a reverie?
-Rinchen
To my Abile (granny) the 2 day long Chemrey Angchok Chham (religious masked monastic performance event) was more about tending to guests in her bustling house. She recounts how our ancestral house would be full of guests, mostly relatives from outside Chemrey (our village). Chhang (Ladakhi beer) and traditonal barley and meat assortments would flow in plenty and Abile would be busy organizing rooms and food with the aid of helpers.
Read more-Rinchen.
“So Abile (granny), do you know how to read both Bodhik and Urdu?”, I asked in awe.
Abile’s answer was in the affirmative. She was telling me about her Urdu teacher when I asked her whether he was a Muslim. She said yes and that Sir Rehman le also taught Bodhik brilliantly.
Read moreBy Sonam Chhomo
Shungma, Jispa, Lahaul valley
The experience of visiting places you always wanted to see for yourself is ethereal. The journey to this shungma felt almost as if I had been divinely allowed to enter its doorstep after many years of waiting for the perfect opportunity to unfold. As a child, I resisted visiting places at high altitudes because Lahaul was/is not a weather friendly place especially during the winter months. Even this time (it happened after a day), my ears remained blocked and my body felt uncomfortable for about two days.
But this year I felt as if I accomplished something.
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I read a beautiful article this morning in The Hindu’s Sunday Magazine. During the pandemic, I like many others, have found great solace not only in nature but also in learning about nature. The article’s author had written emphatically about planting the right kind of trees in the right region. The author also pointed out the harm of planting trees in areas that are not natural havens for trees: open natural ecosystems (ONEs); Ladakh being an ONE.
In recent years, Ladakh has witnessed various environmental measures, but do we understand whether they are ecologically sound? I for one, honestly don’t pretend to understand, but I do know that not everything that we think is good for nature is good for nature; that not so incidentally applies to our own well being as well.
Read moreBy Sonam Chhomo
Khangzar palace or locally known as the Khangzar Khar is the only palace which exists in the sTod valley (the upper valley of Lahaul valley). It was the home of the Jo/Thakurs/Wazir of Khangzar and the birthplace of Queen mother of Ladakh, Rani Parvati Devi Deskit Wangmo.
Yesterday the villagers of sTod valley (the upper valley of Lahaul valley) celebrated the Chodpa festival at the Khar where the villagers gathered and paid respect to the local Gods.
Read moreBy Rinchen Angmo, Nawang Chhoetso and Sonam Chhomo
Read more-Rinchen Angmo
While the pandemic has prevented the celebration of Dosmochey as usual, prayers were conducted at Gompa Soma. If I am not mistaken, within the Gompa Soma building even Chham (monastic dance) took place today. However, I didn’t want to spoil the sanctity of the inner prayer hall of the Chhokhang by taking a video. There were different kinds of visitors today. Youngsters stepping in for one kora, an elderly lady whose devotion was unhindered by her hunchback, beggars from Rajasthan in colourful dupattas and those rushing to provide tea to the monks. Sitting there, you could almost forget who the ‘I’ is anyway, which is kind of what Buddhism encourages.
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snow, morning. Today is Galdan Ngamchot. My upcoming exams seem more meaningless, futile than ever before. A flash of suffering and then the realization of the emptiness of everything. Emptiness, that’s the key. Buddhism tells one to understand emptiness, and hence gain meaning in life. Today, on the day of Galdan Ngamchot, this realization is somehow more sound. Maybe there is something about auspicious days, when the energy around conspires for the first time to liberate you and not vice versa. So what am I celebrating on Galdan Ngamchot I ask myself.
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This land so dear to me
The only aspect that inspires true meaning before the meaningless I
Rangyul Ladags
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There’s something very interesting about the Chhorten wing (side) of the Leh Palace. The balcony which provides a path for skora (cicumambulation) around the chhorten presents a world in itself. On one side stands the majestic Leh Palace, golden in the light of the setting sun. While Old Leh Town tumbles beneath in all its crooked beauty. And beyond that lies Leh city, an urban landscape. We often venture to remote parts of Ladakh to find beauty, but in our very own Leh are remnants untouched by urbanity.
By Sonam Chhomo
I am no geologist, not even a researcher on such scientific subjects, I can only present my views as a commentator as I watch the events slowly unfold.
In front of me rests a television news channel which shows the inauguration of Atal-Rohtang tunnel, the tunnel which can apparently bring prosperity to the Lahaulis. With limited options, my parents watch this news in Punjabi language due to the limited number of news channels operating for Himachal Pradesh on such a big day for us. The mobile phones prove beneficial as my relatives and my mom keep informing each other and delegate the local news and the news that their television sets provide.
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