In a country, where women are always under watch to ensure they keep 'modesty' and abide by 'social diktats', the seven-summit conqueror Wasfia Nazreen has emerged as a pure rebel. Few have doubts that the39-year-old has become a trailblazer to young women --- even those living in relatively backward areas of the country. Wasfia didn't have to spark blinding flashes of light. Her determined journey to climb the peaks of the seven highest mountains of the world helped her attain a seemingly absurd goal. After making headlines throughout the world following her Everest conquest in 2012, the first woman to accomplish it weeks after Nishat Majumder, she continued to pursue her goal without much fanfare. That the relatively younger women and teenage girls would find a role-model in Wasfia Nazreen is implied. Her feat coupled with typical Bengalee humility invoked the now-buried yet latent sportive selves in them. Wasfia had made her way through snow-covered paths, raging blizzard and ice-anchors to cross over the smaller peaks. At one time, she found herself in the role of a seasoned mountaineer. Few in Bangladesh have ever seen a tall mountain peak in naked eyes. But they know how the foreign women mountaineers walk along snow covered rugged paths or pass their nights in high-altitude camps.
The Bangladesh girls, restless in character, who love swimming, and have lately begun picking cycling, climbing hills and other sport activities are common spectacles these days. The flipside is they indulge in sport revelry in a state of suppressed fear, lest the stern-faced elders begin reprimanding them. The social guardians tend to remain oblivious to the universal fact that up to certain stage adolescent girls and boys grow up together in an atmosphere of pure innocence. Moreover, some girls are born 'outgoing' and sport-loving.
No matter how hard is the elders' attitude towards their daughters, some of them keep growing in their independent ways. It is these girls who grow into adult women as cricketers as well as performers in other games. Some turn out to be skilled swimmers, footballers and hockey players. The country nowadays can take pride in its national women's sport teams. There is an age-old saying that goes like "boys will always be boys". But none has ever heard anything like "girls will always be girls." Maybe, it's because girls are unpredictable by nature. Nobody can ever say that an adolescent girl will not change into a'docile would-be bride' --- fully prepared to enter the nuptial bond with a young man of her parents' choice. In spite of this mood-swing, girls in Bangladesh have for ages nurtured the dream of being at par with boys. Nature doesn't allow this to happen. Yet still, rebellious girls have continued to play their role of being unique to their abilities. However, in Bangladesh society where women and girls continue to be discriminated against, Wasfia could be termed an Amazon; at least one taller and relatively distinctive than the others of her kind.
The first Bangladeshi woman to reach the Himalayas' peak was Nishat Majumder. Perhaps this fact had strengthened Wasfia's determination to conquer seven mountain summits around the world. Beginning with the Everest in 2012, the indomitable mountaineer climbed six more peaks with no other womenmustering courage enough to undertake the challenging ventures. Wasfia completed her 7th mission on July 22, 2022 by reaching the top of K2, termed the most notorious of the world's mountains. It's located in Pakistan. Wasfia is now at the centre all news stories centring round global mountaineering. It can be assumed how a Bangladeshi female mountaineer, now a celebrity, could help the country's sport-loving women look to someone to turn to.
