This May, three women climbers - Anshu Jamsenpa, Bidyapati Ningthoujam and Wansuk Myrthong - scaled Mount Everest, which pierces the skies at 8,848 metres.

Anshu is the second woman from Arunachal Pradesh to achieve this feat, after Tine Mena in 2011. Bidyapati and Wansuk were the first women from Manipur and Meghalaya, respectively, to achieve this distinction.

After three months in the Everest region, they returned to their respective home States, all smiles. “My colleagues from Meghalaya Police are waiting to pick me up from the airport,” giggled Wansuk, who hails from Lower Lumparing in Meghalaya. She said she would now be given a promotion, but was not sure what the new rank would be.

As they had stood on that famous summit, looking at the world below and waving the national flag, emotions surged through them. Wansuk and Bidyapati were so awed by the experience that they were unable to describe it even weeks later. Anshu, a 34-year-old mother of two daughters, said she had wanted to jump like a child. “I missed my daughters. I thought of all the struggles of my life, how nobody believed me when I said I wanted to take up adventure sport.”

At the summit camp, temperatures plunged to around minus-40 degrees Celsius. During the final push on the night of May 16, they faced winds whipping at 88 km an hour. “It was do or die. One mistake and you are finished,” recalled Bidyapati.

The bad weather seemingly had a disturbing effect on Wansuk’s Sherpa guide, who was unwilling to let her carry on as she had signs of frostbite on her face. “We looked at each other, as if to say, ‘I know what is going on in your mind’. But instead of discouraging me, as I had feared, he just asked, ‘Are you okay?’ When I replied I was, he was willing to carry on,” Wansuk said, remembering her guide fondly. “I shared one of my summit gloves and woollen caps with him. This (climb) would not have been possible without him. I was ready to retreat, even give up, if he had advised me to do so,” she added.

Anshu is convinced that only strong willpower can help summiteers survive at those heights, “Physical strength is not enough, mental strength is very important.”

The first expedition of its kind from the North-East, it was flagged off on February 25, 2013, from the historic Kangla Fort in Imphal by Manipur Governor Gurbachan Jagat. Later, on March 20, President Pranab Mukherjee flagged off the expedition in New Delhi. Leaving for Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 22 the team reached the base camp on April 5. The final ascent was made on May 15.

Bidyapati, the 28-year-old Joint Secretary of Manipur Mountaineering and Trekking Association, is a rock-climbing instructor. As a student she had wanted to join the National Cadet Corps but her parents, especially her mother, disliked the idea. She joined after a cousin brother intervened on her behalf. Call it destiny or luck, but just when her career seemed to be in a limbo, an MMTA team rafting down the Sekmai-Imphal river had halted at her village in Koirengei. “Their raft had broken down, so I got a chance to meet up with them. That was how I met an old classmate who told me about adventure sports, and I became interested,” said Bidyapati, who joined MMTA in 2003.

Wansuk’s trajectory was slightly different. In 2006, she joined the State police service. “I liked the police service since my father is a policeman,” she said proudly. The 31-year-old constable, with the 1st Meghalaya Police Battalion, had never taken adventure sports seriously, but signed up for two reasons — to represent her department and get away from the monotony of everyday duties. Soon, she discovered a love for sports — football is her all-time favourite — and the policewoman often sneaked out for a game in between duty hours. She recalled colleagues who ridiculed, even insulted, her interest in sports.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the matter reached her seniors and that was when she decided to take up adventure sports seriously. “I wanted to show them my worth,” she said.

However, there was a battle waiting for her at home. “Even though my father encouraged me, my mom was very scared. She only wanted me to get married,” reminisced the young woman. It was only after she notched several successes, including scaling Mount Kohlalai and Mount Papsura, that her mother began to understand her daughter’s passion.

Bidyapati’s parents, who are agriculturists, realised that their daughter would not stop until she had conquered the Everest. “Knowing this, they did not pressurise me in any way. But the local community was another matter. Today, those same people are full of adulation,” said the mountaineer. The two common questions coming her way are: ‘How much do you earn?’ and ‘When do you plan to settle down?’ When not instructing young rock-climbers, she tailors clothes at home.

Anshu, on the other hand, took up mountaineering professionally only after marriage. Her husband shared her passion for mountain sports and encouraged her to take up new challenges. The couple runs the Arunachal Mountaineering and Adventure Sports Association in Bomdilla, organising trekking, rock climbing, mountaineering and other allied events. “I am from a remote place, Dirang, and want to give something back to my community,” Anshu said. “I focus particularly on rural youth and want them to explore our natural resources. I take this as my responsibility. There are, after all, a thousand kilometres of virgin Himalayas that are yet to be explored in Arunachal Pradesh,” she added.

Only a few girls participate in AMASA events, and Anshu wants to attract more. Clearly, here is a woman who can lead by example.

© Women’s Feature Service

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