Kibber Village is situated in Spiti, around 16kms above Kaza. The houses here are made of stone, unlike in other villages of the region, where they are made of mud. I noticed that mostly all the houses in Spiti are white, with red and black borders at the top. A local told me that the black absorbs the ' burinazar ' and keeps it from entering the house, the red keeps the ' bad vibes ' away and the white is for ' abundance of peace '. Most houses have exquisitely decorated rectangular windows for some fabulous views of the valley. Its also a typical summer weekday in the local school of Kibber, Spiti. It was history period and the girl was reading about the Treaty of Sanjauli. After the lesson, everyone stood up to do PT, followed by the national anthem.
The bridge shook and swayed, the wooden planks creaked, the prayer flags flapped in the wind and the river below rumbled. I would be lying if I said I wasn ' t scared. I held on tight to the wire railing with my cold numb hands, making my way slowly towards the end of it. I didn ' t look to the left or the right but walked straight ahead. I was thrilled and relieved when I got to the other side, realising that it was exactly how it was on the other side. It was breathtaking, yes, but not much different. That ' s when it hit me. I walked on to the bridge again, this time with a little more confidence and stood right in the middle. The bridge still shook and swayed and the river still rumbled right below me. But I saw what I couldn ' t, from either side. The river that seemed to flow beyond what the eye could see, the snowcapped mountains peaking through the clouds and a blast of fresh mountain air hitting my face, and whispering " We ' ll get there! Until then just enjoy the views ".
Village Demul, situated across mountains is the remotest and perhaps the windiest village in Spiti. It is also the most unique. When winter comes, and the people here, are unable to work on farms because of the heavy snow fall, they take to producing handicrafts such as ' Lingze ',( a mini shawl of sorts work during festivities), sheep wool shawls, yak fur ropes, carpets etc. This not only provides them some sort of income during the winters but also keeps them busy. Mr. Takpa who works for Ecosphere, an NGO in Spiti that focuses on various projects in the valley( skill development being one of them) says, " Earlier people in Demur were into gambling during winters which caused loss to a lot of people. We initiated the process of training women in making these handicrafts and now they are able to sustain themselves better. "
Vol 5
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