What Does Zarina Want? | Ladakh

And what beautiful children. As I clicked, they hovered around me, smiling shyly and looking at me as if I were a new-age Gulliver. Conversation was stilted due to the language barrier.

Zarina monopolised my attention. She was probably twelve. Her looks and poise suggested she could be a supermodel someday. She was also the pack’s leader. When I gave her biscuits, she made sure everyone got one before having one herself. In a way, she was trying to draw attention to herself. She’d pose in different ways, hands folded or flower poised at her chin. She tried placing an infant in a four-year-old girl’s lap. And performed other antics. All in the space of a few minutes.

And as I was leaving, she pressed her face against my car’s passenger window, giving me a look I will remember forever. As if trying to express something. What? Take me along. Show me the world. I am destined for more than a life in this village. What?

Wonder if I will ever meet her again to find out...

This post is featured in Ajay Jain’s book POSTCARDS FROM LADAKH, a travelogue and memory frozen in time circa 2009. Click here to order a copy for yourself and as a gift for others. Images also available as numbered prints in all sizes. All sizes, on archival paper or canvas. Delivered globally. Send enquires to stories@ajayjain.com.