TWIN-kling on a mountain top

In May 2013, at the age of 21, twin sisters Nungshi and Tashi Malik became the world’s first twins to successfully climb Mount Everest. In less than two years from that day, the ‘Everest Twins’ as they are popularly known, have achieved several global milestones. They are the world’s first twins and siblings to climb the famed ‘Seven Summits’ (highest peaks in all continents, including Mt Everest, which has been featured in 60th edition of Guinness World Records). In an interview with us, they talk about how they stay strong in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, the call of the mountains and more.

With their roots in the conservative rural Haryana, that is still battling an alarming rate of female infanticide, Nungshi-Tashi’s quest for the Seven Summits was inspired by the cause of the Indian girl child. Nungshi says, “It’s an incredible turn of events. Without our knowledge or concurrence, our father applied on our behalf for the basic mountaineering course at the NIM, Uttarkashi. He only told us once confirmation for participation was received. Initially, we felt ‘awe’ and a bit of ‘fear’ but dad’s logic was strong:

Through exposure to physical danger and challenges, we would get to know much more of the unknown parts of our selves. This too, dad said, was essential education. He is a great motivator and is more like our ‘buddy’ than a typical father. We communicate exceptionally well. Also, luckily being twins, it has always been much easier to accept such new challenges and opportunities to ‘tread less frequented trails’ in life. From then on, things have happened almost by default or call it ‘by destiny’. Neither our father nor we had the slightest idea that very soon we would set our sights on Everest.”

Recently, they also became the youngest Indians to reach North Pole and South Pole on skis and the first Indian and South Asian women to complete ‘Adventurers Grand Slam’ and Three Pole Challenge. An exposure to the outdoors was something that was always there in the family. Tashi says, “We have been exposed to outdoors from a very young age due to our father’s military profession and his passion for the outdoors. We did parasailing at the age of seven, tied with a shawl to our father’s back. We also did river rafting and skiing. Our serious engagement with mountaineering started soon after our Class XII exams got over, when our father applied on our behalf for the basic mountaineering course at the NIM, Uttarkashi. We haven’t looked back since. I decided to climb Everest because it was the highest peak, and conquering it symbolised my ability to dream big by combining passion with commitment. Sir Edmund Hillary described it aptly, ‘We do not conquer the mountain, but ourselves.’”

Being the first mountaineers in the family, it’s natural that their parents were concerned about their safety. Nungshi says, “Dad had always said ‘follow your passion’ and when we expressed our desire to climb Everest, he had to uphold his own value! So he just advised us to ensure we were technically and physically prepared for this huge undertaking. Mom was shocked. She had tears in eyes and only said ‘you climb Everest over my dead body’! So convincing mom to allow our Everest dream was in fact our first Everest to climb!”

Tashi adds, “Out mother had traditional careers in mind and mountaineering and adventure sports were an absolute ‘No’. Her permission (when it came) after two years of persuasion, also meant that it was our ‘first and last attempt’ at any peak.” Their father is their “manager, secretary, PR man, fund raiser and handles pretty much anything that is required for their mission,” thus enabling them to focus on their pursuits.

Tashi adds, “Even if we rate climbing Everest as our biggest feat, I would admit that it was successfully climbing Mt McKinley, through a week-long extreme weather condition that prevailed over the entire Alaskan range during our climb in May-June 2014, that was very tough. A big part of mountaineering is about managing risk and making the right decision at the right time.”

Ask them about the essential qualities of a mountaineer, and Nungshi says, “Several traits lead to success in any field — focus, perseverance, meticulous planning, calculated risk etc. apply equally to mountaineering. But one also needs to be mentally and physically robust. There is no way one can conquer extreme altitudes without the ability to look danger in the eye, and move towards a summit. Pushing the body and mind, despite unbearable pain and exhaustion is what separates great mountaineers from ordinary ones.”

Mountain climbing is also a lesson in humility, even though in the literal sense, it is conquering summits. “Mountain climbing has helped us see the bigger picture in life because we realise how fragile and precious life can be,” Nungshi says.