The last rays of the Sun, bathed the object of her attention in shades of gold, russet and tangerine! Hints of pink, peach and mauve could be discerned too. As she gazed at it, the proximity to the giant mountain made distances seem trivial. She tried to capture the beauty forever in her heart, in her mind as she realised, she was approaching the culmination of her desire.
For months together she had been preparing rigorously for this expedition to summit the highest peak in the world. That night her team was getting ready to summit, as in May 2019 there was a very small window of good weather, clear skies, and winds at low velocity. Apart from the experienced Sherpas the backbone of their team, others were like her, attempting to summit for the first time to tick it off their bucket list. They knew it was no joke climbing the peaks in the Himalayas, but The Everest, commanded respect on a totally different level.
Listening to the stories about how The Everest called Sagarmatha, the Head in the Great blue skies or Chomolungma, the Holy Mother is considered holy and the sacred abode of the Goddess of wealth by the locals added to the lure. The Sherpas admit it’s a spiritual place and the action of karma can be discerned by everyone.
The physical preparations went hand in hand with the mental ones. No one wanted to be tricked by their own minds in the realms of low oxygen zones. That night they trudged out with their hearts beating a tad faster for it was difficult to keep excitement at bay even in the most freezing weather, with the surroundings painted white, all shades of white; creamy, ivory, pearly, off white…. You name it. As they trudged up, one step at a time, recalling all the skills they had sharpened over the past few years, concentration enveloping them completely.
As they trudged up the treacherous ridges, climbed up the Hillary step, reached the Balcony, negotiating crevasses with sheer drops on either side what disturbed her was not just the number of people, up ahead, initially visible because of their glowing headlights and later clearly visible clothed in their bright high-altitude clothing, but the bodies of frozen climbers. They loomed like objects, lifeless, nameless, with no identity. Some lay close along the tracks, some slightly off on ledges or fallen in crevices.
When she looked up in the early morning light, she was stumped by the queue of people… it looked like the whole of Dadar station had reached there! But her shock was heightened because a traffic jam always leads to loss. Loss of time, space, and resources. Up at the Everest it also meant loss of life. As she waited to trudge on because the Summiter at the moment wanted to take an extra selfie, the person ahead already low on oxygen took the wise decision to turn back to camp. After all they were in the ‘Death Zone’. He reasoned if he remained alive he could go back and summit the next year, rather than die just then. Her Sherpa checked how she was feeling, smiling warmly and reassuring her they had ample oxygen and he would be able to share if needed.
Another person in some haste, jubiliant about having conquered the Peak but crying over his sore muscles, tried to squeeze past her on the way down but couldn’t control his footing. In an attempt to break his fall he nudged her, and she fell losing her balance. As she desperately flailed her arms trying to hold on to a rock, ledge or boulder, she felt the person behind her being dragged down too. As people realised what was happening, the reflexes kicked in and like a scene in a horror movie, she watched as she went tumbling down, head over heels, somersaulting in the clear blue sky, reminding her of her skyjumping!
The rope had snagged!
As she breathed slowly she yelled out to the Goddess of the Mountain, promising to help clean up the human generated waste, the human waste itself and promote the sanctity of the Mountain. With a soft ‘Splosh!’ she found herself landing in a bank of snow, close to a heap of objects discarded by other mountaineers! Not a scratch! If the Goddess protects you who can object?
Reference: https://www.thedailybeast.com/sherpas-on-everest-this-is-a-sacred-mountain-we-need-to-respect-it
