WOMEN ON THE MOVE

Meet five women who found joy, power and purpose through a passion for adventure and the great outdoors

- Chaitali Patel

NO MOUNTAIN TOO HIGH

Tashi & Nungshi Malik, 32

Mountaineers

Widely known as the 'Everest Twins, 32-year-old Tashi and Nungshi Malik have an impressive climbing record having summited all seven of the world's major mountain peaks and reached both the North and South Poles. The feats make the sisters the first Indians to have completed the coveted 'Explorers Grand Slam!

The Malik sisters' climbing journey began in 2009 when their father enrolled them in a mountaineering course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarakhand.

"At 19, our first expedition was to climb Mount Rudugaira at 19,000 ft. It took incredibly hard work and hours to make it to the top. But for the first time we realized what we were capable of achieving. Holding the tricolour in one hand, an ice-axe in the other, looking at the vast expanse around us at that moment, we felt we could climb any mountain anywhere," Nungshi recalls.

Born to a Jat father and Gorkha mother, the Malik twins were aware of the societal challenges girls have to face but luckily, they had the unwavering support of their parents. What proved to be far tougher was getting funding for their expeditions. Adventure activities are hardly a spectator sport and so they garner few eyeballs and fewer sponsors. To bankroll expeditions, their parents put in all their savings, including taking a loan against their mother's gold jewellery.