25-year-old Binita belonging to a small village called Kesorsora in district Saraikela-Kharsawanr of Jharkhand is amazed by the attention she has been getting in the media as well as her village post the Mt Everest expedition this May, but that has not been enough to satisfy her adventurous spirit, says Binita.
"Mount Everest is just a stepping stone for me. I wish to climb the 7 summits which includes climbing the highest peaks of seven continents," Binita who was recently felicitated at a function by the Indian Mointaineering Foundation here said.
"Only after conquering reaching those heights I will believe that I have achieved my aim in life," says Binita who was one of the 53 Indians from five expeditions who scaled the peak successfully this year. This is the largest number ofsubmitters ever from India to have scaled the peak in any given year.
A graduate from the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial College in Karandih, Binita hails from a family of farmers and had previously completed Basic and Advance Mountaineering Courses with A Grade.
Her journey to Mt Everest has not been an easy one. She had to face restrictions and opposition form her villagers as well as family members. "My father was never convinced of the idea of me staying in a tent with other male members during any training camp. I had tough time dealing with negative remarks of villagers as well. But now everything has settled down and everybody here is proud of me," says Binita.
Climbing Everest has not been Binita`s first encounter with victory over the mountains. She was also the part of Karakoram 18381 ft. expedition and had climbed Mt Stok Kangri 20305 ft. under the legendary Bachendari Pal in 2009.
"I became the second adivasi girl from Singhbhum Region to complete the Mountaineering Course from the prestigious Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling and that`s where the real motivation began," says the 24-year-old girl.
Quizzed about her experience during the expedition to Mt Everest Binita says, "I would not say that I wasn`t nervous but I was not ready to accept failure and luckily I didn`t have to face that."
Binita says for her dealing with the avalanches was the biggest challenge as the weather conditions during the expedition were worse and her heart pounded with each casualty faced by her co-climbers.
Describing Bachendri Pal, the first woman who conquered Mt Everest, as her role model Binita says she could gain vision and direction in life because of Pal. "I met didi (Pal) when she was running an outdoor leadership programme for tribal people in 2005. My stamina impressed her and the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) subsequently sponsored mountaineering courses for me," says Binita.