Jamshedpur: India's first woman to conquer Mt Everest won't rest on her laurels even at 63.
Bachendri Pal, felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind with the First Ladies Award on January 20 in the presence of Union minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi, was among 112 women achievers from diverse fields, including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, to get this honour.
Back at her Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) office on Tuesday where she heads adventure programmes, Bachendri has a new dream in hand. Bachendri, who helped many climbers, including amputee climber Arunima Sinha who's another First Ladies Award winner, now wants to handhold a poor but gutsy mountaineer from Uttar Pradesh.
"The recognition (First Ladies Award) made me more conscious of my responsibility towards women who dream big, which is why after joining office (on Tuesday) I decided to give a mountaineering platform to a girl from an Uttar Pradesh village," Bachendri, who scaled the Everest in 1984, said.
Bachendri said what impressed her about Gudiya Devi, 23, an orphan who sells omelettes and egg bhurji on the roadside at village Uccha in Unnao near Kanpur, was the girl's zeal.
"Gudiya's mother died long ago and father deserted her soon after. Yet, this young girl completed basic and advanced mountaineering courses from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarakhand," Bachendri said.
Such was Gudiya's zeal that she landed up in Jamshedpur hoping to meet Bachendri on January 18 and spent two days at Tatanagar station's waiting room when she learnt her icon was in Delhi.
"On Monday, officials at TSAF on Monday arranged her stay. Seeing her determination I decided to rope her in for the Everest Base Camp (height 17,600ft) in March," Bachendri said.
The Everest base camp trek entails expense of nearly Rs 2.5 lakh, which Gudiya, who earns between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 a month could have never dreamt of. But, the exposure to the climate and techniques would be priceless for her. "I am grateful to Bachendri Ma'am," the young girl said.
Bachendri also planned a Mt Everest expedition in April this year with members to be selected by Tata Steel and Swachh Bharat Ganga rafting from Hardwar to Patna via Banaras this September-October.
The inaugural edition of First Ladies Award instituted by Union ministry of women and child development honoured women who achieved firsts in their fields. Aishwarya got the award for being the first Indian woman jury member at Cannes. Winners included tennis player Sania Mirza, boxer Mary Kom, badminton player P.V. Sindhu, paralympic shot put silver medallist Deepa Malik, Indian Army Major Priya Jhingan, train driver Surekha Yadav, among others.
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