http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/tenzing-s-life-in-pictures-on-100th-birth-anniversary-114052901594_1.html
A photographic presentation here
Thursday brought to life the triumphant moments of the first successful ascent
of Mount Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing
Norgay, on the Nepali sherpa's 100th birth anniversary.
The event also commemorated the
61st anniversary of the historic feat.
New Zealander Hillary and Norgay
reached the 8,850-metre summit of Everest May 29, 1953 as part of the ninth
British expedition
to attempt scaling the world's tallest peak.
The mountaineers stayed at the
summit for about 15 minutes before beginning the long trek down the mountain.
Hillary and Norgay blazed a
trail that has been followed by nearly 6,200 climbers.
Hillary (1919-2008) was 33 when
he conquered Everest. Norgay, born in May 1914, was 39. After the epoch-making event May 29, the sherpa decided
to celebrate his birthday on the same date every year.
Sujoy Das, a veteran photographer
of the Himalayas , showcased Norgay's
extraordinary life through pictures at an art
gallery here. The pictures were
sourced from various collections across the world as well from the sherpa's own
archives.
Norgay passed away in 1986 in Darjeeling , West Bengal ,
at the age of 72.
"We have got photographs
from the 1953 climb, as well as from earlier expeditions in the 1920s and
1930s. There are
photos of Tenzing Norgay's days
in Darjeeling as well," Das, who has been
trekking in the Himalayas for the last 30
years, told IANS.
The show is a dedication to the
grit and glory of the sherpas, the ethnic group living at the foot of the
mountains, who are preferred
by foreigners for Himalayan expeditions due to their physical strength as well
as for their honesty.
The boom in commercial
expeditions since the 1990s has led to an increased demand for the tough guides
of the mountains.
However, this has also put the lives of the sherpas in danger.
The death of 13 sherpas and the
disappearance of three in an avalanche on Everest last month has brought to the
fore the extreme
conditions they are exposed to.
"They are the ones who do
the actual groundwork. But because of the rise in the number of expeditions,
the mountain ranges
have become overcrowded. Regulations and controls are needed to ensure safety
of the climbers," Das said.
More than 300 people have died
on Everest since the first successful climb in 1953.
