‘The Nirmal Purja I Met Was…’

‘…An extremely, extremely sweet person.’

IMAGE: Saanika Shah with Nirmal Purja before the Everest expedition in May 2026. Photograph: Kind courtesy Saanika Shah/Instagram

There is an old video that still makes people smile.

Against the snowy backdrop of the Everest Base Camp, there are climbers wrapped in bulky gear looking all set for one of the world’s toughest expeditions.

Amid this chaos, 22-year-old Saanika Shah appears in Bharata Natyam costume and jewellery, ready to perform during the traditional puja ceremony held before the climb.

It was her way of seeking blessings from the mountain gods before attempting to scale the highest peak on Earth.

The video went viral, introducing thousands to the young mountaineer who would go on to summit Mount Everest in May.

For Saanika, that 55-day journey — from reaching the Everest Base Camp to standing on the world’s highest point and returning safely — also brought her to meet one of mountaineering’s legendary names: Nirmal ‘Nimsdai’ Purja.

Purja, whose company Elite Exped led the expedition, died last week along with nine expedition members on Pakistan’s Broad Peak, leaving the global climbing community in mourning.

When Mayur Sanap/Rediff reached out to Saanika after his death, she politely declined an interview.

“I don’t feel like talking about it,” an emotionally overwhelmed Saanika said gently.

For many around the world, Purja became synonymous with modern high-altitude mountaineering after his extraordinary ‘Project Possible,’ in which he climbed all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks in just over six months, shattering all previous records.

His remarkable feat was chronicled in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, inspiring a new generation of climbers.

Saanika belongs to that generation.

She agreed to briefly share her memories of the man she met during the expedition.

A dance at Everest Base Camp

IMAGE: Saanika Shah during the Everest expedition this May. Photograph: Kind courtesy Saanika Shah/Instagram

This May also marked Purja’s eighth successful ascent of Mount Everest, an astounding feat in itself. Saanika was among the climbers on that expedition.

Their interactions were brief but memorable.

For anyone attempting Everest, weather, exhaustion and altitude leave little room for error. Before the summit push, she recalls, Purja had just three pieces of advice.

“He told me, ‘Be strong, Saanika. Don’t give up. Have patience’.”

The base camp is usually a place dotted with tents, prayer flags, climbing ropes and people in their heavy down jackets turning the rugged landscape into an array of eye-popping colours.

Saanika arrived dressed very differently, with her Bharata Natyam costume and jewellery.

In this biting cold at such an immense height, she danced before fellow climbers and Sherpas, making for one of the most memorable moments of the expedition.

Purja, the expedition leader, paused to compliment her Bharata Natyam performance at Base Camp.

‘When I got into the costume, he said, ‘You are looking very pretty, Saanika’.”

Later, she says, he playfully told her that after dancing at over 17,000 feet, her acclimatisation was done.

Purja’s aura was different

IMAGE: Saanika at the top of the world, quite literally! Photograph: Kind courtesy Saanika Shah/Instagram

Purja is hailed as the hero of modern mountaineering, and it is his incredible achievements over the years that often made him appear larger than life.

Yet, Saanika says the person she encountered never carried himself that way.

What stayed with her most was not his reputation, but his warmth.

“He was an extremely, extremely sweet person,” she says. “He was very approachable and friendly to everyone around him. I feel like he was the constant source of light and energy.”

Looking back now, they have become the few memories Saanika is comfortable sharing.

“He had this powerful aura, which I don’t think I will ever forget.”