Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two men atop Mount Everest, passed away. The news made me numb and left me blaming myself why did not I try to meet him on so many occasions he was in Nepal. For many Nepalis like me, Hillary – a New Zealander – was more Nepali than his teammate on the top of the world – Tenzing Norgay.
As a child, whenever I read stories of Everest, I had always expected the next time I would read about them; the God would exchange their nationality. I was bothered mostly with Tenzing accepting Indian nationality and living in Darjeeling. Indian magazines I read then always called him an Indian.
As I grew, I accepted the reality. For Tenzing, India was a good offer than living a hard life in Nepal. And, when I knew about Hillary’s Himalayan Trust and the works it had done to uplift the lives of Sherpas, in a corner of my heart, I believed, he too was bothered Tenzing living in Nepal and wanted no more Sherpas to leave the country – and his way of doing that was establishing schools and hospitals for them.
On May 29, 2003, when the 50th Anniversary of the ascent was celebrated, he chose to come to Nepal to accept honorary citizenship and went through the capital city on a horse-driven wagon rather than accepting an invitation by the British Queen. Though his love for modesty was well-known, I never thought he loved Nepal so much.
Then I started believing, Ed was more Nepali than Tenzing! May his soul of a legend rest in peace.
Sir Edmund Hillary – King of the World
Hillary’s Himalayan Trust – Nepal
