As I stand at the base of the Himalayas, the cold wind touches my cheeks. Looking up at the towering snow-covered peaks, I remember an eight-year-old girl from Goljungbesi, Rasuwa\u2014a little girl with dreams bigger than her village. That girl was me\u2014Parvati Joshi, a simple farmer\u2019s daughter, whose life was about to change in ways no one expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our small wooden hut, it wasn\u2019t just my family that lived; my strong desire to learn lived there too. In our society, education was for boys. While they carried books to school, girls stayed home, learning household chores. But I refused to accept this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One morning, my life changed forever. My mother was leaving for the fields, and I was supposed to take care of my younger brother. But that day, I made a bold choice. I told my mother, \u201cI will come later,\u201d<\/em> and ran toward the school. That was my first day in a classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The teacher gave me 250 rupees and told me to come to school regularly. When I gave that money to my mother, the look in her eyes is something I will never forget. That money could have fed us, but instead, it fueled my hunger for education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mornings at school, evenings filled with housework\u2014cutting grass, collecting firewood, looking after my siblings. Still, I never gave up my studies. I wasn\u2019t the best student, but I had strong determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In grade nine, life became more difficult. I fell seriously ill. The nearest health post was an hour\u2019s walk away, and we had no money for treatment in Kathmandu. Seeing my mother\u2019s worried face and our family\u2019s struggles, I lost hope. One day, in my sadness, I tried to take poison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n When I woke up in Dhunche Hospital, my mother was crying. That moment changed me. I realized that giving up was not an option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n After failing mathematics in my SLC exams, I traveled to Kathmandu for a retake. With the help of a kind sister, I reached Pokhara and found a place at the Three Sisters Hostel. There, I learned rock climbing, yoga, and improved my Nepali. More importantly, I discovered my true love\u2014mountains and trekking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The journey from Pokhara to Rasuwa for my exam was unforgettable. I had no transport, so I hitchhiked and squeezed into crowded buses. Somehow, I made it in time and, to my surprise, I passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2011, I worked as a porter for the first time on the Pokhara-Helambu trek. That was when I knew\u2014this was my path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t speak English well, and people didn\u2019t believe a woman could be a trekking guide. But I didn\u2019t let these challenges stop me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2014, I earned my trekking guide license. Leading my first group to Annapurna Base Camp was one of the proudest moments of my life. Since then, I have led many treks across Nepal\u2019s mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mountaineering wasn\u2019t easy either. I fell sick many times. In 2016, I completed my basic training, but I got sick again before my advanced training. Watching my friends move ahead while I stayed behind was painful. But I didn\u2019t give up. In 2019, I completed my advanced training, followed by the Mountain Leader Course and the Khumbu Ice Climbing Advanced Training.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I stand at the base of the Himalayas, the cold wind touches my cheeks. Looking up at the towering snow-covered peaks, I remember an eight-year-old girl from Goljungbesi, Rasuwa\u2014a little girl with dreams bigger than her village. That girl was me\u2014Parvati Joshi, a simple farmer\u2019s daughter, whose life was about to change in ways no one expected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hide_page_title":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24,"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parbatijoshi.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Climbing the Mountain of Challenges<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
A New Beginning<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Becoming a Trekking Guide<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n