The real heroes of Ladakh

Miles away from any civilization, there are thousands of villages and hamlets in the Himalayas, which do not have any access to energy. In fact most of them cannot be located on Google map. And since the world is grappling with global warming, it is high time world moves to sustainable options for energy and protect these communities. And this is what a bunch of “heroes” decided to do: provide solar power to these unknown civilizations hidden in the mountains.

In March 2018, when I came across the applications from Global Himalayan Expedition, a well known annual expedition to remote villages of Ladakh to electrify them through solar micro-grid, I saw an opportunity of bringing my dream to realization. My dream of bringing a change in Himalayas, working with sustainable energy but also to be a ‘Hero’. I badly wanted to be part of this and was selected eventually for their September expedition to village Ralakung. And there I was all set to be a ‘Hero’ of my friends, my family and for the villagers of Ralakung, which was soon going to be electrified. But it came with it’s own challenges, physical as well as mental. 

Our team lived life of these villagers (which they have been living for centuries) for a week. It involved building capacities to trek for days at insane height of 4500 m, sleeping in sub-zero temperatures and walking past snow storms and what not. All this for witnessing a lifestyle being lived in the purest form and to address this grave problem of energy inequality. 

Now that I am back from this extraordinary expedition where I met some amazing souls, I don’t feel like a contributor but a taker. And it is because of these heroes that I am back with learnings and memories of a lifetime.

Villagers who walked days together on a frozen river to get their village electrified:

The future depends on those few good men/women who take step forward to make the changes, despite knowing they may not be able to reap the benefits of it. In January 2018, couple of villagers from the village of Ralakung started their journey in harshest climate possible with a hope to meet GHE team which according to these villagers may pass through the frozen river of Zanskar to electrify another village. Such was the zeal and desire that they waited for a couple of days on the frozen river until they finally met GHE team, greeted them with their traditional silk scarf (‘Khatak’) and requested them to electrify their village as well. And that was the inception of this expedition. In the current state of affairs where majority of the population has a sense of complacency and no sense of empathy towards its future generations, this  was a fine display of resilience and standing up for one’s community.

Team of Dorje: 

Global Himalayan Expedition believes in creating entrepreneurs out of local people of Ladakh who show extra-ordinary talent and desire to be part of its mission of providing sustainable energy to remote villages. Dorje is one such entrepreneur who has been with GHE since it’s inception. Conducting Expeditions to remotest of the villages come with a lot of challenges. Ensuring a comfortable stay for travellers, feeding the team at right times irrespective of the terrain, transportation of all the equipment and raw materials, ensuring well-being of the team at unimaginable heights and conditions. And this is where Dorje’s team role comes in. His team has one of the best guides, cooks, paramedics and mountaineers to ensure that the travelers have a once in a lifetime experience. When you are served delicious cakes and pizzas at a height of 4700m and when you see your guide manoeuvring his horse with a rider on steep slopes of almost 60 degrees with snow, you know you are in safe and experienced hands.
And all this expertise is being used for something this team believes in: green energy for their Ladakhi brothers and sisters living in the remote villages.

Quoting a few inspirational people I met in this journey.

Principal of Phey village school (Tundup): 

So, this is how typically it happens. You study in your town, move to bigger city for higher study and eventually settle in a big city which fulfils your dream of good money and comfortable life. The chances of this happening becomes much more if your town didn’t had any opportunity of livelihood. But for Tundup, not having an opportunity on platter meant a possibility of creating opportunities not just for himself but for others as well. After completion of his higher studies from Jammu University, Tundup decided that he will come back to his village, Phey and set up a school for the children there. He visited every home in villages nearby, convincing parents to send their children for schooling. All his effort paid back. Now,at the age of 26 years, Tundup is Principal of his school and recently with help from GHE has set up an e-learning centre which is solar powered and where students have access to varied knowledge base from all around the world using low power Raspberry pi computers. Giving them opportunity to learn holistically will go a long way in ensuring better and sustainable livelihood in Phey and nearby villages. 

Mohd Iqbal: 

With a dream of ‘Zero Waste Ladakh’, Mohd Iqbal runs a NGO called PAGIR. PAGIR works towards solving the problem of waste. A team of specially-abled is employed to up-cycle and recycle different kinds of waste. Currently, they recycle paper, up-cycle textile waste to beautiful and innovative products. One of the other foremost goals of this NGO is inclusion of specially-abled people into mainstream society and getting them employed according to their talent and abilities. If one is looking for authentic and different experiences in Ladakh, visit to this NGO should be part of one’s itinerary. And yes, did I mention that Mr Iqbal has got dysfunctional limbs but that is hardly a disability for him.

Paras, Jaideep  and Gagan: 

The secret of successful metamorphosis of great ideas into on-ground reality lies with the first mover, the leader who despite not having any reference and benchmarks to follow or look up to, still moves ahead and goes through the churn and struggle. I can say this because I saw trio of Paras, Jaideep and Gagan magically creating experiences and impact with such passion and discipline which transcends all the humane differences. And the quintessential quality of leader is to create more leaders. And this what is unique about GHE team that it only consists of leaders. Guys who lead by example in every aspect of expedition. 

Now that I am back, I get praise for my contribution from one and all. But deep down I just wonder if I could show them who the real heroes are. I still can’t define how heroes look like but I can say about what they do: They live a life dedicated to solving problems faced by others.