Predators and pastoralists: Shangdong to stupa
The documentary featured here records voices of Ladakh's pastoral communities. It speaks of how, in harsh conditions, herders try to protect their livestock from wolves, and the changes in this traditional approach
November 4, 2020 | Abhijit Dutta
In Kashmir, no migrants to reap rice harvest
It's been a tough paddy harvest in Central Kashmir. Skilled migrant workers, who charge less than local labourers, were driven out by the lockdowns, and farmers here are thinking of giving up on the crop
October 29, 2020 | Muzamil Bhat
Rocking the boat in Srinagar’s Dal Lake
For the Dal Lake economy, the Covid-19 lockdown during tourist season came right after last year's Article 370 shutdown, and it has left shikarawalas, houseboat owners and shopkeepers with heavy losses and no work
October 3, 2020 | Adil Rashid
Ladakhis stuck in Covid-19 test limbo in Iran
As many as 254 Indian pilgrims from Ladakh, most of them elderly, have been stranded for over a month in the city of Qom in Iran, sparking tension at home
April 2, 2020 | Stanzin Saldon
Keeping warm with Charar-i-Sharief kangris
The kangri, a wicker-covered earthen 'fire-pot' filled with charcoal embers, is in high demand during the severe winters in Kashmir, and the seasonal trade sustains artisans, farmers and labourers
January 31, 2020 | Muzamil Bhat
Withdrawal from the Valley – of another kind
When his drug habit grew, Azlan's parents brought him to the de-addiction centre in Srinagar, where growing numbers of young people are seeking help – while heroin use is spreading 'like an epidemic' in Kashmir
January 24, 2020 | Shafaq Shah
In Pulwama, a different shade of saffron
Saffron farmers in Kashmir are facing a bleak season – an early snowfall, the restrictions imposed after Article 370 was scrapped and a shortage of labourers have hit a trade already in a slump for years
December 31, 2019 | Muzamil Bhat
Srinagar’s shikaras: still waters run deep losses
Though the government has lifted its August advisory to tourists to leave Kashmir, shikarawalas have seen few customers. The six-month tourism season sustains them all year and many are now facing a crisis
November 29, 2019 | Muzamil Bhat
No fruit of this labour: Kashmir's apple trade
Apple orchard owners and traders in Kashmir are facing a huge loss of income amid the uncertainty that has followed the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, which was also the start of their marketing season
November 5, 2019 | Muzamil Bhat
‘Perhaps we made the mountain god angry’
Nomadic Changpa pastoralists at the high grazing grounds of Ladakh find their yak-related economy in a crisis that is driven by major climatic shifts in their fragile mountainous ecosystems
July 22, 2019 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Weaving the story of the pashmina shawl
From Changthangi goats in the Tibetan Plateau to retail stores in Srinagar, the making of the pashmina shawl involves many – pastoralists, wholesalers, spinners, dyers, designers, embroiderers and entrepreneurs
May 27, 2019 | Prabir Mitra
Women who climb mountains, cross deserts
On March 8, International Women’s Day, a PARI photo essay on the remarkable women of three nomadic pastoralist communities – the Changpa of Ladakh, the Brokpa of Arunachal, and the Fakrani Jats in Kachchh
March 8, 2019 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Tosamaidan: guns, meadows, misery
After many deaths among villagers due to an army firing range, as well as ecological damage in an alpine meadow in Budgam, locals fought to ensure the army’s lease was not renewed in 2014. But problems remain
November 21, 2018 | Freny Manecksha
A museum of memories – and missiles
Hunderman, a remote village on the LOC in Kargil, in the crossfire between two hostile nations, has opened its history and heart to the world – its abandoned houses are now a heritage site preserving the past
February 16, 2018 | Stanzin Saldon
Creating colour like the warm light of the sun
Abdul Rashid of Srinagar, Kashmir, with seven decades of experience in the delicate art of dyeing, speaks of how his generation of dyers may be the last, and why they still continue to painstakingly tint yarn
January 18, 2018 | Jayati Saha
Pathways to the clouds driven by poverty
Many of the labourers who build the mountainous roads in Ladakh are migrants from Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand – they brave the extreme weather and risky work because of few livelihood options back home
November 3, 2017 | Ritayan Mukherjee
The Commander Heights of Kargil's economy
This extraordinary market in Kargil, Ladakh – where all but three shops are run by women – has inspirational tales embedded in its origins and success
July 27, 2017 | Stanzin Saldon
'The loom is my love, my legacy'
When he is not farming, Tsering Angchuk of Sneymo village in Ladakh travels with his portable loom to other villages to weave his highly-reputed signature version of a woollen fabric called ‘snamboo’
May 9, 2017 | Stanzin Saldon
The Changpas who make cashmere
The nomadic Changpas of Hanle Valley in Ladakh herd pashmina goats, live in high-altitude pasturelands, and even retain old barter systems – but their ways of life are changing. This photo essay features Changpa Karma Rinchen's community
February 8, 2017 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Clouds of uncertainty
People of the Balti community in Turtuk village, in the high-altitude Nubra Valley near the LoC, are trying to cope with the impact of major shifts in the climate, and changes in their local economy and culture
