Dear Wasfia,

Million congratulations my friend. There are some people who inspire undiluted admiration and you are one of them. When I read the news that you conquered all seven of your summits, it was not just pride but also a relief...

What you didn’t mention was that underneath that lovely smile, you kept fighting on and on to overcome the many obstacles that life sent your away. You were much more of a warrior than a mountain climber.

Although your life was as international as any, you retained your national colours.

You find no contradiction in your loyalty to Bangladesh and its history, while finding so much sense in Buddhist and other Eastern teachings. You have taken up the causes of many others and become the voice of millions of silent souls.

And you fight for them taking all the risks possible. People don’t understand this part of you, but I hope I do when I say none can separate the dancer from the dance. The spirit that drives you to climb mountains also pushes you to stand up and be counted for the causes you support. The mountain climber and the activist are the same.

But it's only you who can say what drives you to such extreme efforts in everything you do. Few would know that you lived in borrowed homes, carried large debts, faced many personal difficulties including health issues of family members, your own frostbite riddled body, the muscles that ache but you overcome, and the million pains and sufferings that all human flesh are heir to that you ignore to keep going on and on.

That makes you, Wasfia, the national pride and role model to so many, young and old. We celebrate that person, that warrior, that Bangladeshi who has kept the flag flying high.

But I also know the gentle one, the one who brought Buddhist prayer flags for me, the incense sticks that perfume my room still, the terracotta clay hands, two palms joined together in the middle of which sits a space to light a candle. That is a beautiful craft and I think all of them together describe you best.

You mentioned that you were going to write your autobiography soon. I am sure many will read it. It will tell us perhaps more of your inner and outer journey in detail, but I think that for many, your life as it unfolds is in itself such a story that we read and admire every time we hear about you.

Always at the peak of our hearts.

—Letter to Wasfia Nazreen

Penned by Bangladeshi freedom-fighter, journalist and author Afsan Chowdhury, Nov 2015.