Twin sisters- Tashi and Nungshi Malik- beamed with joy after they were honoured by Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia at Haryana Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on Friday. The sisters,who climbed Mt Everest on May 19 earlier this year and became the first twins to scale the world's highest peak,showed the same camaraderie which they displayed during the expedition. Now,they are ready for another challenge- a three-week mountain climbing event called Climbathon in Himachal Pradesh,starting from July 20. It's a new challenge for us. After scaling Mt Everest ,we wanted to get some rest. Now,we are ready for some more climbing experience. It's a great honour to meet Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia and his words motivated us a lot. We will now be heading to Manali,which is the base for the Climbathon and would undertake the programme for three weeks, shares Tashi Malik,the youngest of the twins. Daughters of Retd Col Virender Singh Malik,who moved from Anwali in Sonepat district to settle in Dehradun,the twins had their first sight of a mountain when their father was posted in Manipur. As an Army colonel in 2/8 Garwhal Rifles,who was always interested in building positive community developments in the North East states,Malik wanted his daughters to give mountaineering a go. The twins,who had to change over ten schools due to their fathers postings,finally gave mountaineering a shot when they enrolled for a basic course from NIM,Uttarkashi in 2009. It took them two years to convince their mother Anju Thapa Malik about their plans to climb Mt Everest and when Anju Malik agreed,the twins wasted no time in taking advanced and skiing courses from NIM and Gulmarg respectively. We used to do small treks around Mussorie and also in Manipur. Mom would always accompany us but when we told her about our plans to climb Mt Everest,she was a little apprehensive. It was during a visit to NIM,when our instructors shouted,Our future everesteers have come, only then mom was convinced," says Tashi. And Nungshi is quick to add,In 2011,we climbed Mt Kiliminjaro in Africa. It was a tough climb and mom would follow our blog daily. The weather was dry at that time and we would often sing songs to keep ourselves busy while climbing the mountain says Nungshi. The duo climbed Mt Everest through a private trekking firm called Seven Peaks and their group also included Saima Baig,the first Pakistani women to climb the world's highest peak. She is like a sister to us. At the base camp,when we first met her,we were a bit hesitant. But after a day,we became the best of friends. Most of the people at the base camp called us triplets and we would often see bollywood movies together, says Nungshi. Apart from mountaineering,the duo is also actively involved in organising and attending peace workshops and also attended month-long CONTACT (Conflict Transformation Across Cultures) program at School of International Training Vermont,USA for a month last year. They also attended a field seminar on peace building in Rwanda,Africa last year. The twins also founded a Peace Music Club in Manipur and want to actively work for the peace initiatives in the area. Their father,who also worked as an advisor to Afghanistan government on regional community development,wants the twins to play their role as peace advisors too. When I was posted in Mazar E Sharif,they also did some voluntary work for a local Afghan NGO. Their main aim for the Mt. Everest expedition was to spread the message of peace and we are happy that they were successful. They are now planning to climb Mt Elbrus in Russia next month, says father Col (Retd) Malik.
