All-women team aborts peak expedition, turns saviours

An all-women mountaineering team, which had to abort its expedition to a peak on the other side of "Kedarnath Dome", on the day disaster struck Uttarakhand, helped bring succour to the affected who looked up to them as "almost saviours".
Bimla Negi, 46, who led the team of 12 women, one doctor and two sherpas as part of this year's All-Women Expedition to the 'Mt Bhagirathi II (6512 m)' peak aborted their expedition due to "heavy snowing" on June 16, the same day the disaster struck on the other side of "Kedarnath Dome".
"We were there on the other side of the 'Kedaranath Dome', the mountain that separated us from the region of the mayhem on the other side, though we were completely unmindful of as to what was happening there. It was only after reaching down to Bhojbasa on June 18 that we realised what has happened, when we saw scared faces," she told PTI.

The team that comprised mostly young women in their mid-20s helped bring succour to the affected, especially children and old people who looked up them as "almost saviours".
"Seeing us, people got emotional and pleaded us to save them and take them back home. And, our young girls chipped in and helped children and old age folks cross difficult terrain," 49-year-old Anita Vaidya, a veteran climber, said.
"There was strong stream flowing over big rocks and pieces of rocks were flowing along. But, our girls helped children and old people get to the other side, undaunted," she said.
According to Negi, people's faith in the divine was still unshakeable.

"One would expect people to be angry with the gods and speak against the divine in anguish but here they are still believing, still chanting even as they attempt to tide over this monumental crisis," she said.