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| AI generated image |
This is my last piece in the series of Blogs on the Leh Ladakh visit. If you haven’t read my previous blogs from Leh Ladakh Travel, you can check them out here:
https://www.noherdmentalityblogs.com/2023/07/alchi.html
https://www.noherdmentalityblogs.com/2023/08/a-school-i-wish-i-had-gone-to.html
Our Leh Ladakh trip was special because of the several fantastic people. One of them is my family, my cousin Anindita who planned the entire trip for us. Since she is my sister, I can discount her here (like all siblings do 😊) and I will mention the others in my blog.
If you have been there you would agree with me, that in Ladakh a tourist spends more time in a car or bike than staying in their hotels. We had taken the service of Tashi who owned a Mahindra XUV700 and he drove us all around for the whole week. Tashi was highly professional, well mannered and he provided us very good service. Over time, we got to know each other. He is someone who came up in life the hard way. Didn’t have the privilege of going to school, started working in his late childhood, drove a taxi for tourists, and eventually through years of hard work he now owns his own car, he is self-employed and reasonably doing well for himself.
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| With Tashi |
Vishal was a local contact referred to us by our cousin. We had been in touch with him from Bangalore and he helped us out with all the pit-stop coordination, travel bookings, etc. We made it a point to meet him before leaving, to convey our thanks to him. During over the coffee conversation, he shared his life’s journey with us. He hails from Nepal. His cousin owned a hotel cum restaurant at Leh, so he came down to work at this hotel in his teenage years. He worked there for several years, learned the art of managing a hotel, and eventually he went out on his own to start his own hotel business with a local partner. He now runs two hotels of his own, during summers he runs a hotel in Leh and during winters he runs a hotel in Goa.
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| With Vishal |
Nubra valley also called Dumra “valley of flowers” is the terrain between Nubra and Shyok rivers. Nishidh runs a camp out there for tourists. Nishidh meets all his guests during their stay and in one such interaction on a chilly morning, he shared his life’s journey with me. He comes from a local village in Nubra and grew up doing odd jobs in the hospitality sector and working in camping, tours, and travels. After working for two decades, his desire for entrepreneurship propelled him to start Paramount Camp, a few years back. He told me, “Sir, if not now then when?” umer like ja raha tha, it was now or never”.
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| Nishidh at Paramount Camp |
Friends, if you see the
common thread between the three of them, it’s careers built through
apprenticeship (learning a trade by working under a skilled employer). All of
them received any formal education or degree, yet they managed to build
successful careers by acquiring skills and knowledge through experiential
learning and not through learning theories sitting in a classroom.
This is a food for thought
for all of us who are interested in education. By the way, in today’s time of
continuous learning, none of us are spared from not being a stakeholder in
education. While studying ourselves as students, or while teaching others we
should engage in experiential learning, and acquire skills and not just
certificates and degrees on a piece of paper. As the world of work is changing
(4th Industrial Revolution) the importance of Skills and Hands-on Practical
Experience is growing by the day over just bookish knowledge. Tashi, Vishal, and Nishidh are the
touch-bearers of this growing trend.