When I went to live at a nunnery in the high Himalayas of Ladakh, I didn’t imagine that I would be interacting with nuns as young as six years! Living with these Ladakhi nuns for a fortnight was beautiful, insightful, heartbreaking and introspective, in that order. But that’s a story for another post. Today, I want to show you the world from their lens, in photos taken by them with my Sony Cybershot camera.
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1. THEY COLOR THEIR LIVES ON PAPER
because in the real world, maroon is the color on them, and brown and white are the colors of the mountains they live in.
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2. SELFIE, ATTEMPT ONE
; I loved the innocence in their eyes, but knowing that their families have decided the course of their lives at such a young age almost broke my heart.
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3. POSSIBLY THE YOUNGEST NUN IN LADAKH
at 6 years old. She came from a family of 6 sisters, and the parents, unable to look after all 6, decided that she should be a nun. Here, at this nunnery set up by a Dutch foundation, she has access to school and nutrition, but I often wondered if that’s enough for a kid that age.
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4. THE NUNNERY IN NYERMA VILLAGE
home to 20 nuns, including the 5 young ones.
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5. SELFIE, ATTEMPT TWO
; in a land so remote where cameras and selfies are rare, it didn’t take long for these young nuns to figure out technology and indulge in some good old selfies.
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6. LIFE IS GOOD WITH A BIT OF GREEN
This picture surprised me because the nunnery only had a few trees in the middle of the barren mountain desert.
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7. A PERFECT PORTRAIT
of the innocent faces whose smiles will forever stay with me.
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8. FOREVER IN THE SHADOWS
The nuns have a much more rigorous life than most monks, yet nunneries receive little donations or recognition. Someone even told me that they are often taught to pray, live and work more diligently in this life so they can become monks (men) in their next life.
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9. BEAUTY IN THE LITTLE THINGS
and their perfect poses.
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10. LIFE ISN’T EASY IN THESE PARTS
but the young nuns find happiness easily.
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Staying with the nuns in Ladakh: This nunnery in the Nyerma village of Thiksey was set up by a Dutch foundation to house nuns who didn’t have a place to receive their religious teachings. The nuns host travellers at The Taras, a small guesthouse on the same campus, and the income generated is used to sustain the nunnery.