Story telling has been an integral part of Changpa culture with many myths and legends on the landscape and its inhabitants. As children move out for education, the traditional mode of the transmission of such stories is broken and without its continous telling, the future of these stories, rich in its imagery and knowledge of the landscape. is vulnerable.
A small project was initiated to document stories of the landscape as recounted by elders from the community. Three stories were selected for a short children’s book celebrating the nomadic heritage of Changthang. These were published in a beautifully illustrated book “Tales from the Rebo – Changpa Stories of the Natural World”. The book is available in both English and Ladakhi.
The book was selected for distribution to government schools across Leh district by the Department of Education, UT adminstration.
Story telling session have been organised under the Nature and Culture in Education program. The first story telling session was held with the Government High School, Kharnakling and was led by Tsering Yangchan a theatre artist from Leh.