In 1984, Bachendri Pal became a household name when she conquered Mount Everest, becoming the first Indian woman to do so. Her success, however, cast a shadow over her teammates. Chandraprabha Aitwal, Rita Gombu, Rekha Sharma, Harshwanti Bisht, and Sharawati Prabhu also attempted the climb but fell short of the summit — and the ensuing stardom.

Rita Gombu Marwah hails from the first family of Indian mountaineering. Her great-uncle, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, made history when he recorded the first documented ascent of Mount Everest along with Sir Edmund Hillary in May 1953. Rita’s father, Nawang Gombu Sherpa, was the first man to summit the world’s tallest peak twice. Driven by her heritage to love the mountains, Rita trained rigorously and was thrilled when she was named part of the 1984 expedition to Everest, a team of six Indian women and eleven men to attempt the ascent.

As a member of Bachendri's team and a remarkable climber in her own right, Rita came agonisingly close to the summit before being thwarted by harsh weather conditions. Her attempt to reach the summit was cut short by only 200 meters due to adverse weather. In this episode, we hear the story of that almost-perfect moment from Rita Gombu Marwah.

Despite their personal setback, Bachendri's success brought joy to Rita and her teammates, though the anguish of opportunity lost would haunt them all their lives, underscoring the bittersweet aftertaste of sporting achievements.

This show is produced by Confluence Media for Radio Azim Premji University.

Credits:

Achie Humtsoe, Anisa Draboo, Gautam Datt, Jasleen Bhalla, Josy Joseph, Omair Farooq, Siddhartha Mishra

Radio Azim Premji University:

Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Harshit Hillol Gogoi, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi, and Velu Shankar

For a comprehensive list of acknowledgments and resources, please visit our website: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/almost-perfect-stories-of-forgotten-indian-women-athletes-2