Inside a 200-year-old building in Leh, at the region's first art conservation lab, Noor Jahan, 33, gently scrapes oil and soot off a decades-old thangka painting, using a long cotton bud. The work comes from Keylong village, 350 km away in Himachal Pradesh. And under the bright, white light of her studio and her careful cleaning, vivid reds and yellows of Buddhist deities slowly emerge.
Jahan's hands are used to such delicate work. But that's not all they can do. Jahan is also the goalie of the Indian women's national ice hockey team. She saved 190 goals of 230 attempted shots at the 2016 IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia, her first international competition. "We didn't even know that the number of goals attempted and saved are counted in international tournaments," she says.
Jahan won the best goalie trophy at the event.
Ice hockey is very much part of Ladakhi culture, says Jahan. She spent much of her childhood playing on frozen lakes. "The girls would split into teams, sometimes competing in district-level tournaments," she says. "It was all for fun, but I loved every bit of it." So, when most of her friends moved out of Leh after Class 10, Jahan persuaded her businessman father and farmer mother to move her to a government-run school, so she could stay back, cheaply. "I was happy to play ice hockey for two more winters," says Jahan.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 10, 2023 من Brunch.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 10, 2023 من Brunch.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Staying well within range
Driving from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar in an XC40 Recharge at night means going against the odds but it's not dangerous
Forget demure, forget mindful
Women are expected to dress their age. But why should arbitrary numbers dictate anyone's choices? Wear what you want, when you want
Bubbling under, boiling over
The year's best food yet, from Bandra to Seoul, from old names and new, from starters to afters
The new spin doctors
Come for the hooping, stay for fire poi, dapostar, leviwand and more. India's newest subculture blends art and athletics, meditation and showmanship, public and private. And it looks great on the 'gram
Shall we put a label on this?
What is high fructose corn syrup? Is red dye good? Dieticians and nutritionists break down the confusing stuff we see on food labels
Pho heaven's sake, explore!
There's more to Vietnam than the Golden Bridge or Ha Long Bay. Discover limestone cliffs, rice terraces, and local foods that haven't made it to the 'gram
No. Wait. She did what?
These mean girls are self-centred, bratty, and can make your life hell. But they stole the show. Read on, loser. And tell us how it wasssss
Are you seeing spots too?
Jyoti Bhatt's serigraphs use traditional symbols in modern ways, creating art that is slyly clever and full of little stories
Leave us to our own devices
Instead of banning gadgets, restaurants should ban people that are actually disturbing the peace
Siam Siam, but different
The reason Indians feel instantly at home in Thailand is because their mix of Hindu and Buddhist traditions so closely mirrors our own, creating a comfort zone abroad