High life in the death zone of the forgotten guardians of Everest

Sherpas have come a long way. A new book explores the tenuous link between their lives and livelihood

Sherpa: Stories of Life and Death from the Forgotten Guardians of Everest

Author: Pradeep Bashyal and Ankit Babu Adhikari

Publisher: Hachette

Pages: 321

Price: Rs 699 

Readers of this paper will encounter the term “sherpa” in the context of the myriad economic and geo-political summits. These sherpas play consequential roles as representatives of their heads of government in staking out negotiating positions for agreements signed at summit ceremonials. The role of such sherpas — in lower case — is a hat-tip to the stalwart Sherpas, a community of Tibetan origin that settled in Nepal centuries ago and became famous as facilitators for Himalayan mountaineers. 

Despite the