Back in the 1980s, when Indian women were still unaware of their legitimate rights to dream and have an independent life, Bachendri Pal crossed all limits to make her dreams come true. Her name is recalled every time a woman doubts her chances of pursuing her dream. But who is Bachendri Pal? And what was her dream? Bachendri Pal is an Indian mountaineer who was born into a rural working-class family on 24th May 1954 in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. She was born only five days before the first anniversary of the original ascension of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. She became the first-ever Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1984. Her early life was just like any other Indian students'. But life took a turn when she got the first thrill of mountaineering at the age of 12. She knew what made her happy and what she should pursue in her life. After completing her Bachelor's in Education, she faced stiff opposition from her family when she decided to opt for a career as a professional mountaineer rather than as a schoolteacher. She convinced her family by saying that at no point in her life will she regret her choice if she were to do what she wants to do. She started with summitting several smaller peaks to gain professional experience until one day she was given the life-changing opportunity to join India's first mixed-gender team to attempt an expedition to Mount Everest. Beginning its ascent in early May 1984, her team almost met disaster when an avalanche buried its camp, and more than half the group was forced to abandon the ascent because of injury or fatigue. However, this misfortune did not overweigh Pal’s passion to complete the expedition. Pal and the remainder of the team pressed on, and she reached the summit on May 23, 1984. Pal achieved immediate fame, and in 1985 she returned to Mount Everest to successfully lead an all-woman team to the summit. She led an all-woman rafting expedition down the Ganger River in 1994, covering over 1,500 miles (2,500 km). In 1997 she led an all-woman team on a successful 2,500-mile (4,000-km) transit of the Himalayas, beginning in Arunachal Pradesh and concluding at the Siachen Glacier. Her success story had started becoming an inspiration for not only Indian women but women all over the world. She won multiple national awards to commemorate her achievements, the most prestigious one being the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, in 1984. After gaining an enormous reputation for having summitted Mount Everest, she was given dozens of opportunities by corporates to work as an adventure officer. To prep herself for these positions, she enrolled herself into the Outdoor Educators’ Course from Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuit Centre in New Zealand and the Leadership Development Programme from the Outward Bound Trust Ullswater Cumbria, UK to further her professional and leadership skills. She currently works as the Chief of Adventure Programmes at Tata Steel Jamshedpur and is also the Director of the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF), a premier Institute in India promoting Adventure Programmes & Leadership Development courses among youth and women as well as corporates, Institutes and other organizations. Throughout her life, Bachendri Pal has taught us the importance of believing in ourselves and acing fearlessly towards our dreams. Our passion for our dreams should always overweigh the fear of uncertainty. For some, our passion may seem too vague to be true, but it’s our perseverance that pays off in the end. This was the story of the bravest women I have encountered in my life who exemplified the proverb “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Information derived from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bachendri-Pal.