BEYOND FIFTY AND STILL HUSTLING

Sangeeta S Bahl

AKRITI JAMWAL

‘We The Women’ is elated to bring for you about the journey of another female Everester from the state, Sangeeta S Bahl, who became oldest Indian women to summit Mt. Everest on 19 May, at age of 53, making the clichéd adage ‘age is just a number’ true. She bettered the record previously held by compatriot Prem Lata Aggarwal who had scaled Mt Everest at the age of 48 in 2011. She has been praised by many including PM Narendra Modi who lauded her in his monthly radio program ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who also tweeted about her. Hope all of this has stimulated your interest, so without further ado, let’s know more about her. Read on.

Sangeeta is being showered with immense love and respect pan India, which is matter of pride for us, as she has not only brought laurels to the nation, her loved-ones and herself, but to the Jammu and Kashmir as well. Gurgaon-based Sangeeta was born to Indu and Surinder Sindhi in 1965 in Jammu and was brought up here only.
Sangeeta matriculated from Presentation Convent Senior Secondary School, Jammu in 1981. After which she studied in MIER College and finished her 12th in 1983. She expresses, “When I used to see my mother’s life being limited to just kitchen and kids, while her education was useless, I knew I do not want my life to be the same.”
Sangeeta recalls, “I belonged to a conservative family but right from the start I wanted to do something of my own and be self-reliant. I wanted to live my life on my own terms and so far I have worked my way around it; picked the professions that I aspired, married the guy I wanted and so on.”
Sangeeta recalls almost getting hitched at 14 and was sure to be married off at 16 for which she had to protest and insist on getting into a profession first. Though such protests and making your own choices is a normality today, but here we are talking about almost four decades back.
“I never wanted to be part of the crowd; I have always strived to distinguish myself from the rest. To add on, challenges have always pushed me to do better. Whenever I have been told that I cannot do something, I have aspired to prove otherwise.”
Today, she is not only a mountaineer but a successful Entrepreneur who strives to balance both professional duties and responsibilities towards family and society. And those who know her say that she does so with ease and flair.
Yet one wonders what could possibly have made her do it in the first place. It takes years of training and experience to grab the opportunity to reach the top. The idea of mountaineering was conceived in 2011, when 47 years old Sangeeta was motivated by her husband Ankur Bahl; he has been training her all this while. Together the couple has climbed various peaks in the world. Sangeeta shares, “Despite being health conscious, I had never been to Gym. Before I went for my first summit, I trained for four months. Though I never seek for such experiences or life-style, I discovered a new passion when we made it to Mt. Kilimanjaro on 31 December, 2011. Now, I cannot imagine my life without gym.”
She further adds, “It was only when we were coming back I realized my potential and learnt that I loved the outdoors; I also felt that although it was industrious but achievable.”
Before Mt. Everest, she has successfully climbed five peaks, in five continents in last 8 years. In 2011, she had first scaled Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa which is 5,895 m with her husband. Two years later, she climbed Mt Elbrus (5,642 m) – the highest in Europe and tenth in the world.
In 2014, she became the third Indian woman to climb Mt Vinson (4,897 m) in Antartica. The same year, when she tried to scale Mt McKinley, also known as Denali (6,190 m) in North America, she suffered a knee injury. Next year, in 2015, she successfully climbed Mt Aconcagua (6,962 m) in Argentina in South America. In 2016, Mount Kosciuszko (2200 m) in Australia was Sangeeta’s fifth success.
The success at Mt. Everest came to Sangeeta after a stint with failure. In 2017, she made maiden attempt to Mt. Everest but had a narrow miss to conquer the world’s highest peak due to mountain sickness. At least six persons, including Bahl were evacuated from the higher camps of Mount Everest after they suffered from high- altitude sicknesses while attempting to climb the world's highest peak.
While an incident like that would beat somebody else’s determination, yet she went back this year to realise her dream to conquer the 7 Summits of the world, Mount Everest being number 6, despite initial setbacks. Looking back at it, it only did well by adding a year to her record.
Sangeeta’s other Climbs and Treks includes Manimahesh Trek (4084 m) in 2004, Seven Sisters Peak (4724 m) summited in 2012, Mount Everest Base Camp & Island Peak (6189 m) summited in 2013, Great Lakes of Kashmir in 2015, Beas Kund (4267 m)in 2016, Stok Kangri (6153 m) in 2016, Mount Everest Base Camp & Lobuche Peak (6119 m) Summited in 2016.
You can read about her journey and experiences, attempting and summitting the 6 highest continental peaks as well as other treks and climbs at her blog -- http://www.sangeetasbahl.com
How huge it is to summit these peaks can be inferred from the fact that Sangeeta’ application was rejected by the Darjeeling mountaineering institute because she was beyond 40 despite that fact she became a professional climber, considering her extensive stints with mountain climbing in the past and summitted 6 out of 7 Summits so far. On being questioned about restrictions of age, she says, “Age is just a number. Everything falls in place if you pursue your dreams at any age.”
According to Sangeeta, climbing Mount Everest would not have been possible without her husband’s help. Incidentally, Sangeeta said that she achieved this feat on the same date (19) her husband did two years ago, 19 March, 2016.
Sangeeta reveals, “Though my climb was scheduled on 18th May, but I learnt that the weather was clear and I could delay my summit by a day as the whole expedition was in my hand, I chose to summit on 19th May.”
According to Sangeeta, unlike her last attempt for which she opted for an American company which was not personal with her, she recruited two Sherpas Ngaa Tenji Sherpa and Lakpa Norbu, who picked the same language after thoroughly screening them.
Sangeeta describes her climb to summit Mt. Everest a spiritual one, saying that she did not doubt herself or feared failure even once after I left on 30 March. She expresses, “The Sherpas accompanied and assisted me for two months and honestly, were the best thing happened to me on this expedition.”
Speaking to ‘We The Women’ about her experience on top of the world ecstatic Sangeeta says, “The feeling is unbelievable and indescribable, simply because I am very emotional. I only had gratitude for the Universe for making my dream come true.”
She further adds, “Although I knew I would be the oldest but I did not go for the record. I had no idea that it would get so much attention and appreciation. I was only content that I have made it to the top.”
Talking about her routine, Sangeeta shares, “I am an early bird; irrespective of my sleeping time, I must get up early. After giving my body a shake-up by taking our dogs to the walk, I hit the gym. After which we get going with our day and go to our works.”
She further adds, “Evenings are usually composed of reading, listening music, visiting friends or family or planning on the next move. We do not waste our time in front of the screens; we’d rather go for walk.”
Sangeeta says, “I pay special emphasis on looking after my body by every aspect, to be able to push it through limits. Over the years I have realized that although it is tempting to procrastinate or skip exercise, it never helps because then you struggle on the mountains more, so for last few years I exercise every morning.”
It comes as surprise to many that a woman hustling and bustling in such adventurous sport had no experience in it before she turned 37. What’s more surprising is that Sangeeta was a Miss India finalist in 1985.
Sangeeta is a self-made woman who started working at the tender age of 16, when she dabbled in modeling and did a stint in TV serials too. Then from being a Miss India Finalist to Cabin Services Director whilst flying for Emirates Airlines for seven years, every experience has enriched her journey.
Sangeeta is also an MBA from the University of Bradford, UK and the first certified Image Consultant in India from the Association of Image Consultants International, USA, and founder of Impact Image Consultants in Gurgaon, through which she serves Individuals and Corporates seeking help with their personal Image and Style. She is also the only Indian among 19 international consultants to have co-authored a book titled “Executive Etiquette Power” released in the USA.
Recently, she was instrumental in being part of the Uniform committee of Emirates airline and has designed the uniform sarees and scarves of Cambata Aviation based out of T3 Delhi and Mumbai for a staff over 4000 employees.
Additionally, as a Keynote Speaker and Trainer, she specialises in Mentoring and Coaching individuals and corporate staff as well. Being an Ex-finalist Miss India, she has also gone on to groom the beauty contestants of Femina Style Diva for last 5 years projecting them as confident women on stage.
All these accomplishments do not come easy. According to Sangeeta being a girl makes things couple folds harder for you; there are so many who will stop you from doing what you want just because you are a girl.
Sangeets expresses, “It is hardest to convince people, prove your potential because of their mindset.”
But where has her struggle landed her? Sangeeta expresses, “I live life like a 16-year old; skill exploring and still discovering. I am enthusiastic towards life like a youngster with the advantage of balancing it out with my experiences and maturity.”
Sangeeta believes in doing more for uplifting women and empowering them. To the women out there, mother of one- Aarnav, Sangeeta says, “Realise your potential; do not limit it. Do not make excuses to not follow what you aspire. Even being parent should not stop you from living your own life.”
She also adds, “Invest yourself in both professional and personal life, keep a balance. It is essential to keep the family together. I would not have gone far without support and love of mine.”
Sangeeta is immensely passionate about women causes as well. She utilized Mount Everest summit to raise awareness about Breast Cancer for Women with the Women Cancer Initiative (WCI) in association with Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbai, to promote this much-needed awareness to improve the health of women in India.
Sangeeta also speaks to every individual in the society by saying, “It is understandable that you are engrossed in figuring life and settling things in initial years of life but post forty one should devote his/her life in giving back to the society.” She urges to pick a cause and work for it.
A perfect example of beauty, talent, grace and acumen, Sangeeta has conquered many facets of life, and the latest being summitting Mount Everest at the age of 53. Sangeeta is now looking forward to her final summit. She has already made two unsuccessful attempts to summit Mt McKinley (Denali), which is also her final out of Seven Summits. After accomplishing that she is also planning to write two books. All eyes on that now.