Pleasant Differences Between the Two

Visiting other places provides a much needed break from the day to day rush. But there are certain trips which, along with peace of mind, also shower immense knowledge. My trip to Kashmir and Ladakh belong to that category. It threw light on various aspects such as Article 370, the cultural differences between Kashmir and Ladakh and most importantly on their way of life. I tried my best to shake my brain to pen down my understanding in this format. 

Division of J&K and Ladakh

Many in the country, including me, couldn’t relate to the proceedings and the reasoning during the uplift of Article 370 and separation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Whatever I observed during my trip made me believe that the later move was justified. Given the short duration, my mind lens could grab only the high level picture that covered very limited ground realities. The points mentioned in this article might not be true due to my little exposure to the reality.

States reorganization act introduced in 1956 was centered around division of states on the basis of language. This itself can be the reason to separate Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, these two parts speak different languages Kashmiri and Ladakhi. Every state in India reflects the diversity to justify the name sub-continent. Diversity should not be a criteria to split a state but from what I observed Ladakh is predominantly a buddhist territory. But Jammu and Kashmir is not so. The border sharing with Pakistan is relatively much higher for Jammu and Kashmir when compared to Ladakh. This elucidates the reason for significant presence of army personnel till Kargil and very minimal after that,  as I mentioned in my previous post about Srinagar and Kargil.

People and Culture

Tremendous differences have been exhibited by the hotel staff in Ladakh in receiving guests when compared to those at Sonamarg. It was very pleasant to watch such a display of respect which made us feel as their guests at home. No cribbing for any request, all we could notice were, ever smiling faces. At Stonehedge Nubra, we were supposed to leave at 6.30 AM the next day but the breakfast will be served at 7.30 AM. When asked the previous night, they mentioned that they could arrange only a couple of things like sandwich and bread. But when we walked into the restaurant at 6.30 AM, there was a complete spread of items which they offer usually for any guest. The staff, who slept at around 12 the previous night, woke up at 4.30 AM to prepare food for us. We were very moved by that gesture.

I cannot miss two incidents while talking about the culture in Ladakh. Incident one, the guy from the agency in Leh, where we hired the bikes, used to leave the bikes at our hotel the previous night itself. On the first day, we were surprised to see the keys left with bikes. We were worried thinking that we would be held responsible if the bikes were stolen. When I checked with him about the same, he said “no problem sir, I will take responsibility if the bike is stolen. There is no theft in Ladakh”.

Incident two, while we were going to Nubra Valley in the car, our driver, Abbas, didn’t notice when one of the car’s tyre caps fell off. He found out about that only after an hour. I asked him if he is going to buy a new cap, he said “no sir, any one coming in the route will get that for me to Nubra. If not, they will keep it there only, no one will touch it until I collect it”.

During that drive to Nubra, I got a chance to observe Abbas’ driving skills from the navigation seat and to have a long conversation. Abbas is a highly skilled driver, he drove the car with ease even at sharp narrow turns. Before becoming a driver, he did various jobs like carrying food to the soldiers at Siachen Glacier and serving food at an Indian air force base camp. I asked him if he is not worried about finding work the next day. He said, no sir, I will find something or the other and I will get to eat. The confidence seemed so amazing, we all are busy filling our lives with dissatisfaction driven by unlimited and unreasonable desires. But one part of the country is leading a content life accepting what has been offered to them. He also mentioned that his grandfather lived for 115 years and today’s generation lives up to 85 years easily. I wondered and asked for the secret, he said, you people work hard to digest what you eat and we work hard to produce what we eat. 

It is becoming increasingly tough to calm down my mind and heart racing towards planning another trip to Ladakh to experience the joy of interacting with such people and to feel the boundless beauty the scenic mountains offer.