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The girl who dared to dream big

Tine Mena, a village girl born in remote Etali in Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh became the first woman Everester from NE to summit the Mount Everest

Keter Bagra

Buge Mena, a simple inhabitant of Etali village in the remote Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh might never have imagined that his daughter born in September 1987 would scale the world’s tallest peak one day, much less be the first woman Northeasterner to achieve the feat. For his daughter, Tine Mena, the journey to the top of world’s tallest mountain has never been smooth, as in the case of all other achievements in life. Many challenges, obstacles, and some chance encounter with benevolent persons were written in her fate before she finally braved and achieved the outstanding act creating a ripple in the mountaineering circle.

The road to success was not easy, the journey had been challenging and full of struggles but Tine being the kind of person she is, has not learnt to accept failures. She had to go a long way before making it to Mt. Everest. She first joined an adventure course at Manipur Mountaineering Institute where she was declared the all round best trainee. She further did a basic sport climbing course from MMTA, Manipur where she was again graded A. Then in 2009, she joined Basic Mountaineering Course at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) Darjeeling 2009 where she got the Gold Medal for all round best trainee and further continued with an advanced course in mountaineering where she got a silver medal. She also attended a Pre Everest Expedition at Mt. Kalahoi Peak organised by NE Adventure Foundation, Guwahati in 2009. In addition to these she achieved the distinction of being the first lady mountaineer from the state by taking part in the All India Combined Mt. Shivaling Expedition organised by Indian Mountaineering Foundation, New Delhi. After taking part in the Final Pre Everest Expedition at Sikkim, she finally scaled her destination on 9th May 2011 at 10.50 am local time and became the first woman Everester from North East and the first Indian Everester for this season 2011.

Her guide, Dr.K.R Meetei, himself a keen mountaineer, has full of praise for her talent and spirit. According to him, the North –East region has tremendous potential in mountaineering for which the support of respective governments and the public is required.

Presently settled in Intaya village near Roing, the District Headquarters of Lower Dibang Valley District, Tine Mena is actively engaged in mountaineering activities and plans to scale the tallest peaks of all the seven continents of the world.

Here, Eastern Panorama had a talk with the young achiever about her opinions on her life and experience of climbing.

Keter Bagra: How did you get the first inspiration for mountaineering?

Tine Mena: Since childhood I was always fascinated by the life in the wilds. It was part of our day to day life. I used to go for hunting with my father in the jungles high up in the mountains, sometimes to collect wood. I had the physical strength but to learn the technical know how, I had to undergo various courses.

KB: What challenges did you have to face?

TM: From the very beginning, I was very positive about it. Physically, I was very confident but as I have said before, I was not financially sound and as the whole process is very expensive, the hardest point was to find sponsors and also I lost my mother just a week before the advance mountaineering course. So I was in a dilemma whether to go for it or not as I really wanted to make my state proud by becoming the first Woman Everester from North East. So, there was a lot of mental pressure on me but I did not let these things come in my way. I am not at all a health conscious person, and had no idea about balanced diet, healthy diet or exercise so Dr. Meetei had to constantly pressurize me into following these things. I further underwent basic course at Art Of Living for mental strength as mental strength is required more than physical strength.

KB: What about the guidance and support from family, from others?

TM: My family stood by me through thick and thin, especially my father. As I have said earlier, I am not financially sound, many people have helped me with whatever they could. Many individuals and organisations including Jindal Group, Laeta Umbrey, MLA, Rajesh Tacho,MLA,  Bidol Tayeng, Abu Tayeng, Ere Linggi, Mutchu Mithi, an NGO named All Arunachal Women and child welfare society and many others. I am grateful to all of them.

KB: When did the idea of climbing the Everest come to you?

TM: As I have said earlier, it was a chance meeting with Dr. Meetei during the Athu Pupu Trekking expedition who believed that I was capable of it. I had the experience of climbing mountains but required the much needed direction and motivation which came in the form of Dr. Meetei.

KB: How was your feeling then?  Were you confident, apprehensive?

TM: From the very beginning, I was very confident but I had some apprehensions like the financial constraints and I am also not very qualified which sometimes hampered my self-confidence.

KB: Please relate your experiences of climbing the Everest and your feelings after climbing it.

TM: The road to success is not an easy one. The most important thing is that you should believe in yourself. Many a times you might feel low as you see so many obstacles, you see so many people dying in front of you but one should never loose heart; one should get up again and resume his journey. The feeling after the summit is something which I cannot express in words. I was so happy because I had proved to myself and to so many people who have believed in me. I was happy because I did not let them down. The first thing I did after reaching the top was to thank God and prayed for the communal harmony and peace to prevail in the state and I further prayed for all those who lost their lives on the way which should not happen. I wished that everybody should get success.

KB: What is your opinion about mountaineering potentials in young Arunachalis?

TM: We have got very challenging snow clad mountains. If proper guidance is provided, Arunachal can be a power house of talent. Naturally, we have the physical strength but when it comes to mental strength, we are not ready.  We always expect short term success, quick records. We don’t have the patience for long term goals. If people could overcome that then I feel the road to success is not far away.

KB: What measures can the government take to promote mountaineering?

TM: The government should start an institute for mountaineering so that we can undertake training here at our own state which would cost us less money. As far as possible, the government should organise those trainings. We should also try to organise adventure awareness programmes in all the districts so that people become more aware. We have lots of potential but the development of adequate infrastructure is yet to be fulfilled.

KB: Your advice to prospective mountaineers?

TM: One should have belief in oneself. Perseverance is very important. We should have strong willpower. We should always avoid getting into wrong habits like drugs and other anti social activities. And during leisure time, the youth should be encouraged to participate into various adventure activities instead of wasting their time. We should try to concentrate on physical fitness, disciplined diet, physical and mental strength.

KB: What are your future plans?

TM: To scale the seven tallest peaks of the world, if I get sponsorship.

For some people success is a way of turning heads, though after basking in the glory of being the first North East woman Everester, Tine Mena  is still the same  down to earth person.