Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, in association with The Nehru Centre- London, hosted renowned song-writer, composer, musician and singer of Ladakh Rinchen Wacher recently, through which the Art and Culture of Ladakh were exclusively highlighted full length for the UK audience for the first time on the virtual platform.
In his opening remarks, Amish Tripathi, Author and Director of the Nehru Centre highlighted the importance of Ladakh to India and said “The name Indian comes from Indus, Greek pronunciation for the river Sindhu. Hindu (not with the religious connotation) comes from Sindhu, and Ladakh is the land that receives the river on its soil. I am delighted to be part of this programme, and wonderful to be engaging with the culture and people of Ladakh.”
Rinchen Wacher was then warmly invited to speak, who started his rendition with “Jullay”, an expression equivalent to Namaste/Hello in Ladakhi. He explained how due to very high altitude and harsh winter, Ladakh remains isolated from the rest of the world for at least 6 months yearly, and the improvement done by the government in recent times. He then highlighted various cultural aspects of Ladakh, the people, their nomadic life, language and music. He sang two of his recent songs, one specially dedicated to real-life heroes who tirelessly served others in the wake of Corona pandemic. He also played Damnyan, the typical musical instrument of Ladakh. He described Losar, the new year festival celebrated in Ladakh.
An interesting Q & A session at the end was curated by Ragasudha Vinjamuri, Founder of Sanskruti Centre. The event was relayed on FB Live on both Nehru Centre’s and Sanskruti Centre’s Facebook pages.
