The Real Heroes of Ladakh | Global Himalayan Expedition
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.