I spoke to Nisha for the first time on a warm sunny day on a video call while I was in the western part of India. By the end of the conversation I had goosebumps all over just listening to this young 24 year old woman’s experience of reaching the top of the world. Nisha was describing her experience of have submitted the Mount Everest like it was something she did every day - casually, bravely, matter of factly.

Originally from a remote village in the north east Nepal, Nisha’s Father shifted the family to Kathmandu, the Capital of Nepal for better opportunities when Nisha and her sister were very young. The eldest of the two sisters, Nisha was exposed to the incredibly deep rooted patriarchal systems that come with living in rural Nepal as a child. Her father was often reprimanded by relatives for investing time, energy and money into the girls education and exposure since it was believed that girls are born to finally leave and build someone else’s home. So why bother? This thought process accompanies pulling girls out of schools and other opportunities as it is firmly believed that the girls growing up are family members of another household, only to be fed and kept alive till they finally leave at the cost of a huge marriage ceremony leaving many families in debt.

“I owe all my accomplishments to my Father “ she shares. Had it not been for him, Nisha and her sister would have been forced to dissolve into the pre-defined structure of the society. Leave alone accomplishing dreams, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to dream at all. Transforming internally from these experiences as a child, Nisha channelised these emotions into training as a mountaineer. Being a mountaineer himself, Nisha’s Father knew the risks attached but choose to support, guide and train the young girl into a terrific mountaineer.

“I was looking for a way to inspire the many girls I met through my life who did not get the opportunities to dream.”, she says. She wanted to surpass the ordinary. She began training. Through her training as a mountaineer and education in the field of travel and tourism, she noted the lack of female participation. “What ever I did - train or go to university, I had only a handful women with me, mostly doing the things to secure an appropriate match”. Somewhere along the way, Nisha made it her life’s mission to inspire change. She lost friends on the way, all the girls choosing to accept the society’s deal rather than a path less travelled, leaving Nisha often alone, but never lonely. When charged with a mission, you can hardly be lonely, isn't it?

Nisha submitted the Mount Everest on 23rd May, 2019. The journey was tough, just the way it is whenever you set out to do anything extraordinary. Pain, loss, transformation, celebration, exhilaration - and a heavenly feeling is how she describes her journey to the Top of the World. Wise beyond her years, never did I realise I was speaking to a 24 year old all through this interview. But some journeys are reserved for the old souls that walk with us on this planet and Nisha is just that. To her, the woman who dares and her Father, who taught her to dream - Salute.