The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
Pangong Tso, or Pangong Lake , situated at an elevation of about 4,300m (around 14,000ft), is the highest saltwater lake in the world. It is 134km long and covers an area of over 600 square metres. Only 40% of the lake lies within Ladakh. The rest is controlled by China. The lake is a picturesque sight, and is one of the most popular destinations in Ladakh. We set off from Leh at 9 AM, eager to be on the road once again. Passing the 17 th century Chemrey monastery along the way, I realized just how little of Ladakh we were actually seeing on this trip. We crossed the pass at Chang La (~17,000ft) and saw a different facet of Ladakh. The mountains were the constant, but now rivers and sandy beds alternated every now and then with muddy areas and lush green patches of vegetation. Spots of colour were added by wildflowers, yet another difference on this route. We spotted a number of yaks and horses grazing along the road, and were told that while the yaks belonged to herders, ...