Kimjung who gave birth to eight ascendants

"When they go to climb the mountains, I feel very anxious," she says, "but when they come back, I feel the happiest." For a mother, the victory and success of her children gives more happiness than the children themselves. But, more than that, the news that they are breathing safely in some far off place is giving them happiness. If Mount Everest is the tallest of the visible mountains, Mother is the tallest of the dignified heights that humanity can attain.

During the climbing season, his eight children are climbing many mountains. She goes to the monastery and lights a lamp and prays every day - May my children return home safely.' The fact that the ascending children do not reach the summit does not mean much to Kimjung. Seeing him come home safely is the happiest moment for him.

His eldest son is Pemba Galzen Sherpa, who has set a record for climbing all 14 mountains in the world, including Everest, Ketu, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Choyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, eight thousand meters high.

Kimjung was born and raised in Weding village, a Himalayan settlement near Chho Rolpa Talan in Dolakha. It takes four days to reach the headquarters, Charikot, and there was neither the facility nor the custom of reading and writing until then. "I grew up grazing cattle and started working when I was able to carry heavy loads," Kimjung remembers the distant past, "the only work available at that time was carrying heavy loads of cows."

At the age of fifteen, she also got a job as a heavy lifter. If a director like 'Alfred Hitchcock' had seen the amazing joy of a fifteen-year-old girl seeing a car for the first time in Charikot Bazar after being mixed up in the laskar of tourists carrying luggage for four days, the world would have been able to see the amazing scene. Or, if the heart of TS Eliot or Rabindranath Tagore had seen it, what poetry would have been written full of magic.

However, after many days of tiring long journey, when he saw the wide road and the car moving on it, the expression full of wonder that had swelled to cover the suffering on Kimjung's face was wasted. After losing his mother Lhamu Sherpa Kimjung at the age of three, he was forced to take on the burden of household chores at the age of 15 and was not only sad and sweaty, but there were also many surprises and fascinating scenes seen for the first time.

The resounding eloquence that flowed in memory of her coming from Charikot to Kathmandu with a heavy load, is no longer there. Neither the districts of Kathmandu are now in the form of districts. Neither is that dense forest of Buddhism now. When recounting to grandchildren that distant memory of going to Asan Indrachok carrying a heavy load from Buddhism, they get goosebumps, Kimjung himself tries to doubt his own experience.

'When camping in Kathmandu, I had to find firewood and cook rice,' she says, 'I also bought a room, bought firewood and cooked rice in the Buddhist house.' The cost was enough to cover the water. Thus the heavy carrying work which he started at the age of 15 continued for eight/ten years. He got married to Chhiring Norbu from the village who was five years older than him. And, successively born after marriage – Pemba Gyalzen, Phurwa Thundu, Pemba Dorje, Nima Gyalzen, Phurwa Tenzing, Phurwa Thil, Sonam Pemba, Pasang Phuti, Dadiki and Nima Lhamu.

Another child was born between Sonam and Pasang, but she did not survive for more than a year, she said. Only two of his children did not climb the mountain. One is Nima and the other is Sonam. Although Nima wanted to climb the mountains, she could not, because she met Dakipa Sherpa, a mountaineer from Solukhumbu, in 2064 when she went on a trek to follow the career of her brothers. That meeting quickly turned into love and later marriage. And, since the children were born after the marriage, Nima became busy climbing the mountain of the world.

Dakipa continuously climbed mountains and stepped on Everest only 12 times. Son-in-law who continues to climb Mount Kimjung and daughter Nima, who has not been able to climb the mountain, spend their happy time playing grandchild at their house in Kapan, sometimes to Kathmandu and sometimes to the homestay opened by their sons in Thathalo Wedding. "It's done, I tell my sons not to climb mountains, but no one listens," says Kimjung, "Before, it was difficult for us to live without carrying heavy loads and climbing mountains, but now that's not the case, I say it's done, but no one listens."

Kimjung raised all her children in the same village of Weding where she lived with Thapak in the shadow of Gaurishankar. All initially learned the art of trekking and climbing while carrying heavy loads. And slowly the mountains began to climb. Like the eldest son Pemba Galjen, all the children have made countless records by repeatedly stepping on not only Mount Everest, but all the highest peaks. Throughout their success, she waits impatiently to hear the news of their successful ascent and reaching the bottom.

Milo's son Phurwa Thundu went to climb a mountain near Everest in 2006, never to return. Her husband Norbu also passed away in the same year. No year in Kimjung's life was as ominous as this year. She is hurt by the pain of losing her family members and repeatedly wishes her sons to retire from measuring the height of snow peaks so that they don't have to suffer like that again.

Like many other Sherpa youths in mountain villages, Kimjung is probably the first mother to hear the news of her children climbing the formidable peaks of the mountains year after year after starting a career as a porter. Because, she is also the Himalayan mother who has the most mountaineer children. "All of us are always climbing mountains and mother is always waiting for her to come back," said Dakipa, a mountaineer son-in-law There is a tradition of naming children in the Sherpa community. For example, Nima born on Sunday, Dawa on Monday, Mingma on Tuesday, Lakpa on Wednesday, Furwa on Thursday, Pasang on Friday and Pemba on Saturday. Pemba, the first born on Saturday, has listened to his pleas for several years and is now retired from climbing. Sonam, the seventh son, has entered the monastic life at Kapan Monastery and is practicing many meditation practices. While the brothers are climbing the visible mountains, he is climbing the mighty mountains of the mental classes. And, Kimjung likes this action of Sonam very much.

Buddhawani Kimjung does not know that 'conquering the heart is more difficult than climbing the mountain', but he is very happy that Sonam chose to climb the inner world. 'I don't have to wait for at least one of them?' Kimjung says, 'I feel sweet sleep only after coming back.' Kimjung also enjoys the moment when they sit and eat together after their return.

After years of hard work, training and perseverance, he knows that his children cannot immediately give up on mountain climbing. Therefore, it is only natural for them to have an irrepressible desire to inevitably see the success of each of their climbs. Unexpected weather, hurricane-like winds, and every victory of his bosom over the rugged snow peak blossoms in Kimjung's heart with indescribable joy.

His children climbed high peaks one by one with determination and unwavering faith and raised the family's reputation to a point to be proud of. A mother sitting listening to the news of one success after another in climbing the majestic Himalayas in Wedding could see the happiness of Kimjung through the eyes of Kalidas. Or, if Devkota's heart could see the birth of a sentimental essay. Someone with the eyes of Shelley and Tolstoy saw what Mohini's work is being composed!

However, no one has yet come out to express the incomparable joy of a divine womb that gives birth to climbers in a 'ghetto full of those who have not been able to get goods' and the incomparable joy of meeting a child in art or cinema. His son Pemba has climbed Mount Everest twenty-seven times. Another son, Pemba Dorje, has also set the record for reaching Mount Everest in the shortest time in 2004. Pemba Dorje Sherpa, another son of Kimjung, holds the record for the fastest climb of Mount Everest.

"Being able to walk fast was Pemba's strength," says Kimjung, "he could climb up and down as fast and agile as a goat from an early age." Pemba Dorje's feat is celebrated around the world, bringing honor not only to his family but also to the Sherpa community. There are many such achievements, which always add joy to Kimjung's Polta, the heiress of the Sherpa family. While her children's achievements have made them living legends, record-breaking mother Kimjung always wants skill more than her success.

'I'm proud of my children,' says a smiling Kimjung, 'rising up from a deserted village, they've risen to be recognized by the world, what's more, they still treat me like little kids and let me treat them like that. Lakpa Diki, Kimjung's only climbing daughter, has also left her footprints on Mount Everest. Each of their climbs is a testament to more strength and perseverance. And, each of his returns is a relief for mother Kimjung.

Photos : Prakashchandra Timilsena/Kantipur