Crossroads

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

INDIA | Friday, 5 July 2013 | Views [1095] | View Larger Image

The women of Turtuk, as elsewhere in Ladakh, are adept in agriculture and are a common sight on the fields. This is a custom from the old days: men went away trading, supplied fodder for the animals, or were employed as porters or pony drivers, and women had to manage both homes and farms.

The Nubra Valley is a far-out high altitude desert nestled between the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges. Most of Nubra is inhabited by Buddhist Ladakhis who speak Ladakhi; but on the western end along the Shyok River, in Changmar, Bokdang and Turtuk, people are Balti – they speak Balti and are Shia and Nurbakshia Muslims by faith. Once upon a time Turtuk, now the last village on the Indian side, was a prosperous little settlement on the Caravan Route from Leh to Baltistan. The ancient trail was broken during India-Pakistan partition and Turtuk found itself stranded on the LOC (seen in the distance). Men lost their occupation and the pressure of population upon scarce resources became oppressive.

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However, while in Buddhist Ladakh women have always enjoyed a status equal with men, in the orthodox Muslim Balti community women have had little control over the society, household or even herself. And during those long years after the partition when the world had forgotten Turtuk and its neighbours, the status of women only diminished in the impoverished and isolated society.

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Crossroads

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

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