On a Himalayan trail

The Royal Enfield Social Mission's festival spotlighted the works of 50 Himalayan communities across the arts-music, design, films, photography-and AI-based interactive projects, for natural & cultural conservation

- PRIYAMVADA RANA

CAN winds whisper songs of the farthest of lands, the Himalayas? At the Travancore Palace in Delhi, they took a different turn—they blew towards the Eastern and Western Himalayas. We were standing in the middle of a giant hallway where AI-enabled projections on the walls painted Himalayan heritage—animated snow-clad mountains, elusive snow leopards, monkeys, red pandas, and yak along with collages of flora and artefacts.

The evocative presentation was 'Where the Wind Tastes of Forgotten Songs,' a project by art-tech pioneer Raghava KK that portrayed the delicate balance of life and beauty that Himalayan ecosystems sustain and that could be lost.

The presentation was part of the 'Journeying Across The Himalayas' festival organised by the Royal Enfield Social Mission. It brought together 50 communities from the Himalayan region and over 200 creative practitioners to celebrate the spirit of the Himalayas and its people. On view was quite a creative range—from a 360 VR film on the rare species of snow leopard, a presentation on the evolution of ice hockey in Ladakh, textiles of Himalayan states, hand-painted helmets professing the message of safe riding on roads, works on accessible technology, to live music by artistes like Alif, Bipul Chhetri, Lou Majaw, Ao Naga Choir, Parvaaz, amongst others.