‘If he can do it at 66, why can’t I?’: Retired Delhi HC Judge, 64, treks to Everest Base Camp
New Delhi: Fifteen months after retiring from the Delhi High Court, Justice Poonam A Bamba found herself 5,364 metres above sea level, standing at Everest Base Camp. She was 64. She had no special training. And she hadn’t even planned to go.
In November 2024, Justice Bamba, who served 19 years on the Delhi bench before retiring in 2023, flew to Nepal on what began as her husband’s idea.
“My husband was going. I wasn’t even going to go initially,” she recalls. “I remember thinking, ‘How did this idea get into this man’s head?’ Eventually, only one person agreed to go with him. I thought to myself — if he can do this at 66, why can’t I?”That decision took her across suspension bridges, through dense Himalayan forests, past glaciers and frozen rivers, covering over 65 km to reach the base of the world’s highest peak.
Justice Bamba had never trained for high-altitude trekking. “I went without expectations,” she said. “I came back changed.” The trek pushed her through steep ascents and thin air, testing limits she hadn’t faced in her judicial career. Now, her journey is inspiring colleagues and retirees to rethink what’s possible after 60.
