Bachendri: Climbing high

Jamshedpur, Jan. 29: Legendary mountaineer Bachendri Pal is all set to kick off a new chapter in her life.

The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has sought Pal?s consent for featuring excerpts from her book Everest ? My journey to the top in one of their Hindi textbooks. NCERT has also requested Pal to send pictures of her expedition to Mount Everest in 1984.

According to Snehlata Prasad, reader, NCERT, Pal?s feats will be featured in a B course Hindi textbook meant for non-Hindi speaking students.

Speaking from New Delhi, Prasad said the textbook will be brought out in the 2006 academic session for students of Class IX. ?We have asked Pal to send her consent, a passport size picture and some snaps of her expedition of Mount Everest,? she said. She added that they are anxiously awaiting the necessary materials for publishing the book.

Pal, a Padma Shree awardee, confirmed that the NCERT had recently sought her consent for featuring her story in a textbook. ?The NCERT had approached me and I have given my consent,? she said, adding that she would be happy if her tale inspires other children to scale heights of success.

The selected portions of Pal?s book will include her struggle during childhood, woes of unemployment and, of course, her doggedness to succeed despite odds heavily stacked against her.

Referring to her work, Pal said it contains details about her family and the support she received from her parents ? father late Kishan S Pal and mother Hansa Devi Pal ?and her brother Bachan Singh, who himself is with the Border Security Force, in moments of crisis. ?My family could not afford my studies and I had to discontinue when I was in Class VIII. But I had a zest to continue and borrowed books and eventually completed my M.A. and B.Ed.,? she said.

?I?m happy that the NCERT has sought my consent for featuring my achievements in school books. I have seen lots of ups and downs in my life. I have tried to pen these experiences as well as I could,? Pal, who scripted her book with the help from late brigadier Gyan Singh, further said.