Tenzing Norgay
There are conflicting accounts of Norgay's early life. The account he gave in his autobiography, accepted for several years, is that he was a Sherpa born and raised in Tengboche, Khumbu, in northeastern Nepal. In an interview with All India Radio in 1985, Tenzing Norgay says his parents came from Tibet, but that he was born in Nepal. However, it has also been suggested that he was born in Tibet, at Tse Chu in the Kama Valley, and spent his early childhood in Kharta, nearby to the north; according to this alternate account, Tenzing went to Nepal as a child to work for a Sherpa family in Khumbu.
Khumbu lies near Mount Everest, which the Tibetans and Sherpas call Chomolungma, which in Standard Tibetan means "Holy Mother", or the goddess of the summit. Norgay was a Nepalese Buddhist; Nepalese Buddhism is the traditional religion of the Sherpas and Tibetans.
His exact date of birth is unknown, but he knew it was in late May by the weather and the crops. After his ascent of Everest on 29 May 1953, he decided to celebrate his birthday on that day thereafter. His year of birth, according to the Tibetan Calendar, was the Year of the Rabbit, making it likely that he was born in 1914.
Norgay was originally called "Namgyal Wangdi", but as a child his name was changed on the advice of the head lama and founder of Rongbuk Monastery, Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. "Tensing Norgay" translates as "wealthy-fortunate-follower-of-religion". His father, a yak herder, was Ghang La Mingma (d. 1949), and his mother was Dokmo Kinzom (who lived to see him climb Everest); he was the 11th of 13 children, most of whom died young.
Norgay ran away from home twice in his teens, first to Kathmandu and later Darjeeling, India, at that time the starting point for most expeditions in eastern Himalaya. He was once sent to Tengboche Monastery to become a monk, but he decided that was not for him and departed. At the age of 19, he eventually settled in the Sherpa community in Toonsong Busty in Darjeeling.
