Friends in Leh
Tourism is about sight seeing; While travel is about people and places.
A tourist visits and a traveler connects.
With a stroke of luck I got the opportunity to travel to the land of many passes…Ladakh. “La” means “Pass” in English while “Dakh” means “Land”; as learnt from a tourist guide Snyin. I met Snyin while hanging around the Thiksey monastery. He was enthusiastically guiding an apparently equally eager party of tourists from Calgary. A few of them were trying to take in Snyin’s descriptions of the history and special features of the monastery that was set up in the 14th century, but most of them were either busy taking photos or yawning. I couldn’t have let Snyin’s enthusiasm and know-how go underutilized and having befriended him I flooded him with my curious questions about…
…the 15 meters tall golden statue of Buddha
…the Lamokhang temple where only men are allowed to enter
…Kangyur i.e. Buddha’s teachings and Stangyur i.e. comments on Buddha’s teachings; stored in a library inside the monastery
…the deities inside the Temple of the Protectors which are kept covered so that the visitors don’t mistake them for evil ones due to their fierce portrayals
…and much more!
It was nice making friends with Snyin.
Talking of friends reminds me of the first day in Leh…
It was a Sunday morning and we girls set out on what girls are infamous for…shopping! The market near our hotel was lined up with shops selling silvery jewellery, souvenirs, clothes, and lots more to seize a tourist’s fancy. Roaming about the colorful shops and mostly window-shopping (yet haggling) we entered one of the many Tibetan markets ran by refugees under a large tent.
There were several people selling all sorts of junk jewellery, prayer-flags, singing bowls and several other Buddhist and Tibetan souvenirs. I liked some bracelets that a young guy was selling. Driven partly by a wish to take back gifts for friends in Delhi but mostly by my own fetish for junk jewellery I got down to selecting a few good ones.
The young shopkeeper was assisting me with his specialist’s remarks on the beads and strings and each one’s uniqueness. His comments aimed at helping me choose (as many as possible) were multiplying with my usual confusion whenever faced with short listing stuff. Nevertheless, it had become an interesting conversation and in my nomadic good humor I was enjoying it.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Gama! What’s yours?”
“Priyanka”
“Priyanka Chopra?!”
And, we both had a good laugh.
Then he started telling me about his sister who can make these bracelets, his home in Tibet and that he would soon return, and how less he had sold in the past few days.
“But, today is even bad. Today, no bohni.”
“Don’t worry about bohni, give me a good price and you have your bohni!” I suggested.
By then I had my heart set on a bracelet that had “Om Mani Padme Hum” inscribed on it… the mantra of Chenrezi, the mantra of compassion.
After further haggling the deal was fixed and I went to borrow some money from Monika as I had left my purse in the hotel. When I returned Gama placed a beautiful white pouch with golden embroidery and a beaded string in my hands. I was pleasantly surprised.
“This is a gift for you. You are my first friend in Leh. … I like you!”
I was both happy and surprised. I was amused by the contrast between his innocent expression and the guile of his occupation of selling goods at double the price. I was touched all the same.
“Thanks! You are very nice!” I was all smiles.
Gama, Snyin and more…I made many more friends in Leh. Will write more soon…
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