Paper short abstract:

This paper attempts to illuminate the ambiguous experience of Ladakhi educational migrants arguing that the proliferation of Higher Education among Ladakhis is accompanied by important changes in the transmission and reproduction of Ladakhi culture and religion.

Paper long abstract:

Due to improved primary and secondary educational standards and a lack of higher educational facilities in Ladakh, many young Ladakhis consider themselves as "educational refugees"- forced to migrate from the high altitude Himalayan terrain of Ladakh to the dizzying cosmopolitan centers of the Indian plains in order to realize the modern higher education dream. Ladakhi youth studying "abroad" in India, while being viewed as "foreign" by their compatriot peers, forces a re-examination of identification and belonging in these new urban environments. Ladakhi student migrants must navigate the precarious situation of pursuing a "modern" education, while at the same time avoiding the perceived moral pitfalls of such an endeavour. Ambiguity rests among the older generations who invest heavily in the increased social capital gained from the university degree (hopefully also increased economic capital). They simultaneously fear an apparent threat to traditional Ladakhi culture and identity, illustrated by the widespread cosmopolitan practices adopted by the youth, including so-called "social evils". Attempts have been made by religious, political and youth leaders alike to promulgate a "moral" education and preserve what is considered traditional Ladakhi culture and identity, inextricably intertwined with Buddhist practices and beliefs. What this paper reveals is an innovative assimilation of ideas and practices including the integral use of new social media among Ladakhi student migrants which integrates the moral with the modern, the local with the global, and the autochthonous with the cosmopolitan.