The old Ladakhi men are sitting in a line on one side of the community hall arranged by descending age, with the eldest in the corner. The women bring around five gallon buckets of chang, the local beverage, bantering amiably as they fill the mugs of the men. The villagers… Continue reading…
Last month, Paras Loomba led a team of volunteers into Shingo, a remote Ladakhi village, to install a new, solar powered, electrical system for the villagers. The village, located within the well-known Hemis National Park, has never had electricity before. The national park, home to the densest concentration of snow… Continue reading…
Thinlas Chorol, a Ladakhi woman, has challenged a profession that previously had been a male preserve by founding a trekking company staffed entirely by women from rural Ladakh. In the process, Ms. Chorol’s determination in establishing her new business exemplifies the traditional equality and strength of Ladakhi women. The writer… Continue reading…
Thinlas Chorol, a Ladakhi woman, has challenged a profession that previously had been a male preserve by founding a trekking company staffed entirely by women from rural Ladakh. In the process, Ms. Chorol’s determination in establishing her new business exemplifies the traditional equality and strength of Ladakhi women. The writer… Continue reading…
Every spring and summer, Queen Elizabeth I of England repeatedly ventured out on a “progress,” a series of visits to communities in her realm so she could interact with her subjects. Over the course of her reign, from 1558 to 1603, she visited over 400 hosts, both communities and individual… Continue reading…
A reporter for the Hindustan Times recently decided to visit the village of Turtuk, a Balti community in the Shyok Valley of Ladakh near the border with Pakistan. While his report is basically a travel piece, it presents some interesting information about this seldom visited region. Furquan Ameen Siddiqui, the… Continue reading…
A reporter for the Hindustan Times recently decided to visit the village of Turtuk, a Balti community in the Shyok Valley of Ladakh near the border with Pakistan. While his report is basically a travel piece, it presents some interesting information about this seldom visited region. Furquan Ameen Siddiqui, the… Continue reading…
Tensions in Ladakh over the fact that Muslims are producing more babies than Buddhists bubbled to the surface once again last week. The Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) sent a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, plus other officials protesting what it calls a “love jihad” by Muslims…. Continue reading…
Five years ago, news stories cited Chewang Norphel for figuring out a smart way to preserve water for Ladakhi farmers, despite increasingly arid climate conditions in their region. The approach developed by the then 74-year old former civil engineer—building artificial glaciers in the high country in order to preserve water… Continue reading…
Although Babar Afzal comes from the city of Jammu, he is devoting a lot of energy to saving and revitalizing pashmina goat wool production in Ladakh. He founded the Pashmina Goat Project in 2012 to address the concerns and promote the interests of the goat herders in the Changtang region… Continue reading…
