Not only humans, plants also climb the mountain

It is not only human, who is climbing the mountain, but the plants are also climbing up the mountain, says Everest summiteer and female journalist Kalpana Maharjan. Kalpana, who had climbed Mt. Everest in 2018 and 2019, is one of the few female journalists, who has reached the top of the world.

“I have climbed the Everest from Nepal side on May 23, 2018 and the next year in 2019 also climbed the Everest from the Chinese side on the same date,” says Kalpana talking to The Nepal Weekly on the International Everest Day – May 29.

She herself has witnessed the effects of the climate change in the Himalayas while scaling the world’s highest peak twice. “I saw that the trees and smaller plants climbing upward while I put my feet on top of the world for the second time in 2019,” says Kalpana, adding, this clearly shows the impact of climate change in the mountain region.

“I have heard that plants cannot grow above 2,000 or 3,000 metre from the sea level in the past. But now we can see growing garlic and other plants close to the Base camp, which is the clear sign of global warming,” she maintained.

During her second journey to the Mt. Everest, she was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “A Campaign Against Child Marriage.” At that time I made the announcement to launch “a campaign against child marriage” from top of the world and now “I am doing actual works to serve the purpose,” she pointed out.

“Education plays an important role in one’s life and I think if the girl child is educated she can be freed from the bondage of child marriage,” says Kalpana. For me the Summit of the Everest is like the Crown of Miss Nepal, and after wearing the crown of the Everest I felt the need to do something for eradicating child marriage from the society, remarked Kalpana, who hails from Lalitpur district.

Recalling the hard time when she climbed the Everest, Kalpana says, “I left my 30 month old child (son) at home while embarking for journey towards the Everest.”

She has also underlined the need for each and every expedition team to bring the garbage including plastic bottles and oxygen cylinder they carried to the Everest to bring back. The liaison officer deputed by the Ministry of Tourism should keep an eye on this from the base camp itself, she advised.