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Thursday, November 30, 2006

Nightingale of ladakh (tseshu lamo)

Everybody knows her; from the tiny-tots to the aged as they direct you to her house in Chushod, in the outskirts of Leh, set amid willow trees and rows of cabbage and barley. Tseshu Lhamo, 72, in a carelessly brown deep brown goncha, suns herself on the verandah of her modest, traditional house with gaily-painted beams and woodwork; is engulfed in her thoughts. To an onlooker she passes off as any other old women basking in tender sunlight to beat the chill; but this 'Nightingale of Ladakh' (as she is popularly known) is a living legend. To Ladakhi music she is special and precious. Also nicknamed 'Lata Mangeshkar of Ladakh' by the townspeople, this Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee has taken Ladakhi folk music across geographic boundaries to other parts of India and also Japan, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong and Mongolia.
Fame and Fortune do not always go together—like many other artists in India, after a glorious and inspiring career, now in her twilight, Tseshu Lhamo still struggles for her basic needs.

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