Letter to the Financial Times on "sherpa"

Sherpas are tough and enterprising
By Prerna Bomzan

Published: May 9 2007 03:00 | Last updated: May 9 2007 03:00

From Ms Prerna Bomzan.

Sir, I was astounded as well as amused to come across the coining of the word "sherpa" for a personal envoy in the article "Germany tries to please all its G8 party guests" (May 3), and it keenly interested me to know in what sense the term is being used, and whether it is another new derivative of the English language in Europe. I come from the land of the Sherpas and they are an ethnic group of Tibetan origin inhabiting the highly mountainous regions in Nepal in and around the Himalayas. They are also found in India.

Sherpas are highly regarded as experts in mountaineering, thanks to their superb physical endurance, resilience to the adversities of the mountain climate, and their familiarity with the local terrain. Needless to say, Tenzing Norgay is the most famous Sherpa! I would like to believe that the term "sherpa" is being used here in the sense that the personal envoy is required to have the toughness equivalent of a Sherpa in order to perform his or her tasks well enough.

On the flip side, if it is being used in the sense of a mountain guide then I'm afraid it would be stereotyping the Sherpa community. Today, after much honing of their entrepreneurial skills, as well as due to their enterprising nature, we see a section of the Sherpa population as a thriving business community in Nepal. I'd be, therefore, happy to know the real answer and happier still to share the information with folks in my part of the world.

Prerna Bomzan,

1000 Brussels, Belgium

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007