Thursday, April 15, 2010

Korzok Village- Remote Ladakh

Korzok Village

 

Changthang district plateau, Lakdah , Himalayan India 

The lady of my guesthouse was dressing up as I left the house in the morning for a walkabout. I photographed her dressing up and helped her with her costumes and jewellery. I had unbashingly invited myself into her bedroom and she welcomed me quite openly although she was a little amused how excited I was seeing her dressing up. Her head gear lined with precious turquoise was incredibly heavy and it was amazing how she could wear that for the whole day. The whole setup was heavy and took quite awhile to dress. You could tell how precious every gear and every jewellery were to her as she unwrapped them after taking them out from a wooden chest. Obviously these were her only possessions from her dowry as often female were only given these passed down from their mothers as their only financial property. We couldn’t really communicate as I couldn’t speak Ladakhi and know only little Hindi, and she, spoke only little Hindi and no English. I came to know that she was going to meet the High Lama who was coming for the blessings and she motioned that she was also going to dance for the festival. Really did wish I could have communicated with her and perhaps asked her more about her life in this remote little village. Along the only street out of Korzok, I came upon this bunch of women all dressed in their finest costumes, they gathered and then quickly disappeared back down to the mud lined houses. Curious and wondered what they were up to, I was walking around from house to house, took me quite a while before I found them hidden away at one of the ladies’ houses. They were rehearsing for their folk dance in preparation of the upcoming festival. Couldn’t really understand what they were doing, it was a form of line dancing where they held their hands and walked front and then back while singing one of the village songs. They often stopped and discussed what they would do next then continued on with their humming. It got kinda repetitive after that. The head gear lined with turquoise stones was usually their only prized finanical possesions and the women usually were given very little property, except for those costumes and jewellery. Their silk cape lined with pashima sheep wool which was their main live stock in their village.

Origional Work: Travellust

About The Author:

My Aim for the travels?

I want my life to be shaped by this travel lust. To capture the world as seen through my eyes and to remember it when I was there. I’m an introverted quiet person hardly sociable, don’t really like to talk or chatter much, but as I travelled, I have changed a little, traveling has forced me to be a little more open to people and to life, it reallly does shape you whether you realise it or not.

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