Pashmina Goats – Pashmina goats are now the source of a new affluence for the Changpa and while they kept fewer goats in the past, now many more are visible.
For the grass that you have just eaten, Oh goat,
Give us some good pashmina.
For the water that you have just drunk, Oh goat,
Give us some good pashmina.
Sit down on the grass and be still, Oh goat,
So that we can take out your pashmina.
Goats being blessed – A monk blesses pashmina goats consecrated to the gods. Now that pashmina goats are important to the Changpa economy, they are well looked after and revered.
Goats are especially well looked after as they ensure a steady supply of pashmina. Here, two newborn kids, too frail to walk, are carried in small saddlebags on the back of a yak when the camp migrates.
Horses were once a sign of prosperity and reverence for the Changpas, and in a year three horse races were held to mark that. This position has now been usurped by cars and jeeps, and the Changpas keep far fewer horses than they once did.
Changthang shivered through one of the most severe snowfalls it has experienced in more than 50 years. Changpa pastoralists saw nearly 24,000 goats perish in the cold – the highly valued pashm goats whose fine hair is one of the most expensive textile fibres in the world today! But this was not always so. As Monisha recounts, the elders from Changthang recall how their sheep wool was far more expensive than pashmina! However, once the borders with Tibet closed, Pashmina from the changthiang goats scaled in price and popularity, changing fortunes of these goats, who became the favoured one from the northern plateaus of Ladakh. Pastoralists made shifts in their livestock composition even as the stolid sheep has steadily lost favour in the gold rush for pashmina. Goats are slowly being stripped off the comfort of their wooly companions – the changthiang sheep – who were more in numbers and huddled around them in concentric circles, keeping the goats warm and comforted. The devastation of 2013 is a poignant tale of what happens when a pastoral product commodifies and tips the balance of their life world.
The goats are milked twice in the day, early morning before they set out to pasture and when they return. Neatly tied in two rows, the milk the animals produce form a large part of the Changpas’ diet as well as oil for the monastery’s offering lamps. Photograph Tsering Wangchuk Fargo.
Before weaving can commence, the wool has to be spun and then twisted. Tashi Zangmo turns the wooden spindle as she twists the yarn from two balls of yak wool together.
Saddle-bags are widely used by the Changpas to carry their belongings when they move camp. Resting between moves, Tashi Zangmo props herself up on two different kinds of saddle-bags – a grey one made of goat hair and woven by men; a brightly coloured striped one from wool and cotton by women.
Surajit Ranjan Das, trained as an architect, is a design consultant and scenographer based in Delhi. He is a core member of the exhibition design team for Living Lightly.
Paresh Mangalia Paresh Mangalia has been engaged with the craft sector in Kutch for more than 2 decades, playing varied roles in Khamir. He facilitates the production and conservation of the craft narratives for Living Lightly.
Khyati Vinod is an artist and architect. As a member of the Living Lightly team, she leads the visual design work, holds the archives and supports the documentation team. She designed the Living Lightly website with the LL team and designers.
Sarah Kaushik is an exhibition designer, collage artist and scenographer. She is a graphic designer and a core member of the exhibition design team for Living Lightly.
Sharada Mushti is a rudra veena player, an architect and is a co-director at Design Habit. Design habit mentored the curatorial team in its formative phase and designed the 360 degree immersive film installation for Living Lightly.
Oroon Das is a multidisciplinary designer, actor, theatre artiste, singer and scenographer, working in diverse contexts and sectors. He is the lead exhibition designer of Living Lightly.
Carole Douglas is an Australian artist, curator and environmental advocate with a long engagement with the textile crafts of Kutch, Gujarat. She co-curated the section on pastoral crafts in Living Lightly – Kudrat Ji Kalayi.
Rooh ji Rehaan:
An immersion in the poetry and music
of the herders of Kachchh.
To order please write to us at
livinglightly@centreforpastoralism.org
A world without a Roof:
A world without a Roof is a collection of fictionalised accounts of lives of pastoral people from lands across India, presented as graphic stories. Accessible and fun, this is a great book for a beginner looking to dive into pastoralism.
To order please write to us at
livinglightly@centreforpastoralism.org
Capturing Pastoral Futures of Youth Maldhari:
Walking with the maldharis is a fascinating account of a young photographer, Ishaan Raghunandan’s, experiences of teaching young pastoralists while soaking in the world of Kachchhi Maldhariyat.
To order please write to us at
livinglightly@centreforpastoralism.org
Meera Goradia has been working with the craft artisanal sectors across India for more than 3 decades. She co-curated the pastoral crafts store at the Living Lightly exhibitions in Delhi and Ahmedabad.
Nipun Prabhakar is a photographer and community architect. He supports Living Lightly with his photo documentation of pastoralist communities.
Shouryamoy Das is an engineer who quit corporate work to pursue his interest in pastoralism, ecology and craft conservation. He anchored Living Lightly through its first two editions, and has coordinated the LL website design.
Sushma Iyengar is the lead curator of the exhibition ‘Living Lightly – Journeys with Pastoralists’ – an outcome of her longstanding interest, work and experience with indigenous communities, including nomadic pastoralists..
Vipul Rikhi is a poet, story teller, singer, and translator immersed in the oral traditions of Bhakti and Sufi poets. He curated Rooh ji Rehan -the poetry and music installation in Living Lightly.
Shabnam Virmani is a singer, documentary film maker and leads the Kabir Project as an artist in residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore since 2002. She curated Rooh ji Rehan -the poetry and music installation in Living Lightly.
Smriti Chanchani is a Bangalore based visual artiste and story teller. She has designed the LL logo, created key art works for Living Lightly, and directed the films for the 360 degree film installation called Heddan Hoddan.
Sandeep Virmani is an architect and environmentalist who founded Sahjeevan and Hunnarshaala Foundation. Sandeep has been an advisor to the curatorial team of Living Lightly and developed the stories for the film narratives in Living Lightly.
Arvind Lodaya is trained in product design and has worked extensively in innovation, design and branding, both in the academic world and with civil society institutions. He has been an advisor to the curatorial team of Living Lightly.
Priyashri Mani is trained in social development and has been engaged in work with indigenous communities in Tamil Nadu. She anchors the Living Lightly exhibition and Utsavs and is the chief herder of the LL team.
Amardeep Behl is the founder of Design Habit, a Delhi based design studio. He has worked with diverse museum and exhibition projects across India. Design habit mentored the curatorial team in its formative phase and designed the 360 degree immersive film installation for Living Lightly.
Aarati Halbe is trained in economics and political science. She also makes hand crafted books. Aarati anchored the Living Lightly documentation, the exhibition preparations and got the ball rolling!
Sanjay Barnela is a documentary film maker, co-founder of Moving Images Films, and lead faculty at Srishti Films. Sanjay curates Someplace else, the Living Lightly film festival.
