When 33-year-old Bhawna Dehariya became a mother in 2021, she was expected, like so many women, to slow down, shift focus, and pause the pursuit of high-risk ambitions. But she did the opposite. Between feeding schedules and sleepless nights, Bhawna began preparing for her next expedition. For her, motherhood wasn’t the end of adventure; it became part of it.

This was the same woman who once stood at the top of Mount Everest, oxygen mask leaking, lungs burning, but spirit intact. Her daughter hadn’t been born then. But even now, with a child in her arms, Bhawna isn’t done climbing. She is living proof that the path to Everest doesn’t have to detour around motherhood; it can rise through it.

From a tribal village to the roof of the world

Bhawna was born in Tamia, a small tribal village tucked away in the hills of Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh. Life here was not about alpine dreams; it was rooted in simplicity. But the steep slopes of her village perhaps gave her an early taste of the altitude her life would later reach.

In her youth, she pursued mountaineering formally, later........

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