The Relevance of The Age-old Maxims for the youths in this

Electronic age.

By

Kacho Asfandyar Khan

IAS Retd.

The Book ‘’Ancient Wisdom from Ladakh’’ compiled and

commented by me, reproducing a fairly large number of Ladakhi
sayings derived from various ancient ethnical circles and civilizations,
Mons, Mongols and Aryans, now jointly represented by Tibeto- Dard
population of this Region, are manifestly –part of the ‘’Wisdom of the
East’’.

These sayings and proverbs are one of the most important

categories of the Ladakhi folk literature. These age-old sayings reveal
eternal truths which time cannot change though their face-value or
effect may seem to differ from age to age, generation to generation.
These sayings and proverbs have been a constant source of inspirations
and wisdom for countless generations of Ladakh. Any person having a
fair knowledge of these sayings was considered as a wise and
experienced person in day to day life. Therefore, if one does not intend
to learn these maxims for gaining any wisdom, even then these
beautiful pieces of folk literature are very important for understanding
the underlying sublime values of the Ladakhi society, past and present.
As we learn many lessons from the study of history, similarly it cannot
be denied that we will also learn from these sayings.
 Someone may raise a question whether these age-old maxims still
have any relevance or utility in the present so-called age of economic
boon and unlimited sources of information through the medium of
Television, Internet and Mobile phones? Whether our youths and
students do require anything more than the education provided to
them in their schools and colleges by their teachers from the text

Books prepared painstakingly by a team of experts who themselves

have become experts by reading books prepared by the previous
generation of experts? Will such educations be sufficient to make him
or her a reasonable human being rather than a money making machine
only. Here a Ladakhi saying will help us to understand that:-

Verbosity is bubble on water

Practical work is golden drop.
It means that practical work learned in the field is more important than
mere theory.

Scholars like Professor Anil K Gupta of Indian Institute of

Management Ahmadabad Gujurat, while reviewing this Book has said
that,

“The sayings quoted by Asfandyar Khan are a battery of related virtues:

wisdom, discipline, prudence, discretion, knowledge, guidance and
understanding. They offer readymade solutions to the geographical,
climatic and social tribulations of life. The institution of family has the
utmost importance. The Ladakhi society seemed like an example of a
honeycomb where all the divisions have an important task to perform.
Emphasis was laid upon the loyalty to family and nation. One of the
sayings goes:
 One who does not know his pedigree is no better
Than a bastard,
One who does not know the history of his country is no
better than a refugee.
The maxim emphasizes to have knowledge of the family traditions and
customs together with the history of one’s native land. It gives sense of
identity, individuality and responsibility towards that society. The battle
of survival in the most averse climatic conditions has made the Ladakhi
culture rich and exemplary. The life in general is taken up as a struggle
for survival. The proverbs and sayings have evolved out of those efforts.
The author shows how they teach us to live pragmatically and
gracefully.

A long day has three spells of coldness and

Warmth,
A long life has three spells of plight and
Pleasure.
In a mountainous region like Ladakh, weather changes its moods
several times during a day. Life too presents many shades of happiness
and sadness and one should be prepared to face them.

Further commenting on the book he says that,

“The earthly adages are meant not only for the English reader but also
for the Ladakhi people, some of whom have adopted other language
also. The author has preserved the originality of the axioms by using
the Ladakhi script as well as the Urdu script. The transliteration has
widened the reach of the book. Thus it is not meant for the outsider
tourists only but also for the locals, particularly, the youth who have
spread their wings far. They have to remain rooted as the following
proverbs goes on to say:

One may forget one’s native land

But never forget one’s mother tongue.
The maxim reminds us to be attached to our origins and culture in
spite of moving away from the birthplace. Without conserving linguistic
diversity, we can't maintain our culture or even the bio-diversity. The
collection of the sayings is aimed at the English speaking youth who
often have little time to pay heed to their ancestral knowledge……. The
author should be applauded for his efforts of bringing the Ladakhi
culture through the words and spaces between the sayings. They are
banks with the safety deposits for the ancient knowledge and ATM for
the present and future wisdom seekers”.

As I have said earlier, that the Ladakhi society was a unique

example of peaceful-co-existence and mutual brotherhood. People
shared their joys and sorrows with each other. All the member of the
society worked together like the members of a big family in which
every member cared for each other. The village affairs were looked
after by the village committee of elders consisting of members from all
the households. Every year men were nominated to discharge the duty
of village watchman and water regulator. Even the village artisans had
to go to each household to mend household articles and agricultural
implements. These men were paid in kind for their services by each
house hold at the time of harvesting. In this way the whole society
manifested mutual understanding and cooperation. There were no
competitions, confrontations and animosity among the members of
that society.

However, after the Independence in 1947, Ladakh has embarked on

the path of material development and progress. Host of developmental
programs have been introduced in the entire region. A network of
modern communication system has brought the whole population face
to face with modern concept of life. Emphasis is being laid on modern
education to produce more and more Technocrats rather than
producing educationist and humanists. Agro-based economy is being
replaced by money-based employment and government jobs. Besides,
the advent of tourism has also brought many good as well as bad things
into Ladakh. The interest shown by the tourist in Ladakhi culture has
inculcated a sense of cultural revival in the minds of most of the
Ladakhi people. It is only because of tourism that we find Ladakh on the
world map today. It has certainly boosted the economy of the area
beyond imagination. However, it appears inevitable that the host of
cultural and economic inundations would invariably sooner or later
shatter the whole fabric of our society. Peace, tranquillity and
contentment are giving way to crises, rat-races and narrow parochial
outlooks. Under these circumstances it seems that we have arrived on a
cross-road and require to looking back for a while before choosing new
paths. I am not a pessimist nor am averse to the idea of material
progress and development. Yet I strongly believe that under such
circumstances, the cumulative experiences and wisdom of our
ancestors in the shape of these wise sayings would be extremely
helpful in providing an answer to our various apprehensions and
perplexities about our future plans and strategies for the preservation
of our identity and a balanced development of our society. Though our
ancestors might not have been so intelligent and wise as we deem
ourselves today, yet nobody can deny this fact that their experiences
and wisdom were derived from the infallible laws of Mother Nature as
well as from the trials and tribulations over the centuries. Therefore,
these sayings apart from being one of our important cultural heritages
are still a beacon of light and we must always look towards these
invaluable sources of wisdom for choosing an authentic and
dependable path of progress for ourselves.

My primary aim and objective in compiling these sayings and

proverbs, has been to preserve this beautiful past heritage for our
posterity. I have a strong feeling that these superb pieces of folk-
literature will surely disappear into oblivion within a decade or so if not
reduced to writing today, and that would be an irreparable loss to our
cultural heritage and social history. Besides, I believe that there could
be no better Tribute, than that of recording these sayings and proverbs
to the memory of our fore-fathers and wise men, who coined these
beautiful sentences full of wisdom and wits.

It is heartening to learn that the student’s community of Ladakh

and our younger generations are now taking keen interests in such
books indicating their genuine urge for learning more and more about
their own culture and history. I hope that the youths of Ladakh will not
only try to remember these sayings but also endeavour to grasp the
real spirit behind these sayings to understand the sublime feelings and
ethos of the Ladakhi culture and society so that they may be able to
keep their feet firmly in the Ladakhi soil despite their giant leap
towards modern ideas, material progress and development in this
rapidly changing time.
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