SHERPAS: The sturdy highlanders



(Subrata Chowdhury pays tribute to a people born to the kind of hardship only they can bear with a smile and contentment)

The word “sherpa” in Tibetan means “Eastern people”. They were said to have migrated from Tibet to Nepal around 1700 AD and their link with Nepal is deep-rooted. Being hard-working and adventurous, a good number of them have moved to neighbouring Sikkim and Darjeeling where they constitute a significant part of the populace.

Being adept in climbing, sherpas are an integral part of any mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas for quite some time now; even before Tenzing Norgay hauled Sir Edmund Hillary from a lower ledge to the top of Mount Everest in 1953. A physical study in sherpas being natural climbers in high altitudes established the uniqueness of their haemoglobin-binding enzymes, more than average nitric oxide production in their systems, the heart’s ability to utilise glucose and the lungs’ sensitivity to function in the event of a reduced supply of oxygen are the factors contributing to their special capabilities. Sherpas are habitants of Rolwaling and Helambu valleys north of Kathmandu, besides Sikkim and Darjeeling. But the oldest sherpa village in the northeast Himalayas is Pangboche in Nepal. Their language is akin to the dialect used in Tibet, namely the Lhasa vernacular. Accoring to the 2001 Census, as many as 93 per cent of sherpas are Buddhist. The rest are a mix of Hindus and Christians. Another hill tribe called Jirels, aboriginals of Jiri, owe their ethnicity to the sherpas as well.

It is a deplorable fact that in spite of being so hardworking and sturdy, the sherpas are mostly impoverished. A large number of them serve as porters over hill terrain though they prefer to proffer guide-jobs to the handful of tourists that come their way during the season.

Though being largely Buddhist, sherpas belong to the Nyingmapa sect where it is a ritual to worship many deities and demons mentioned in the Bon religion besides the Buddha. According to the Bon religion that was practised prior to Buddhism, the mountains and caves are believed to be inhabited by spirits who have to be appeased to avoid a disdainful curse. Mount Everest is worshipped as “Chomolungma”, meaning the “Mother of the World”, and Mount Makalu as Shankar (Shiva), “The Father”. The other high peaks have different divine identities. While the lamas are revered for performing day-to-day religious ceremonies, the shamas and soothsayers are invited to households to exorcise evil spirits and even act as healers of diseases by the sherpas.

The sherpas have their own monasteries or gompas where lamas, and in some cases, even nuns stay in seclusion. These sacred places are not open to the public except on invitation during annual ceremonies. These monasteries are mostly spread over the Solu-Khumbu region and the inmates practice strict celibacy.

The clothes worn by sherpas are customary and colourful. The conventionally ones consist of a long shirt and a pair of trousers, both woollen. A long robe, also of wool called bakhu, is is secured around the waist by a sash. High boots of coloured woollen uppers and hide soles are worn by the men and women. These are tied with garters of attractive hues. The womenfolk, in addition to these, wear multicoloured aprons from the waist down to the knees. While married women wear this both in the front and at the back, the unmarried ones wear it only at the back. Heavy ornaments and shyambhu (headgear) give the finishing touch.

A sherpa has quite a few heroes to be proud of apart from Tenzing Norgay. They are Jamling Tenzing Norgay, Tenzing’s son, who climbed Mount Everest too in 1996, and Pemba Dorjie and Lhakpa Gelu, who clocked a record 12 hours 46 minutes and 10 hours 46 minutes respectively to climb to the summit from the base camp in 2003. Apart from these, on 21 May 2009, Apa Sherpa created a record of climbing the world’s highest peak for the ninth time individually.

The mighty sherpas are mountain-borne and born to the kind of hardship only they can bear with a smile and contentment.

source: Statesman and Barun Roy