tibet

More than half the population of Ladakh is dependent on tourism—and therefore without income for months nows thanks to COVID-19 & geopolitics. But there is a way to a more stable future. Here are some ideas.

“We had climbed Everest. What did I feel? Nothing at all. There was no elation, no sense of overpowering; I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was to sleep but that did not seem possible…We had much to be thankful, for we were still alive and safe,” recalls Sonam Wangyal, the youngest member of the first successful Indian expedition to Mt Everest.

"When Danny Denzongpa was a star, nobody took my desire to become an actor as a joke. I never felt discriminated against, but at some level my features did stand in the way to getting roles. For example, no one would cast me as Hema Malini’s brother,” recalls Phonsok Ladakhi.

“When someone asks me how old I am, I confidently tell them 13 years. Because I wasted nearly 50 years of my life doing nothing,” says the first visually impaired person to complete the 19,000 Dolma Pass in Tibet.

Their next goal is centred on the European refugee crises, under which they will be heading to countries like Turkey and France.

He was so captivated by Tibet that he called his house Lhasa Villa, on the edge of Darjeeling town. It still stands today, although in a dilapidated condition.

The terrain is difficult, and there is also an increasing dearth of individuals who remember and can narrate these stories.

Monk Lobsang Jamyang reaches out to slums in Kangra Valley with health, education and slum welfare projects. His hostel at Sarah village is home to over 100 children from the slums.

He had been decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal and the little known but highly prized MacGregor Memorial Medal!

Here's the story of Dalai Lama's grueling two-week trek from Lhasa in Tibet to Tawang in India, by far the most dramatic visit by any foreign leader.