Bachendri Pal (right) with DK Khaller. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Jan. 2: After authoring her autobiography, Everest ? My Journey to the Top, ace mountaineer Bachenderi Pal has started preparing for her next book in right earnest.

Bachendri, chief of the adventure programmes, Tata Steel, has solicited support from Brigadier (retired) D.K. Khullar in jotting down her experience of leading a 10-member team on the treacherous Trans-Himalayan journey in 1997.

?I am trying to concentrate on the book. I am also trying to recollect the Trans-Himalayan journey, which took off from Bombilla in Arunachal Pradesh and ended in Siachen,? Pal said, sifting through heaps of papers at her plush office in the JRD Tata Sports Complex.

The feisty climber added that she was trying to include each and every shade of joy and agony that she and her team shared while traversing the 4,500-km treacherous route, touching Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim.

The book, comprising 300 pages, is being sponsored by Tata Steel. It would have quotes from team-members as well as some classic pictures depicting the landscape and the glacier.

?I?ve not thought about the book?s title as yet. Obviously, it would relate to the arduous journey we undertook seven years ago,? said Bachendri, who was honoured with the Padmashree in 1985.

Khullar, whose last stint was at Devlali in Maharashtra, has authored several books, including ? The call of the Everest.

He is in the city to assist Bachendri complete the book. He was also the team leader during the first mixed Everest expedition in 1984. Khullar today interviewed Bachenderi and Chetna Sahoo, a member of the Trans-Himalayan journey.

He will be going to Bangalore to interview team member Kokila Sudha. Joda-based Chetna was in-charge of navigation and map-making during that journey.

According to Bachendri, the book is a collective effort. ?The book will be a collective effort as every team member of the Trans-Himalayan journey as well as Khullar have chipped in with their support,? she said and added that the book will also have quotes from team-members with anecdotes.

Besides slides of the journey, Bachendri is also referring to her diaries and tape recorder, parts of the expedition.

The steel major has sponsored nearly Rs 5 lakh for the book. The climber, who, despite her advancing age, still seems to be going strong, added that her latest book would also have a reflection of the mood and psychology of the team-members while going through the journey.