Dare to Dream

Source: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo

An accounts officer of the Water and Sewage Department (WASA) of Bangladesh became the first Bangladeshi woman to climb Mount Everest, the highest summit in the world on May 19, 2012; showing the world how much one can achieve if only they dare to dream. “I have always loved being close to nature and my decision to go mountain climbing has stemmed from this love,” says the remarkable Nishat Majumder.
A risk taker since childhood, Nishat trained relentlessly to prepare herself to conquer the Everest. “The only way to achieve this is to climb more each year,” she explains. “As for physical training, I run 5km every morning, do free hand exercises and breathing exercises. Once or twice a year I try to go mountain climbing.”
Nishat started climbing, through the Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club founded by Enam Al Haque, “The club manages everything from finding sponsors to setting up trips abroad-- mostly neighbouring countries like Nepal and India."
Despite years of training however, nothing quite prepares one to face the Everest. "There is very little oxygen up there. The peak of the Everest has about 1/3 of our normal level of oxygen," says Nishat. "It is hard to breathe, you lose your appetite and you cannot sleep, you get excruciating headaches. You constantly feel nauseated. I have stayed up for nights wondering what possessed me to do this. Then there are the avalanches and heavy snow. Some die in their sleep while others simply give up."
It took 49 days to climb the Everest and back. A fellow Bangladeshi climber Shajal Khaled, was lost in the climb.  "We saw blood and hair of others who fell into crevices," she remembers. When she reached the summit however, her suffering vanished as she looked at the clouds she seemed to be standing on, and the vast blue sky above. "I cannot express my feelings in words, I just felt blessed. Very few get to see what I saw. I felt minuscule, in comparison to the world around me, it really put things into a new perspective."
This is what she wants to give back to the future generations of our country the ability to dream, setting an example for women all over the country. "I would like to help children think outside of academics, outside of daily struggles. I want to open an institution of some sort to help children achieve their dreams, especially those who don't even know what a dream is."