The Sherpas
by T. R. Reid
(Adapted from the National Geographic Magazine)
MAKING CONNECTIONs
Quick Answers
1. Complete the following sentences.
a. Lhakpa Sherpa walks for five hours to reach school. However, it takes him only three hours to return, because the way is downhill.
b. The Sherpas are considered to be genetically adapted to mountain climbing as it is easier for them to survive in the thin Himalayan air.
c. Before the Everest ascent, most Sherpas earned money by growing potatoes.
d. Nima Nuru Sherpa speaks English, German and Japanese languages.
e. The introduction of iodine wiped out goitre and improved the public health of the Sherpas.
Reference to context
2. "In monsoon, I walk in the rain. In winter, I walk in the snow. It's always hard."
a. Where does the speaker walk to every day?
= The speaker walks to his school every day. He studies in the school that Sir Edmund Hillary founded in Khumjung, Nepal.
b. What is the speaker's attitude towards his daily walks?
= The speaker's attitude is bright and positive towards his daily walks. He happily admits that going back home is downhill, so it takes only three hours.
c. What is the dream that gives the speaker the strength to carry on walking?
= The dream to go to college and become a doctor gives the speaker the strength to carry on walking.
3. "The conquest of the majestic Mount Everest caught the imagination of the world...."
a. What is meant by 'the conquest of Mount Everest'?
= 'The conquest of Mount Everest' meant the first scaling of Mount Everest by one New Zealand climber, Edmund Hillary, and one Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay.
b. How did this conquest benefit the Sherpas?
= The conquest benefited the Sherpas by bringing an unprecedented number of climbers to Khumbu each spring and fall.
c. In what way did Sir Edmund Hillary help to improve the lives of the Sherpas?
= To speed up the construction of the hospital in the village of Khunde, Sir Edmund Hillary oversaw the construction of the airstrip on a dramatic mountainside in Lukla - a runway that has had the unintended result of fuelling the massive tourist trade.
4. "In Khumbu, the old ways still persist in many aspects of a Sherpa's daily life."
a. How do 'the old ways' persist in relation to the washing of clothes?
= 'The old ways' persist in relation to the washing of clothes is that there washing machine is the rushing river.
b. Why do the Sherpa farmers construct diversion channels beside mountain streams?
= The Sherpa farmers construct diversion channels beside mountain streams to drive the waterwheels that grind their grain into flour.
c. What is the one innovation that is prominently absent in Khumbu?
= The one innovation that is prominently absent in Khumbu is the automobile or the roads.
Read, reflect and write
5. Why do you think distance is measured in terms of the time taken to travel in Khumbu?
= There were no scope of automobile or road in Khumbu due to its geographical features. The only way to travel is walking for the Sherpas. They are so skilled in walking that they do not remember distance. They are accustomed to remember the time taken by them to reach the destinations.
6. How does Nima Sherpa's life illustrate one of the Sherpa success stories?
= Nima Nuru Sherpa is a friend of the narrator and one of the thousands of Sherpas. He was born on a tiny Khumbu farm eight years before the first ascent of Everest. His family used to grow potatoes like other Sherpas. It was a hard work with negligible profit. But by the time he was a teenager in the late 1960s, getting into the mountaineering business was every Sherpa boy's dream.
Eventually he became a porter, hotel waiter and a cook. Nima became a trekking guide as her was tireless, bright and quick to pick up languages. He was with knowledge of English, German and Japanese. He saved his earnings and rented a house about 200 yards from the airstrip at Lukla, which in 1993, he turned into a successful hotel and restaurant.
With a fairly reliable income from the lodge, Nima took the next step on the career path of the upwardly mobile Sherpa. Last autumn, he set up a trekking company of his own in Kathmandu, 125 miles from Khumbu.
7. According to Ang Rita, which three innovations transformed the Sherpas' lives?
= According to Ang Rita, the three innovations transformed the Sherpa's lives are -
i) The British travellers brought potato plants to the Himalayas in the nineteenth century and the Sherpas recognized that this could be a staple crop for the Khumbu climate.
ii) In the twentieth century, the introduction of iodine wiped out goitre and made an important improvement in public health.
iii) The mountaineers who wanted to climb the high peaks gave them the foundation of a tourist economy that has produced more wealth than agriculture or trading.
8. Discuss the significance of the term Sherpa.
= On account of their reputation as climbers, the Sherpas are the best known of the thirty or so groups that make up the Nepalese population. The word 'Sherpa' is so familiar that it has become a generic term for a porter of a guide.
Almost Sherpa in the trekking business has a story about a client who turned to him and asked how long he had been a Sherpa. And Sherpa is not just an ethnic identification, like other minority groups in Nepal, the Sherpas often use their ethnic name as their last name as well.
9. Do you think the Sherpas prefer to be roadless? Give reasons in support of your answer.
= Yes, I think the Sherpas prefer to be roadless. They are obsessed with the nature they are leading their life in. According to the opinion of most people concerned, roadlessness is an essential element of the Sherpa condition. They get delighted feeling the steepness of their mountains, hearing the waterfalls coming down their cliffs and when they stop and say a prayer when they passed a mani(prayer) stone.
10. Extended writing: Despite the wealth brought into the lives of Sherpas, they remain a simple people. Discuss with examples from the text.
= Despite the wealth brought into the lives of Sherpas, they remain a simple people. In Khumbu, the old ways still persist in many aspects of a Sherpa's daily life. Their washing machine is the rushing river. Their dryer is the sun. The kids use round pebbles as marbles and play catch with potatoes.
With rocks and branches, Sherpa farmers construct diversion channels beside mountain streams to drive the waterwheels that grind their grain into flour. The same streams are used to spin the prayer wheels that dot the Sherpa country.
According to Ang Rita, on the steep, rock-strewn mountain trails of the Sherpa land, new mothers still walk with farmers, yak herders, mail carriers, great-grandmothers and exhausted, sweating porters bent low under the weight of cargo on their backs.