Monisha Ahmed, an anthropologist, had been researching in Rupshu area of Eastern Ladakh for the last 15 years as a part of her Doctorate thesis at Oxford University.  Her research on their way of life made her aware that fabrics, and the act of weaving are a part of the life of the people. The nomadic way of life has always had very close linkages with weaving.  Women, as well as men spin and weave yet there are differences between what the women weave, the technique that they use and that of the men. Here it is the men who weave the tents in coarse yak wool and the women weave for the personal use of the family.      Monisha writes with a deep knowledge which she has gathered over the years as she honed her own knowledge of textiles and their deep relationship with a way of life where their beliefs, their mythology, their inter-relationships are all closely linked with the art of weaving.  Her poetic words sing to one as she writes: “It is said in Rupshu that men and women weave threads that reflect family ties.  Patrilineal descent is defined in terms of pha-rgyu, father’s warp, and matrilineal descent as ma-rgyu, mother’s warp.  One’s progeny are spun, weft, the endless lengths of threads stretching out before the weaver.  Thus, to be warp and weft is to know your family, your lineage, and to recognise your relatives on either side.”      The ritual and discourse that surround the weaving of cloth in Rupshu establish it as a great connector.  It binds humans not only to each other, but also to the ancestors of their past and the progeny who constitute their future”.      Monisha explores the underlying significance of wool and weaving.  She brings the whole process alive, from the herding of animals, which is the main reason for their nomadic way of life as they search for pastureland and water.  She brings alive the belief system and links it to the gods and the ancestors.  By unravelling the customs and traditions connected with the weaving she reveals the gender relationships, kinship patterns and social structure.      The status of their life is linked to the primeval Goddess, Duguma who through her weaving keeps the world in order.  Each year she weaves only one weft thread and when she has completed the weaving there would be chaos.  This origin theme, ...