You would have heard about or seen Leh in Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir. I had the privilege of living there for two years - courtesy Indian Air Force. I was posted there during 1995-1997. The stay was simply superb that I have the ambiguity as to which incidents I should narrate here and which I should avoid. The entire period was joyous, experience and I was touching the sky with glory! I wanted to pour my heart out here, but beware... this post could go on and on to fill an entire one quire book so I have decided to discuss only a few interesting matter. View more photos.- The two most glorious periods during the two-year tenure was my deputation to Siachen Glacier and the four months with Rekha (we were newly weds then). Sample my stay...
- My house was just 400 metres from the famous Indus River (We know it as 'Sindhu nadhi'). Do you remember the song 'Sindhu nadhiyin misai nilavinilae'? We had most of our picnics on the banks of Indus. The Indus has many tributaries, Shyok, Zanskar to name a few.
- My house was on the foothills of the famous Spituk Gompha.
- The house we stayed had a single room that quadrapuled as hall, bedroom, kitchen and a partition that served as a bathroom. The loo was outside.
- During winters, the water would be frozen and hence the toilet flush would not function. So we had to use the composting toilet where you have to excrete waste in a holet and when finished shovel the thing with ash. The toilet varies in appearance, size and clealiness depending on one's economic condition. You could even see super deluxe toilets! Open roof and minus degrees add to the agony.
- I could clearly see the aircraft taking a tight left turn and flying in to land. Leh
airport is really a difficult airport for aircraft to land and take-off. Both landing and taking-off takes place through the narrow gap between two hillocks near Spituk monastery.
- I had experienced -32 degrees celcius in Siachen Glacier and -26 degrees celcius in Leh?
- Have you heard of and know the know the operating mechanism of 'Bukhari', our room heater using Kerosene as fuel? The bukhari uses Keroseneto warm the surroundings. It is a two foot high metal cylinder about a foot and a half in diameter and has two holes on top. Kerosene is fed from the tank outside the building through a tube, while the other hole is used to warm hands, or can be shut to regulate the heating provided by the bukhari.
- The film Dil Se/Uyire was shot in Leh during my stay. For this, the city had taken a new look. All roads were swept clean and the pillars and roundabouts painted gold and bright colors.
- I had seen and worked at the the world's highest Air Traffic Control (14000 ft approx).
- I received the Siachen Service Medal for serving in the Siachen Glacier.
- I served in the world's higgest battlefield 'Siachen Glacier'.
- The confluence of River Nubra and River Shyok from the air is a marvellous sight.
- The conflence of two major rivers of Ladakh (turquoise Indus with muddy brown Zanskar) on the way to Kargil from Leh is simply superb.
- Shey Gompa of Ladakh is situated on a hillock, at a distance of approximately 15 km to the south of Leh town. The two-storeyed monastery was founded on the instructions of King Deldon Namgyal in the memory of his father. The highlight of the monastery is a two-story high
image of the seated Buddha Shalyamuni. This resplendent image is worked out of copper sheets, gilded with gold, and is the biggest metal statue in Ladakh. Said to be the second largest Buddha statue in Ladakh, it is said to contain sacrificial offerings such as grain, jewels, holy signs and mantras inside it. The upper story of the Shey Gompa is adorned with a series of beautiful wall paintings.
- The place is full of Chortens. Chortens are Tibetan Buddhist reliquaries, memorials to the teachings of the Buddha. Sometimes actual relics of the Buddha or revered monks are inserted into the dome of the stupa, but whether or not there are relics inside, the stupas mark the landscape with reminders of the Buddha's teachings.
- Thiksey Gompa of Ladakh is situated at a distance of approximately 8 km from Leh.
- We used to use raw eggs (frozen totally) as throw ball while playing and can cut the raw egg without spilling.
- Pressure cooking takes long time. The water boils at 80 degrees if I'm not mistaken.
- The fish I caught in Indus river for some reason had no fishy smell.
- I lost a cricket ball in Indus river while playing and sailed paper boats.
- We had gone to picnic to a nerby village and I climbed a small hill 1000 ft high and lost my bracelet presented by my Rekha at the peak while practicing a golf shot with a stick and a stone.
- During winter, when everywhere it's ice and snow, there would be a scarce for vegetables... I had eaten carrot and raddish leaves taking them for spinach which otherwise would be discarded in the plain areas where vegetables are aplenty.
- Fresh milk is a scarce here. Do you have the stomach to digest Yak's milk that smells of
everything but milk? Well, I couldn't! Had hot beverages using powdered milk.The same goes for curd...prepared with milk powder.
- Many suffered from Gastritis, a pain in the center of the chest due to Inflammation of the lining of the stomach and duodenal ulcer.
- I used to keep my feet and stomach warm by placing very hot water in bottles inside the blankets. We're talking about temperatures 25 degrees below zero.
- There's a beautiful Gurudwara 'Gurdwara Patthar Sahib' 15 kilometres from Leh on the Kargil highway that serves food any time of the day and the place is beautiful.
- There's the magnetic hill that defies gravity near Leh on the Kargil highway. Couldn't understand the theory.
- The famous food is the meat soup and momo (our local Kolukattai - Ganesha's favourite). Very tasty and masala-free.
- There used to be apple trees nearby where you could buy apples by selecting them from the trees. Rupees 20 per 1.5 kgs. Pleae don't growl!
- The kids are sweet, girls beautiful, men friendly and elders full of wisdom.
- Two friends were very nice and helpfulto me - Pratap and Suresh. Many thanks to them.
- I could clearly see the aircraft taking a tight left turn and flying in to land. Leh
airport is really a difficult airport for aircraft to land and take-off. Both landing and taking-off takes place through the narrow gap between two hillocks near Spituk monastery.- I had experienced -32 degrees celcius in Siachen Glacier and -26 degrees celcius in Leh?
- Have you heard of and know the know the operating mechanism of 'Bukhari', our room heater using Kerosene as fuel? The bukhari uses Keroseneto warm the surroundings. It is a two foot high metal cylinder about a foot and a half in diameter and has two holes on top. Kerosene is fed from the tank outside the building through a tube, while the other hole is used to warm hands, or can be shut to regulate the heating provided by the bukhari.
- The film Dil Se/Uyire was shot in Leh during my stay. For this, the city had taken a new look. All roads were swept clean and the pillars and roundabouts painted gold and bright colors.
- I had seen and worked at the the world's highest Air Traffic Control (14000 ft approx).
- I received the Siachen Service Medal for serving in the Siachen Glacier.
- I served in the world's higgest battlefield 'Siachen Glacier'.
- The confluence of River Nubra and River Shyok from the air is a marvellous sight.
- The conflence of two major rivers of Ladakh (turquoise Indus with muddy brown Zanskar) on the way to Kargil from Leh is simply superb.
- Shey Gompa of Ladakh is situated on a hillock, at a distance of approximately 15 km to the south of Leh town. The two-storeyed monastery was founded on the instructions of King Deldon Namgyal in the memory of his father. The highlight of the monastery is a two-story high
image of the seated Buddha Shalyamuni. This resplendent image is worked out of copper sheets, gilded with gold, and is the biggest metal statue in Ladakh. Said to be the second largest Buddha statue in Ladakh, it is said to contain sacrificial offerings such as grain, jewels, holy signs and mantras inside it. The upper story of the Shey Gompa is adorned with a series of beautiful wall paintings. 
- The place is full of Chortens. Chortens are Tibetan Buddhist reliquaries, memorials to the teachings of the Buddha. Sometimes actual relics of the Buddha or revered monks are inserted into the dome of the stupa, but whether or not there are relics inside, the stupas mark the landscape with reminders of the Buddha's teachings.- Thiksey Gompa of Ladakh is situated at a distance of approximately 8 km from Leh.
- We used to use raw eggs (frozen totally) as throw ball while playing and can cut the raw egg without spilling.
- Pressure cooking takes long time. The water boils at 80 degrees if I'm not mistaken.
- The fish I caught in Indus river for some reason had no fishy smell.
- I lost a cricket ball in Indus river while playing and sailed paper boats.
- We had gone to picnic to a nerby village and I climbed a small hill 1000 ft high and lost my bracelet presented by my Rekha at the peak while practicing a golf shot with a stick and a stone.
- During winter, when everywhere it's ice and snow, there would be a scarce for vegetables... I had eaten carrot and raddish leaves taking them for spinach which otherwise would be discarded in the plain areas where vegetables are aplenty.
- Fresh milk is a scarce here. Do you have the stomach to digest Yak's milk that smells of
everything but milk? Well, I couldn't! Had hot beverages using powdered milk.The same goes for curd...prepared with milk powder.- Many suffered from Gastritis, a pain in the center of the chest due to Inflammation of the lining of the stomach and duodenal ulcer.
- I used to keep my feet and stomach warm by placing very hot water in bottles inside the blankets. We're talking about temperatures 25 degrees below zero.
- There's a beautiful Gurudwara 'Gurdwara Patthar Sahib' 15 kilometres from Leh on the Kargil highway that serves food any time of the day and the place is beautiful.- There's the magnetic hill that defies gravity near Leh on the Kargil highway. Couldn't understand the theory.
- The famous food is the meat soup and momo (our local Kolukattai - Ganesha's favourite). Very tasty and masala-free.
- There used to be apple trees nearby where you could buy apples by selecting them from the trees. Rupees 20 per 1.5 kgs. Pleae don't growl!- The kids are sweet, girls beautiful, men friendly and elders full of wisdom.
- Two friends were very nice and helpfulto me - Pratap and Suresh. Many thanks to them.
The list would go on... I shall stop here. I have told the lighter side of Leh, but haven't the hardships I endured. Jai Hind!
1 comment:
had fun, got amazed, been awestruck - all at once reading this post of yours... :)
wonderful... It's great you had this experience in life ... :)
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