Perspective and commentary

The nomenclature ‘Bhoti’ is a Sanskrit term that is said to have been coined by a group of Tibetology scholars around five decades back with reference to the widely spread Himalayan cultural, liturgical and literary language. However, it actually denoted the script invented by Thonmi Sambhota—the able minister of King Songtsan Sgampo of Tibet—who adapted […]

I never really considered the question of our boys earlier as like everyone else, I was in the Beti padao  beti bachao mode! This changed when I was looking at the list of doctors selected for government jobs: There were more Ladakhi girls than boys on it. This got me thinking. Most offices in Leh […]

Tourism has emerged as the backbone of Ladakh’s economy over the last few decades. Hoteliers, guest-house owners, shopkeepers, antique-dealers, pony-men, guides, taxi drivers and a significant section of society depend on tourism for their livelihood. There has been a dramatic growth in tourism over the last decade and a half. This is reflected in the […]

There is growing concern in Ladakh about various issues especially in terms of mental health, unemployment, substance abuse and rapid social, political and economic changes. In this regard, sports and recreation are important activities that encourage healthy lifestyles for everyone, especially the youth.The lack of sports infrastructure in Ladakh has been a major impediment that […]

Ideally, democracy is a system in which all sections of society have a voice in governance. There will be differences of opinions and interests, which must be resolved through dialogues. This helps develop consensus on various issues while still allowing for differences of opinions as well as dissent. Media has an important role to play […]

Zangskar is a secluded valley in Ladakh that remains inaccessible for a major part of the year and its development lags behind the rest of the region. Road connectivity is an important ingredient to facilitate development in a region. In many ways, roads determine the future of an area. For instance, a mule tract converted […]

Philosopher Mark Fisher passed away on 13 January, 2017. He is the author of the book, Capitalist Realism: Is there no Alternative? Many of his ideas are very relevant to us today, especially at a time when mental health is emerging as a major concern. This is important for a close-knit society like Ladakh in […]

Ladakh is one the largest regions in India with a diverse collection of tribal communities, which has been experiencing political upheavals over the last two years. This has intensified since the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir state on 5 August, 2019. This change has put Ladakhis into a sudden quandary. There has been a diversity […]

The internet is a central part of our lives today, especially mobile internet whose influence in the lives of people is evident in every developed region of the planet. Internet and mobile data services have fuelled the rapid growth of information technology and play an important role in bridging the digital divide that exists in […]

Zangskar is a remote valley nestled in southern Ladakh. It covers an area of 7,000 sq. km with an average elevation of 7,135m above mean sea level. The valley of Zangskar is drained by two tributaries of the Zangskar river: the Stod (Doda) river and the Lungnak river (Kargyag and Tsarap rivers). Zangskar is a […]

One morning during breakfast, my family started talking about new policies of the government towards the idea of ‘progress’ to ensure road connectivity and freshwater pipelines to every house. These ideas are now regarded as basic necessities. I agree that these facilities make life comfortable, save time, and make life more ‘productive’.However, it also made […]

We only have to look a century in the past to realise the true beauty of Ladakh. Till as recently as 100 years back, Ladakh had snow-laden mountains, thick juniper forests, clean blue rivers flowing through pristine valleys and wild animals and humans thriving together. In this vast landscape, our wise ancestors chose specific spots […]

Its Saturday. Well, everyday seems the same nowadays. Just the date on the calendar keeps changing. But life is no longer the same. A pandemic has taken over the world. It is creating a new world order. The polarity of powers in the world is changing. Maybe, we asked for this change. But there is […]

Ladakh has been on the periphery of development for several decades now. I started thinking of how Ladakh would be, if it were at the core of development, say if it was a nation-state that determined its own development. This thought made me wonder about the first thoughts that come to our mind when we […]

The lockdown has given us a rare opportunity to step back and assess our priorities and impact on the environment. The positive impact of the lockdown is evident in the clean air and water being reported from around the world. I had returned to my village when the Prime Minister announced the first lockdown in […]

COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 is known to have emerged from Wuhan in Hubei province of China in December 2019. Since then, it has become a global health emergency that was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 11 March, 2020. This new strain of virus is creating havoc worldwide. It has affected […]

Roads are the lifeline of a region, especially places like Ladakh that are isolated due to their terrain. In this regard, Ladakh has suffered from neglect over several decades especially in terms of the highway that connects Ladakh with Kashmir and the rest of India. This road travels over Zoji-la and remains open only for […]

A high-pressure situation generally brings out the best and worst in people. The COVID-19 pandemic is no different. It has underlined various prejudices, ignorance and visceral divisiveness amongst people around the world. While more than a million people around the world cutting across race, religion, gender, and other superficial differences have been affected by COVID-19, […]

Right from the beginning of 2020, the people of Ladakh have been forced to come out on the roads to demand safeguards for their newly-born Union Territory (UT).More than eight months have passed since UT Ladakh was carved out of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and was granted UT status without a Legislative […]

The idea that the Earth belongs to each and everyone equally was earlier limited to textbooks and some books. Time has come when this idea takes centre stage and we remind ourselves that the planet truly belongs to everyone. Humans are social animals that have misused their intelligence to such an extent that nothing matters […]

On the night of 23 March, Prime Minister Modi abruptly announced the nationwide lockdown for 21 days. At the time, I was in a village about 50 km from Leh and was worried about returning home. I can’t even start to imagine the feeling of people I see on the news who are walking 700 […]

Nowadays the world is at battle to combat a virus called Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19. This is infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that belongs to a group called Coronaviridae. The disease was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China and has since […]