When the young guys in the den started dancing to the latest Ladakhi songs (played on every bus so I know them all by now) it felt like a window opened to the culture that I could relate to. I was so happy to see and feel this particular kind of freedom. I hadn’t seen anything like so far (no dance clubs in these parts!), but of course young people dance! You just have to be in the right place at the right time. The young girls seemed repelled and attracted by them and stayed outside the room looking in. Lots of eating and drinking went on in the den too, and by the end the room was totally trashed (that red bucket in the last picture had been filled with chang).
These are some of my favorite pictures so far and I’d like to make more pictures of the youth of Ladakh. They’re the first generation to grow up with an consciousness of the modern world and have more contact with it than anyone before them. Some are getting good educations too. It’ll be interesting to see how they change their society in the next couple decades…
