famous for his social service works. She had sent her mountaineers teams to help the people in the 2013 disaster and delivered relief materials to the needy people. Apart from this, in the earthquake in Gujarat in the year 2000, she also sent her mountaineering teams to help the people.
Bachendri Pal has also written a book titled Everest - My Journey to the Top on the journey of his life.
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Prize
- Gold Medal for Excellence in Mountaineering from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (1984)
- Awarded with Padma Shri (1984).
- Gold Medal (1985) by the Department of Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh.
- Arjuna Award (1986) by the Government of India.
- Kolkata Ladies Study Group Award (1986)
- Listed in the Guinness World Records (1990)
- National Adventure Award (1994) by the Government of India.
- Yash Bharti Award by the Government of Uttar Pradesh (1995).
- Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (1997) honorary title of Ph.D.
- Ministry of Culture, Madhya Pradesh Government's first Veerangana Laxmi Bai National Award (2013-14)
Bachendri Pal's life is full of extraordinary achievements. She is an example of determination, dedication, and discipline. She is an inspiration for all women. Those who have the intention of achieving something in life.
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