KOLKATA/DARJEELING: A personal bond and their love for the mountains, which helped Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary scale Mt Everest on May 29, 1953, continues even after 70 years.
On Monday, the 70th anniversary of the first summit of Mount Everest, their sons, Jamling Norgay and Peter Hillary, will jointly inaugurate the statue of Tenzing and Edmund at Tenzing Hillary Airport in Nepal's Lukla. They will also release 70 commemorative coins to mark the anniversary.
Peter was in Khumjung in Nepal on Sunday for a programme at the Hillary School. Both he and Jamling have followed in their fathers' footsteps to scale the world's tallest peak, although they have done it separately. They now want their children to keep up the family legacy.
"It has been a long association of the two families, which are bonded by an incident that was regarded as one of the most heroic in the post World War II era. My father and Sir Ed (Edmund Hillary) developed their friendship during their Everest ascent. Their children and grandchildren will take the mantle forward," said Jamling.
Jamling Norgay was born 13 years after the historic first ascent. "When I was eight years old, I started to figure out that my father was a celebrity and a pioneer in the mountain-climbing fraternity. That inspired me to join mountaineering and carry the culture of the sherpas forward," he told TOI over phone from Nepal.
"The next generation wants to go to the mountains and be part of the adventure," said Peter Hillary.
"We tell stories of the mountain to the kids and encourage them to climb mountains," Jamling said. "My youngest daughter accompanies me on a number of treks. My kids and other kids from the community have to know the core values of the Sherpas. They need to know where we come from and what we symbolise."
Members of both families organise workshops and camps about the mountains. They also spread awareness about the need to keep them clean. "Both families are in close contact. When I go to Darjeeling, I meet Jamling and meet his brothers. We have a long connection between the two countries," Peter said.
In the US, a section of 75th Street in the Woodside locality of the Queens neighbourhood in New York will be co-named after Tenzing.
The Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation (HNAF) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a Bharat Ratna award to Tenzing.
"We have been raising the demand for a posthumous Bharat Ratna for Tenzing. His contribution to India and the world deserves recognition," said Dip Narayan Talukdar, HNAF's secretary.
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