For my outdoor expedition, I visited Ladakh for 21 days during summer break. With breathtaking views, friendly people, unique culture and delicious food, Ladakh definitely became one of my favorite places in the world – I would love to visit again. Through interactions with the local Ladakhi people and simply being in the town of Leh, the diminishing of traditional cultures and communities were easily noticeable. What could be the consequences of modernization? What can we do to conserve the magnificent cultural heritage of Ladakh? I investigated this topic throughout my trip, and would like to share my conclusion here.

 

Ladakh is located at the geopolitical region of northern India, near the Himalayas. It is a part of the Jammu and Kashmir state, however, has close cultural and historical relations with Tibet. Indeed the main religion is Buddhism, and the Ladakhi people are mainly Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descents. Ladakhi is their main language, with numerous dialects from different villages. Most importantly, much of the land of Ladakh is more than 3,000m above sea level!

 

Ladakh opened to tourists in 1974. Before that, Ladakh was hardly known by the outside world – It was as if a ‘closed off’ region. Indeed I heard that people used to wear traditional dresses in Leh, the capital city! Now, T-shirts and pants are the norms.

“Ladakh has changed. It was a quick, big change.”

Anchuk, the Ladakhi horseman who assisted us throughout our trekking journey, told me. People used to be depended on agriculture, and the concept of money did not exist. As hotels rapidly opened and tourism was introduced, the bartering culture easily transformed into a society dependent on the economy. Anchuk argues that this has caused an increasing divide in “richness” between people, as dependency on the farm is seen as “poor” – the strong ties between families have weakened.

 

Most importantly, the villages of Ladakh are diminishing. People are moving from their villages to Leh, then from Leh to the outside world. Many villages have disappeared, and even those that remained are at the verge of death with the elder generation taking up most of its population. Anchuk alarms, “In 30 years the villages will finish.”

 

Why are the villages disappearing? As tourism prospered and Ladakh had made their way towards modernization, the younger generation moved to the cities to find better jobs that are not “poor”. Then, parents are sending their children out for better education so that they will be able to find finer jobs in the future. “90% of the young are gone… like me,” Anchuk bitterly said. In fact, when I asked a Grade 9 class in Lamdon school whether they would like to leave or stay in Ladakh when they grow up, about two-thirds of the students raised their hand for “leave”.

 

Now, the young generation does not know how to farm. They cannot speak dialects, as Anchuk showed deep concern that “50 years later, local languages may be gone.” Finally, he stressed that the young are not familiar with songs and traditional ceremonies. Marriage ceremonies used to be 6 to 7 days long, but now they are “1-night parties”. “What if parents die? They [the children] won’t know what to do.”

 

As such, Ladakhi traditions are losing its strong influence, and are certainly disappearing along with the villages. “The young are too careless of the tradition and society; they are now more influenced by the outside.” It is important to conserve the traditions, but this is a very difficult task once modernization has kicked off.  

 

On the other hand, tourism and modernization have brought benefits as well. Historical sites such as the monasteries were recognized its value. Similarly, “Western knowledge” introduced by the tourists prompted a focus on sustainability and the conservation of the environment. “Before, people did not care [about the environment],” mentioned Anchuk. The outside world acknowledged Ladakh’s environment as valuable, which made the local community care more about its conservation. Efforts for sustainability were certainly noticeable throughout the trip. For instance, in the homestays we stayed, a poster stuck in front of the toilet explained how all those waste matters will be reused as fertilizers.

 

These homestays are one of the actions made to conserve traditional Ladakhi cultures and communities. However, Anchuk expressed a bitter view, that they are not “true” traditions. The houses are now built in concrete, and “untraditional” food is served to fit the tourist’s needs. Indeed pancakes were served for breakfast at my homestay. The villages may remain, but the actual tradition is not conserved.

 

So what would be effective solutions? Firstly, I strongly believe that focus must be made on education. Just like Lamdon School states in their aims – “facilitate with modern scientific education along with the preservation and enrichment of unique cultural wealth of Ladakh” (Lamdon School website) -, schools curriculums must include learning and understanding of their own Ladakhi cultures and traditions. Many schools in Japan, each grade would perform traditional Japanese dances on sports days, which are practiced over a course of several months. The Japanese curriculum also includes units such as traditional cooking and ‘games of the olden days’. These could be implemented in Ladakh as well. This I feel would be very effective to raise awareness and pride for their own culture, stimulating attention and concern towards this issue that something must be done to conserve that. Nonetheless, the quality of education itself must also be improved. This could stop the wave of students leaving Ladakh, because there will be no need to leave if quality education is accessible within Ladakh.

 

Moreover, regulations could be made on tourism. For example, Bhutan sets a minimum spend of US$200 for its visitors in order to stop the overflow of tourists. By controlling tourism and maintaining a manageable level of tourists, the abrupt modernization may be able to slow down and become more gradual. This would allow Ladakh to focus more on preserving its traditional cultures and communities, which were overlooked due to its hurried, meteoric transformation.

 

However modernization is inevitable; once started, it cannot stop. Therefore, to cope with changes, I believe it is important to make efforts on mixing those Ladakhi traditions with the Western and modern world. At the end of our expedition, we had the opportunity to watch performances of traditional Ladakhi dances. One of the dances was a “modernized version” of a traditional dance. As in this example, it is definitely crucial to find ways to adopt those traditions to the modern world in order to pass them to on. I believe it is almost impossible to maintain traditions perfectly like they were in the past, as the world and humans ourselves are changing day by day. Perhaps the most effective way of conservation is finding a way to shape those traditions in some form which are acceptable for our future generations.

 

Traditions are evidence that our ancestors have lived. We must make efforts to conserve them as they are their creations, which they would want to be passed down. Being in Ladakh, I personally felt the need to conserve its rapidly diminishing cultures and communities. Ladakh truly has a beautiful, unique tradition. Just like art, there is no need for a reason to conserve something that is beautiful and unique! Though it may be difficult with unstoppable modernization, we must find a way to cherish pass down those traditions.

 

Thank you Anchuk and Lamdon School to helping carry out my investigation!

 

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