Marathon Drive: Jispa to Delhi, 750 km, 18 hours non-stop

I have done some long drives in the course of my travels, but I broke some personal records when I drove from Jispa to New Delhi for 18 hours covering 750 kilometers (470 miles) on my return journey from Ladakh. I took only two half hour stops for lunch and dinner, besides a couple of pitstops.

To put it in perspective, about 400 kms of this drive was in mountainous conditions; these included stretches you would not call roads by any standards. Add to it delays due to landslides and heavy trucks traffic, this was not a bad run at all. Why am I telling you this? I am telling everyone. Hey, come on, I can be forgiven a bit of immodesty. Read more

Girl in Zanskar wants to be a cop when she grows up

What would you think when a girl in the third grade says she wants to be a cop when she grows up? And this sounds interestingly ambitious when this girl lives in the small town of Padum in the  Zanskar valley in Ladakh, a full day’s drive away from the nearest urban settlement of Kargil. That’s Zarina for you (with the yellow headscarf in the picture).

I got chatting with her while walking around Padum on a July 2008 evening. She was coming back from the mosque (she is Muslim) after offering evening prayers, and going back home with a group of three other girls, all of the same age group. Actually she started the conversation with a “Hello” and a big smile. Both her smile and ability to address a stranger like this were charming in themselves. My reply of a “Hello” was followed with a “How are you” from her. After saying “I am fine,” I decided to pursue the conversation in English and asked the name of her school. And suddenly she was embarrassed and could not reply; maybe her vocabulary did not cover my words, or my accent was the problem, or she just decided to feel shy suddenly. Read more

When the lamas dance behind the scenes

Many Buddhist monasteries in the Ladakh and Tibetan regions have a tradition of annual festivals, going back hundreds of years. They are usually dance spectacles with colourful costumes and masks adorned by the lamas (monks) for the occasion. Solemn ceremonies in their own way, it borders on the amusing when you see them practicing leading up to the big day. Like I was witness to at the Phiyang Monastery near Leh in July 2008 a few days before their festival.

For one, it was an opportunity to see the lamas let their guard down away from public eye and behave just like lesser mortals; they were practising in an area usually not open to outsiders. Before I witnessed these sessions, the image of a lama came across as someone who smiled but did not laugh, one who spoke but did not talk too much and one who always seemed a bit serious about everything. Read more

The lama’s whip comes with a blessing

Spare the rod and spoil and child. Heard this? Likewise, the lamas (Buddhist monks) seem to believe in the power of the whip to maintain discipline at the monasteries. But it does not come with just the fear factor: it is a way to get a blessing too.

At the annual festival of the Hemis Monastery located near Leh in Ladakh, going back hundreds of years, I was intrigued to see a lama walking around with a whip. And using it on people who were not staying put in their designated spots and disturbing the proceedings. The whip seemed to be just what the doctor would have ordered at the event: it was overflowing with people, more than could be accommodated, and there seemed to be chaos all over. The rain was not helping anyone’s cause either. Read more

Review: A refreshing coffee experience at Desert Rain in Leh

How many coffee bars do you know of where you are invited to sit around, read books kept on the shelves, even sleep off if you want to and not be obliged to even order anything? Can’t think of any, other than Desert Rain in Leh town serving the best coffee in the whole of the Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas. If you love your coffee, continue reading…

How the Army promotes rural entrepreneurship in Ladakh

If you thought the Army’s job was only to defend the country’s borders, think again. They have also been entrusted with the responsibility of boosting local economies in rural areas along the international borders, especially conflict zones.

On a visit to Siachen Glacier, a strategically important base for the Indian Army on the border with Pakistan, in the Nubra Valley, the Commanding Officer (CO) who was showing me around told me ways in which the Army was promoting entrepreneurship in the area. Even though many parts of the region look green, agriculture was just enough to feed the locals but is not a commercially sustainable activity. They even have apple trees bearing fruit, but they lose out to farmers who do not have to transport their produce over such long distances to the paying markets.

The Army lends a hand by buying local produce instead of relying on supplies coming from far. For their transport needs, for which their own vehicles are never sufficient, they hire vehicles from locals. Assured of business from the Army, villagers feel confident about breaking even on their investments within a reasonable amount of time.

Clearly, tourism is the surest way for locals to have a regular source of income. Running their cars as taxis is quite lucrative, and a safe investment knowing the Army will send assured business their ways. The SUVs can earn them Rs. 2,000 (US$ 45) a day – a handsome sum in these parts even if they get business only 4-5 months a year. The locals are also being trained to start home stays for tourists, and this includes helping them build amenities like modern toilets, teaching them housekeeping skills and telling them how to prepare and serve decent meals. While there were no signs yet of quality home stays, it may just be a matter of time before the offerings move up the value curve. The backpackers are happy though, with access to cheap but basic home stays.

Not all efforts pay off though according to the CO. For example, he showed me a greenhouse near the hotel I was staying at: the Army had built it for growing plants under controlled conditions, but no one seemed interested in using it.

For the Army, such development and relationship building also means they can count on the support of the locals especially when India and its neighbours engage in battle – and these can be triggered off at the slightest provocation lasting from a few minutes to many months. To use a political cliché, winning the hearts and minds of the local population may be as important to winning wars and training and equipment.