Gritty twin sisters who made history - conquest of Mt. Everest and others

The Everest Twins, Tashi & Nungshien.wikipedia.org

The Everest Twins, Tashi & Nungshi www.climbskibouldermagazine.com

In modern India, though  women have held  positions of power and influence such as the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha,  Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, Governors and judges, not to speak of top positions in private and public sector undertakings, the bottom line  is women in the lower strata of the society. especially in rural India,  have to make long strides in the area of women empowerment, equal rights, etc. As for as  the Constitution of India is concerned, under it are well secured women’s rights - mainly, equality, dignity, and freedom from discrimination;  Besides,  there are  various statutes governing the rights of Indian women.  That, practically the laws governing the women's equal rights  are not followed, rather, they  are glaringly  flouted or simply ignored in many cultures is the reality from which we can not escape. Only in the1970s,  feminist activism in India gained importance and the activists  were focused on such serious issues as rape, female infanticide, women's health, women's safety, gender bias in employment,  and women's literacy.

Twins, Tashi & Nungshitechyyouth.com

 The history of Indian women since ancient time has seen lots of changes. However, scores of Indian families are yet to reconcile themselves to the change of attitude toward women in the society in modern India  and hesitate to give  full freedom to their  girls' desires and aspirations. Parents are more concerned about their marriage than about their  cherished passions. Consequently numerous women's innate talents remain unnoticed or Un-blossemed. Not withstanding such impediments,  family and societal pressures and criticisms, there are innumerable girls and women  who choose an adventurous life with firm passion, sustained focus and achieve success. Tashi and Nancy Malik from Dehra Dun achieved a great feat - conquering the roof of the world in 2013. What is so special about them? They are twins!!

Everest Altitude www.unbelievable-facts.com

In the last few decades more and more mountaineers world over make a beeline to the base of Mt. Everest and  make the final climb to the tallest peak. Amazingly, there has been more women participation in this  thrilling expedition that is wrought with so many dangers such as  snow avalanches, deep crevices,  snow storms, etc. Scores of people make an assault during  the summer season when risk will be less. What is called  “fair weather” window  attracts   lots of people  who try their luck on this day. Normally more than 100 people participate  during the fair  weather window. Sometime ago more than 250 climbers reached the summit in a 48-hour stretch of good weather, surmounting difficulties  in the “death zone” above 8,000 meters.

Geology -5.5 miles high from sea level -Divided into 3 formations separated by faults -Made up of sandstone, siltstone, sedimentary, granite and metamorphic rocks. once the site of a great sea called Tethys. slideplayer.com

This is the way of Mt Everest Expedition. It's height is of 8848m. It takes 40-50 Days .  www.tseringmatreks.com

Tashi and Nancy Malik, two 21-year-old Indian sisters  from Dehra Dun,  on Sunday, 19 May 2013,  made history by becoming the first twins ever to conquer  tallest roof  at 8,848 meters on the world - Mount Everest. These daring girls happen to be Guinness record holders as first female twins to climb Mount Everest, and the first  twins to scale the Seven Summits which they achieved later. During the same stretch of time, the first women from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan  climbed the peak and made history. The girls told the reporters that they were proud of their achievement which became a reality after three yeas of preparations and their expedition was funded by some sponsors. They also expressed their willingness to scale other top mountains across the globe. Her family members were very happy and  their mom said  she and her family members were very much   concerned about  the safety of their daughters and they always kept on praying for the safe return  of Naungshi Malik and Tashi Malik.

An interesting aspect of this expedition was when they stood atop the roof of the world (May 19 2013), they  were later joined by  a young 21 year old Pakistani girl Samina Baig and these three girls placed  Pakistan and India flags atop the peak to spread the message of peace and friendship between two countries.

 Now residents of Dehradun, Tashi and Nungshi hail from Haryana state. Her father is  a retired Indian Army officer, Col Virendra Singh Malik, now in Dehradun after retirement. The twins attended many schools across India, including the famous  school  Lawrence School, Lovedale, near Ooty (Octagamund), Tamil Nadu. They studied at Sikkim Manipal University between  July 2009 and January 2013 and  graduated in  Journalism & Mass Communication in first division. 

It seems right from their early age, the girls seem to have evinced interest in mountaineering, an adventurous, but dangerous, sport, that requires hard work, guts and in-depth training to face near-death like situations. The girls had substantial training at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in 2010.

 In its 60th edition, Guinness World Records has featured the twin sisters  as first female twins to scale Everest together and in its 2016 issue as the first twins and siblings to complete Seven Summits. On 16 Dec 2014, after summiting Mt. Vinson in Antarctica, they became world's first twins and siblings to scale the 'Seven Summits' together. Given below is the twins' amazing list of adventures and  'World Records; each  one being a milestone in history.

01. First female twins to summit Mt. Everest ( at 21 years of age; May 19, 2013))

02. First siblings & twins to reach ‘Seven Summits’- highest peaks in all continents. Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa (February 2012), Mt Elbrus in Europe (2013), Mt Aconcagua, South America (Jan. 2014), Mt Carstensz Pyramid in Australasia in March. Next was McKinley, North America, in June and finally Mt Vinson Dec. 2014). At 16,045 ft, it is the highest peak in Antarctica and located 660 nautical miles from the South Pole.
    
03. First siblings & twins to complete Adventurers Grand Slam & the Three Pole Challenge.

Tashi, Nungshi conquer North Polemountainflowers.blogfa.com

04. Youngest persons ever to complete Adventurers Grand Slam & the Three Pole Challenge
 
05. First twins to reach South Pole on Skis (conquered in December, 2014)

06. First twins to reach North Pole on Skis. On April 21, 2015; they planted the Indian flag here when the temperature reached -30 degree C.
As for other regional and nation records, the significant one is they were the youngest and fastest South Asians to reach North & South Pole on Skis (completed in less than 4 months). 

Literally, the highly gritty twins from Dehradun went on a conquest spree across the globe with undeterred focus and courage. Theirs is a story of firm commitments to passion, determination backed by hard work They were conferred India's highest adventure honor 'Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award' 2015 by the President of India on 29 Aug 2016.

Ref:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/indian-sisters-become-first-twins-to-climb-everest/article4733688.ece

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Mountaineer-twins-first-to-conquer-both-Poles-on-skis/articleshow/47021397.cms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashi_and_Nungshi_Malik