The sunset at Pangong Tso

The sunset at Pangong Tso

I cant get over Ladakh. Even though its almost nine months since I
 went there, the mind still lingers there. These are the evening colors
at Pangong Tso, my favourite lake in Ladakh. We pitched our tents here
 and camped here overnight and it was one of the most amazing
 experiences ever. The waters would have changed colours a million
 times before the sun cast its hues on it..Ive almost an entire album
of Pangong Tso..you can view some of the pictureshere 

To see more brilliant skies, click here

Inside Story - Cha TungTung Karbo

We are driving through the mountains in Ladakh, listening to local music
 and our driver Dorjee turns out to be a die hard romantic. As the landscape
changes, Dorjee gets a bit emotional talking about his family in Zanskar
and the baby he is expecting in a few months. And then he goes on an
impromptu karoke session and sings out aloud . I ask him to translate
 the lyrics and he complies with a grin.

The chortens and the mani wheels whizz past us . The music suddenly
 changes and Dorjee is a bit silent. I tease him and he interrupts me in Hindi,
 “ This is not a romantic song madam, its a poem by Tsangyang Gyatso, our
6th Dalai Lama.” Dorjee does not elaborate further as we drive towards the
lake Panggong Tso .

We spot a bit of green as we near the wetlands. And then something moves .
The birder in me comes alive as I gesture to Dorjee to stop. “ Cha Tungtung
 karbo, madam..never seen them near Panggong before, “ he says as I move
 closer to take a picture of the black necked cranes .The national bird of Kashmir
 is a large whitish grey bird and has a black head, red crown patch , black upper
neck and legs and a white patch near the eye. Another car stops by and we
spend some silent moments clicking away.

Then Dorjee breaks the silence. “Cha means bird and tung tung karbo is
 long legged and white. That song madam, “ he says referring to the earlier
 melody “is a poem on the white crane . It talks about the rebirth of the
Dalai Lama who was believed to have been murdered .”Cranes do have a
spiritual significance in Buddhism as they symbolize marital longetivity.
In fact I read later they have their own monastery and festival in Bhutan
where they return every year.

Back home, I spoke to Gopi Sundar from the international crane foundation .
 I learnt that these Tibetan cranes visit Ladakh probably from the river valleys
 of Tibet for breeding between June and September. “When the snow melts,
you will find these birds coming in pairs, marking their territories and dancing-
a part of their hormonal activity. You would probably find 30 nests here,
 “ he says adding the remaining 60-70 are non breeders. The chicks later fly
with their parents who are fiercely protective, guarding them from feral dogs.
 “Real estate is a serious issue here, “ says Gopi referring to the loss of habitat
 for these cranes as wetlands become lesser and tourism increases as well.
 Its tough life to be a crane now , “ he laughs. Listening to him, I go back to the
 walks around the lakes where Dorjee treated us to the prophetic song and
dedicated it to his family

White crane, lovely bird,
Lend me your wings!
I'm not going far and away,
I'll return through the land of Litang.

Peacocks from the east of India,
Parrots from the lower Kongpo area!
Though (their) birthplaces are different,
(Their) meeting-place is Lhasa, the land of Dharma wheels.

The willow lost its heart to the bird,
The bird lost its heart to the willow!
If affection concords in harmony,
The hawk cannot overpower (them).

This is one of the stories published in my column, Inside Story in the
Metro Plus. I thank Karthikeyan, chief naturalist of JLR who put me in
touch with his friend Gopi Sundar , an authority on cranes. As a birder,
 I was keen on spotting this bird which is believed to be found only here
 in Ladakh besides a few in Arunachal Pradesh. You can otherwise spot
 them in Bhutan and Tibet among other places. I was lucky to see a couple
enroute to Panggong Tso at a much closer distance than the ones I saw in
 Tso Kar.