In the Himalayan mountains of Northern India, life has never
been easy. However, there are new
pressures on the traditional life of the Zanskar valley, coming from external sources. As
the narrator of The Ice Builders says, the Tibetans are “the first victims of climate changes” but
adds “very soon, you will all be victims too.” This is said in a very
matter-of-fact way and not as a threat – but something inevitable.
The people of Zanskar, part of the Ladakh region, depended
on the glaciers, at the bottom of which they built their villages. Over the past 15 years, however, the local
people have been forced to not count on the presence of the glaciers for their water anymore. They have disappeared. This film, directed by Francesco Clerici and Tommaso Barbaro focuses on how the Ladakhi people (particularly Sonam Wangchuk –
activist and engineer) have responded to this.
The solution has not been to give up, pack their bags and move away. Stories from the past inspired these people to build artificial glaciers. Of course, the methods used to create them had been lost to time so today’s Ladakhi have had to reinvent the wheel, as such. Using modern science, Wangchuk’s solution has been to create what he calls “stupas of ice”. And they are spectacular.
Watch the video below – a testament to human ingenuity in the face of adversity.