Dear, ..........,
Namaskar. I shall describe my stay, work and my observations during my stay in Leh. We arrived at Leh at dusk time by being passengers in a private truck laden with goods. After a good night's sleep, we got up in the morning. We were greeted by the caretaker. The Ladakhi Programme producer joined us at breakfast time. I tested my equipment. After this, I went to the local dispensary for dressing on my wound. The bandage was removed. The wound was completely dry. Some light cream was applied and a band aid type Johnson tape fixed in place of the bandage. On return I set up equipment for one recording session that was scheduled for the afternoon. A couple of singing troupes came. They set up a place in the Dak Bungalow lawns for the recording. One hour of recording was done with breaks. We broke off in the evening. We went out into the market to have a feel of the place. I noticed a lady selling apples. The apples were a smaller size than what I was used to in Srinagar. I bought about a dozen. They were locally produced and tasted very sweet. They were damn cheap. I also saw fresh apricots being sold.
Next day we we were joined by a two member team of CLS officers who had arrived from Srinagar via Kargil the previous evening. They had travelled by office jeep. They carried batteries for distribution to Halka Radio locations in and around Leh. They had already distributed the batteries in the Kargil region. I was informed by a local that the Halka Radios would not utilize the batteries. Instead the caretakers would sell them illegally at a premium to the locals. I did not hear even one Halka Radio in the entire Leh area during my stay there.
That day, one more group was scheduled to come for recording. The Ladakhi Programme Producer whom we called Sonam Yakub did not arrive. A Ladakhi person in Buddhist robes came and enquired about Sonam Jaccob. We told him that we knew Sonam Yakub. He corrected us saying that the Producer's name was Sonam Jaccob and he was a christian. He further said that he was maternal uncle of Mr. Sonam. We were intrigued. We had thought that Mr. Sonam was a Muslim. And we did not understand how his maternal uncle could be a Buddhist. We asked this person to explain. He replied that he was himself a Buddhist and his sister was also a Buddhist before marriage. Then she married a Christian and therefore became a Christian. Her son was a Christian too and had been named Sonam Jaccob since birth. (Mr. Sonam probably seeing preferential treat for muslims in the Srinagar valley, told everyone that he was Sonam Yakub.) He further clarified that there was no bar to inter religion marriages in Leh/Ladakh. Incidentally around the year 1900, almost all Ladakh region was predominantly peopled by persons of Buddhist faith. Then slowly Muslims came and married Buddhist ladies converting them to Islam. Later this became a flood. Christian missionaries also converted the locals into their faith. There would be minimal marriages of locals of Buddhist faith men to women of other faiths. So around the year 1960's when I visited Leh, the Buddhist population ratio had gone down to about 55%.
In 1965, during Kashmiri Pandit agitation in Kashmir, the administration had identified some teachers to be punished. These teachers were persons with deep faith in the Hindu religion and would be vocal in defending it. These teachers were posted to Leh on punishment. When they reached Leh and surrounding areas, the conversion and resultant reduction in Buddhist population alarmed them. They started educating the locals stressing the necessity of maintaining their majority in the region in their own interest. And that helped to almost stop the conversions. As on today, the Buddhists are in a majority in the region. One of these teachers invited two of us to dinner in his home one day. He was living alone. I remember he prepared kichidi with meat and abundance of ghee. When he opened the lid of the pressure cooker, I could see half an inch of ghee layer on the kichidi. It tasted wonderful.
Next day, we visited a local monastery. The CLS group also accompanied us and all of us accommodated ourselves in their jeep. We recorded the playing of temple instruments. We found a large number of young students - more than fifty, all in Buddhist robes living in the monastery. They were learning the mantras, scriptures and also paintings. We found excellent old and new paintings on the ceilings and walls of the monastery depicting the life cycle of Buddha. (Advice to the reader - Do plan a visit to Leh and visit a monastery. Spend at least a week there in the region. Nowadays it is easier to travel there and there are good and reasonably priced hotels around there. Also transport is easily available. I went to Leh again in 1986 and 1998. I found improvements .)
More recordings on the following day. Singing groups approached us and we recorded them. The locals came and made suggestions on what and whom to record. Most named a beggar woman who they said was the best folk singer in Ladakh. (I am sorry I do not remember her name.) Mr. Sonam Jaccob through some contacts was able to locate her. She was brought to the Dak Bungalow. Her young daughter (aged around 5 years) accompanied her. We were told that she was an unwed mother and was homeless. Some money was collected and given to her. The child appeared hungry and famished. I gave her an apple. While her mother was singing for the recording, the child was munching at the apple. She had a percussion type of local instrument with her which she used to play while singing. We recorded five or six songs. She appeared to have a very melodious voice.
We did about fifteen hours of recording. Most of these recordings would then be broadcast from AIR Srinagar, Ladakhi Programme very frequently. The CLS team offered to carry us in their jeep for the return journey. Before leaving we purchased fresh apricot and ate it while there. I also purchased dried apricot to take it home. I carried a bagful of about two dozen stone tablets with the prayer " OM MANI PADME HUM" chiseled on the stones with me in the jeep. We reached Kargil. One of my childhood school friends, a teacher was at that time posted in Kargil. I stayed with him for the night. He made fun of me for carrying the stone tablets. He did not allow me to carry all of them. I had to reluctantly discard most of them. I carried only about a dozen to Srinagar. We reached Srinagar safe and sound. The trip to Ladakh was successfully completed.
BYE.
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