By the time I turned 13 I had two
distinct achievements, firstly I was among India’s top five in under 15 badminton
and had already climbed two major Himalayan peaks. I was strong and fit and I
realized I must hone my climbing skills further from a climbing school hence
found myself at the doorsteps of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in
Darjeeling the summer I turned 13. I was underage for the Basic Mountaineering
Course so I had to join the adventure course that was meant for mere tiny
boppers. I was snooty to the core since I found my fellow course mates hadn’t
even seen any snow in their lifetime yet. And there I met the first man to
climb Mt Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. And from him I learnt my first lesson
in humility and many such things that would come handy in my life long
adventure career.
He was an unassuming man of
average stature with a smile warm enough to melt glaciers and merry enough to
usher spring in arid deserts. At that time he was the Field Director in the
institute and oversaw all practical training imparted. He greeted us first
morning in the quadrangle with an opening speech. In which he actually
introduced himself yet forgot to tell us why the world revered him; such was
his humility. Oldest amongst us was 16 and I was the youngest and also the tiniest.
Having already read our bios Tenzing knew that I was the most experienced in
matters of climbing in the group. My classmates didn’t. To them I must have
appeared like a loser. After the address he asked me to meet him separately in
his office. I felt both honoured and terrified. He was literally my idol and a
living legend.
Inside his office I was awestruck
with all the climbing pictures and memorabilia that lay all around. To me he
seemed like a demigod presiding over his mountain domain. But he calmed me with
his twinkling eyes and that open hearted laughter that won every heart he
touched. He asked me about my interest in the mountains and about my family
background. He showed me his albums and awards and told me that to his own mind
he was still the mountain boy from the backyards of a distant valley in Nepal.
For him climbing Everest was as important as it was to run this institute or
anything else in life. He genuinely couldn’t understand why all this adulation
was bestowed upon him. He told me that it is more important to love the
mountains than to learn how to climb them. Anyone can learn how to climb but
love must come from within naturally and with respect. Never consider them your
adversary or opponents. Consider them your family and friends and that all of
you are on the same path of self discovery. He also reinstated my belief that
mountains were the finest teachers and they had answers to all our questions.
At the end of our discussion he concluded that since I was too young to be included
in the Basic Mountaineering Course and far too experienced for Adventure
Course, he would teach me separately after class hours.
And those one hour sessions each
day at the institute climbing gym followed by discussions with the man
broadened my path to the mountains for all my life to come. He taught me humour
and that nothing ever really is bad, it is our attitude and the way we react
makes it so. At the end of the course after we collected our certificates from
Tenzing at a grand ceremony, I went to his office one last time. I touched his
feet and sought his blessings. As the parting question I asked Tenzing: what is
the best way to climb mountains.
He pondered for a minute and then
replied: when you climb just be yourself, climb for your joy and happiness,
climb because you want to, and be honest when you climb. The mountains know the
truth anyway. And as long as you climb it really doesn’t matter where you
reach.
My farewell words were that hopefully
we would meet again someday. Though we had kept in touch through intermittent
letters and phone calls, my wish never came true. That was the last I ever saw
him. Several years later he died peacefully at his hometown of Darjeeling. Thousands
around the world owe him inspiration and the magic of mountains that he brought
to the world, hundreds owe him their climbing career to his incomparable
teaching and leadership and to him I owe my reason to climb.
I would conclude with perhaps
Tenzing Norgay’s most famous quote, which is also my life’s prime motto:
“To travel, to experience and
learn; that is to live.”
Comments
Post a Comment