Watch Sisters of Ladakh

Sisters of Ladakh is a documentary film that follows the daily lives of seven Buddhist nuns residing in a remote corner of north India. Through the course of the film, viewers are treated to a glimpse of the intense spiritual and physical training these women are put through, as they dedicate their lives to the pursuit of enlightenment.

The film is set in the stunningly beautiful region of Ladakh, a high-altitude desert nestled in the Himalayan mountains. Here, the nuns live in a small cluster of houses and are trained in the teachings of the Drukpa lineage of Buddhism. The director of the film, Vaishali Sinha, is herself a Buddhist and has been an ardent supporter of women's rights in India for years, and this shines through in her sensitive portrayal of the nuns' lives.

The film opens with a dramatic shot of the mountains, before introducing us to the nuns one by one as they go about their daily routines. From Yeshi Lhundup, the spunky young nun who teaches English to the others, to the elderly and revered Khenmo Konchok Wangmo, each woman has a unique story to tell. In the course of the film, we see them cooking meals, doing chores, and engaging in spiritual practices like meditation and prayer.

One of the most striking aspects of Sisters of Ladakh is the contrast it draws between the nuns' peaceful existence and the harsh realities of life in this remote region. Ladakh is a stunningly beautiful place, but it is also one of the most inhospitable regions on earth, with freezing temperatures, scarce water resources, and frequent natural disasters like landslides and floods. The nuns live in a community that is vulnerable to all of these, making their daily lives an exercise in survival as well as spirituality.

The film also explores the challenges that the nuns face as women seeking to break free of traditional gender roles in rural India. The nuns talk candidly about how they have had to overcome resistance from their families and communities in order to pursue their spiritual calling. They also discuss how being a nun can be isolating, with many people in Ladakh still seeing it as a foreign and strange practice.

But despite these challenges, the nuns all seem remarkably content with their lives. They are passionate about their spiritual practice and deeply committed to their community. They are quick to laugh and enjoy simple pleasures like picnics and snowball fights. They are also fiercely concerned with the well-being of other women in their community, and many of them are actively involved in campaigns to raise awareness about issues like domestic violence and menstrual hygiene.

One of the most moving scenes in the film comes towards the end, when one of the nuns is tasked with leading a funeral for a woman who died in a landslide. The woman was not a Buddhist and had been rejected by her community because of her mental illness. But the nuns step in to give her a dignified burial, and their compassionate actions speak volumes about their commitment to serving all of humanity.

Overall, Sisters of Ladakh is a beautifully shot and sensitively produced documentary that provides a rare insight into a way of life that is little known to the wider world. Through the stories of these seven remarkable women, we come to understand the complexities of faith, community, and gender in modern-day India, and the surprising ways in which the pursuit of enlightenment can intersect with the struggles of daily life.