Everest twins touch down in Chennai

The Malik twins are associated with many awe-inspiring firsts — the first female twins to climb Mount Everest (2013), the first siblings (and twins) to climb the Seven Summits, and the first South Asians to complete the Explorers Grand Slam. Known as the ‘Everest twins’, Tashi and Nungshi Malik, who were in the city recently, talk about their plans and their foundation that helps women.

The Dehradun-based Malik sisters are currently pursuing higher studies in Sports and Exercise from New Zealand. They also did their bachelors in Journalism and Masters in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation. Though they are currently on vacation in India, they didn’t want to sit idle at home. “We’re busy with a lot of functions and meetings. We have been called to speak at the Explorer’s Summit in the UK. It will be a great opportunity for us — we hope to meet a lot of like-minded, free spirited people,” reveals Nungshi.

The 25-year-old twins’ next plan is to scale the highest mountain in New Zealand — “We are planning to climb Mt. Cook in December. We both need more training time for it. At present endurance training is going on. Lot of planning — like the selection of gears and tools — is involved for that mission,” say the siblings.

When quizzed about the reason for the low number of women mountaineers in India, they say in unison, “There are a few factors. Worried about safety, parents discourage their kids. Also, mountaineering is not a career option in India, unlike in the West. We also faced many objections from our family and society. Awareness about mountaineering is very less.”

The siblings, who realised that mountaineering is their deepest passion and strongest calling, say that youngsters these days, are not ready to embrace activities that are out of their comfort zone. “They are not willing to put themselves out there in the wild. Also, technology plays a major role,” says Nungshi.

Agreeing with her, Tashi adds, “People are not willing to look out of the prism. There are also monetary problems — the individual’s pursuit is hampered because of lack of money. We know many people who pull out from mountaineering just because of monetary problems. Also, many people think that this sport is just for the youth, but that is wrong. It is for all age groups!”

What are their future plans? — “We are giving leadership classes and lectures to students and elders. We want to give back to society through whatever we can do. Through our ‘Nungshi Tashi Foundation’, we want to work towards empowering women and promote outdoor sports. We’re currently working on two programmes — a school leadership programme, and one to foster outdoor spirit among Indians, especially girls and women. The foundation is in the starting phase now. We are chalking out our foundation plans,” says Nungshi.