A journalist once asked Ang Tsering how much he had earned per day on the 1924 Everest expedition, his first. The Sherpa replied, "Twelve annas, that's three-quarters of a rupee." At the time, a rupee could buy 15 kilos of rice. Tsering would otherwise make ten rupees a week as a woodcutter.
Asked why he went to Everest for less money, he replied, with a grin, that the work as a Sherpa was easier.
In their latest book The Sherpa Trail-Stories from Darjeeling and Beyond, authors Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar describe Tsering in a way that could be representative of the Sherpa community of the past: "Always smiling in photos, his crinkly eyes and creased brown-paper skin indicating a life in the sun, hearty kindness scribbled everywhere." The authors, the former a writer and editor of the Himalayan Journal and the latter a writer and illustrator of children's books, recount gripping tales about the life and times of porters. The community that is often relegated to the background as a supporting act finds itself front and centre in the book. It is a compilation of many untold stories, narrated by eminent Sherpa Dorjee Lhatoo and other Darjeeling-based members of the community.
The book is divided into three parts while the first is dedicated to the understanding of the history of mountain porters, the second focuses on Sherpas and their stories.
There is a chapter titled 'Bedrock' about Tenzing Norgay, who made front-page headlines in 1953 as the first man, alongside Edmund Hillary, to ascend Mount Everest. A year later, then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, hoping the school would produce "a thousand Tenzings".
この記事は THE WEEK India の August 25, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は THE WEEK India の August 25, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
War Over Wounded Earth
For the BJP andthe Congress, the ravaged farmlands of Vidarbha represent a cxitieal battleground in their larger struggle to win Maharashtra
Say no to continual elections
Following the recommendations of a high-level committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind to streamline the widely scattered schedule of national, state and local elections, the Union cabinet has reportedly approved two constitutional amendment bills for likely introduction in Parliament. Predictably, the return of the ‘one nation, one election’ issue to news has set off a flurry of objections by several opposition leaders.
Fabulously, fashionably funny
The third season of the Karan Johar-produced Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives dropped on Netflix, but articles criticising the show appear in some news site or the other almost daily. If it is so bad, why keep writing about it? And if it is so bad, why would the superpowers at Netflix, who are harder to meet than the prime minister, commission the show season after season?
All in the family
The Chitaras have been passing down the secret art of Mata Ni Pachedi through generations for more than 400 years now
Raise a toast to Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is a New Year baby. At 45, she is aglow in the most beautiful way, having won the hearts and admiration of countless fans across the world, who watched the supremely talented actor take a public tumble on stage at a high-profile promotional event recently, sharing the platform with no less a dancer than the eternally graceful Madhuri Dixit.
Death no bar
Being alive is not a legal requirement to be elected president of the United States
The Lotus POTUS
You should visit us one of these days— there is so much excitement in our USA! No, I don’t mean the famous USA—the Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association of Mumbai.
RAY OF HOPE
Actor and cancer survivor Lisa Ray talks to oncologist Dr Jame Abraham about inner strength and her surrogacy journey
LEVERAGE AI TO ENHANCE WORK
AT THE WEEK Health Summit, Siddharth Bagga, head (retail, CPG and health care), Google Cloud, elaborated on the significant work that Google has been doing in health care through artificial intelligence (AI).
PRESSURE POINTS
Author and MP Shashi Tharoor and motivational speaker Gaur Gopal Das on how to find healing and meaning in today's world