Ladakh: A Land In The Clouds

Ladakh, which in the local language Ladakhi means 'the land of high passes', was a Himalayan kingdom. It was a part of Tibet till 1834 when it was annexed by the then Maharaja of Jammu. Now, part of Jammu and Kashmir it traverses the borders of China, Tibet, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is known for the highest motorable mountain passes in the world and its unique panoramas. But my 10 day sojourn in this magical land bears testimony to so much more.

Photo credit: https://www.thrillophilia.com

A foray into Ladakh begins with Leh, the capital of Ladakh which is now called the Leh District.The approach into Leh from the air is mind bogglingly spectacular. Yet it is only a snippet of the extraordinary panoramas that this part of earth will mesmerise you with. I flew in from Delhi. Of a flight of about an hour, the last twenty five minutes was an uninterrupted view of the mountains. Beginning with snow sprayed chunks of earth that looked like icing sugar sprinkled on chocolate triangles, the mountains transformed to dense snow capped peaks that from just above the clouds looked like ropes of snow left out to dry under an earthly sky. The eye length view from the aircraft was the most magical where the mountain peaks enticed with the look of upturned vanilla cones ready for the picking if only one could outstretch one's arm beyond the plane window.Of the hundreds of airports I've been to Leh airport is by far the most beautiful. You land into a little circle of land nestled by a top layer of silver mountains and lower layers of mountains with desert-scapes etched on them. No aerobridges, no designer shops, no duty-free items to lure you. Simply the serenade of unspoilt nature. The airport in itself was a metaphor of the pulse of Ladakh - a land without pretension; one that takes you to the roots of creation; and to the simplicity of your being and in the process introduces you to stops of beauty right along the way..Leh is at an altitude of 11,562 feet and Ladakh in general, according to studies has been established as the worst place on earth for altitude sickness. I was advised Diamox - an altitude sickness prevention medicine or a day of complete rest on arrival into Leh to allow my body to acclimatise to the reduced oxygen in the air. I chose the resting option which I followed to the t for the first 24 hours and I faced no altitude related symptoms during my trip. If one does become unwell oxygen cylinders are normally always to hand. While the symptoms, as I witnessed with co-travellers, can be severe, the key is to not panic as normally even the worst symptoms subside within the space of a few hours.The awe inspiring scenic beauty of Ladakh is overwhelming but I was also most struck by the socio-cultural aspects of the people - which just like the landscape are also most unique. Most travellers who visit Ladakh are unaware that it is one of the few remaining places on our planet where polyandry is still practiced. The locals were intrigued by my intrigue on how this practice was still intact. To them it is so normal that at best there were on occasions miffed or at worst even offended at my bewilderment of how the egos of two to five men can allow 'their sharing' of one woman. Historically incidences of polyandry have been reported from communities and tribes within India including Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh and globally from Sri Lanka, East Africa, Australia and Alaska among others. However, contemporary incidences are scarce and this was my very first encounter with the practice of polyandry. One morning over breakfast, a chat with the Restaurant Manager led to a discussion about his neighbour who is married to all the brothers of one family. Like other locals I spoke to did, he explained, "How can one man manage a woman? Women need alot of emotional care so it's good to have more than one man, so together they make sure she is emotionally well taken care of".'What about the children?'Each time I got the same answer from the locals, "they all grow up treating all their mother's husbands as their dads and all the husbands treat all their wife's children as theirs."Historically, polyandry within a family (that is, one woman marrying brothers and cousins) was practiced by the agriculturalists in Ladakh to prevent the subdivision of land within families especially as the soil is mostly arid and arable land scarce. Today a majority of men are enrolled in the Army and this scenario of Army men being away from home for long stretches of time has maintained the concept of polyandry as essential - so there is always a man at home to care for the woman and her children. My learnings were a powerful illustration of how our 'man-made' societies' rights and wrongs are by no means absolutes but rather simply posited on perspective and conditioning which we then impart a moral twist to, so that set practices are adhered to and offenders to this, punished.This truly is a land in the clouds, my experiences with the Ladakhis, and my learnings being with them, are of the clouds. I was perpetually struck by their goodness and simplicity - through all the sights of breathtaking and breath-giving beauty that I visited - Pangong Lake (better known as the 3 Diots Lake as it features in the film); Tso moriri Lake, the remotest village of Dahnu along the Pakistan border, all the stupas and gompas - often spending the night in basic camps in biting temperatures, it was the warmth, generosity and '?are in practice' of the Ladakhis that made this trip indelible.This article was originally published in Business World

By Dr. Priya Virmani