#1790 - Nims Purja

Joe Rogan (0:04)

The Joe Rogan Experience. Well, hey, man, it's a pleasure to meet you.

Nims Purja (0:14)

Hey, good to meet you. Are we starting?

Joe Rogan (0:16)

Yeah, we're rolling, man.

Nims Purja (0:18)

I like it. No messing around, no messing around.

Joe Rogan (0:21)

I found out about your documentary from my friend Cam Haynes. He's the one who told me about it. He texted me and he said, it's fucking incredible, and Cam is, he does a lot of ultra marathons and he does like those 240 mile runs, those kind of things. So he's one of those guys that like, he appreciates someone doing something completely insane.

And so he turned me on to it. He had glowing recommendations, so I had to check it out.

It's incredible what you did. The documentary's insane.

Nims Purja (0:50)

Well, I must say, thanks, Cam, first thing first. And here we are, and did you enjoy the film?

Joe Rogan (0:57)

I did. I enjoyed it very much.

It's incredibly impressive. And you just came here from England, right? Is that what you're telling me? So you were explaining to me why you're in England.

Nims Purja (1:10)

Yeah, so there is a big thing called the Caracas.

Going back into 206 years ago, the British, when they were trying to run over the world, take over the world, the British Empire was in India. And when they were in India, they were trying to take over Nepal as well, because it's a neighboring country.

But they didn't have a luck, they didn't have a chance. So at that point, what the British government said was, hey, we'll not attack Nepal anymore, but you know what, is there any chance we can have in all these brave guys fighting for us? And at that point, the Prime Minister, the government of Nepal were really sick of this heavy force coming with the artilleries, the big guns and attacking. So they were like, you know what? Yeah, we happy.

Joe Rogan (2:06)

So they made some sort of a truce.

Nims Purja (2:08)

Yeah.

Joe Rogan (2:08)

And then Nepal joined in with England.

Nims Purja (2:11)

Yes, yes. So now it's 206 years and it's a big thing for us. So I grew up dreaming to be a gherka. So that was my childhood dream.

And just to give you an example, Joe, when I joined for the gherka, when I went for the selection, there were like 32,000 people applying for it.

And only 230 can make it. So you can do the ratio how tough it is. And, but yeah, you know what? A lot of people say like, Nims, you know, you are here and you are successful and all that. But, you know, my success is not a coincidence. Going back where I was, and specifically, you know, coming from really humbling background, we forget everything. We didn't even have like flip flops, you know, forget the food we didn't even have like to eat meat. We had to wait for like a big festival like Christmas. So coming from that super poverty to where I am, you know, sometimes people say, oh, yeah, Nims is this and that, you know, it took me 38 years to be to be where I am.

Joe Rogan (3:19)

The people in America that aren't aware of the real poverty in the world and, you know, the what people like to call the 1%. People always like to use that term. But in America, the 1%, we think of like very, very wealthy people.

If you look at the 1% of the world, if you make $34,000, you're in the top 1% of the world, which is incredible. I mean, it's a very small amount of money. It's almost like, what is 1% in America? What is $34,000 in America, technically? Is it lower middle class? Is it lower class? I mean, you're struggling.

You're struggling in America if you make $34,000 a year.

Nims Purja (4:01)

Wow, but that is quite a lot of money for the rest of the world. For the rest of the world and like Nepal, specifically.

Yeah, so I was going back to the story, Joe, if may I finish it? So, you know, what I believe in is making things happen. There's no excuses, right? So, my two brothers were in the gayakas, and once they joined the gayakas, they were like, you know what? I want my sister and my brother to go to the boarding school. So they sent us to boarding school, and my brothers are like my father, like my elder brother is 18 and a half year older than me. So, wow, so in this school, we are not allowed to leave the compound, but I really wanted to be like in the gayakas. So when I was like 15, 16 year old, I used to wake up at one o'clock at night, and I used to go like without permission. I used to run 30 kilometers in the morning before like anybody finds out, and I come and pretend like I'm waking from my bed, and I still walk with toothbrush and toothpaste, pretending I have never left the compound.