April Eats

Ladakh, a region in India bordering Tibet, takes more culinary cues from its northern neighbor than from the Indian legacy of curry leaves and cumin. Butter tea, churned till fat and tannic liquid are inseparable, warms each Himalayan morning. Young monks eat a balanced diet of noodles and dumplings. As in the rest of India, however, ketchup remains the condiment of choice.

Hipsters in Phyang, a village in Jammu & Kashmir, India

The New York Times recently featured the Golden Temple, the Sikh site near the Pakistan border that attracts visitors of all faiths for its gorgeous architecture and free daily meals. I was just there in June, and could have stayed forever, sung into stillness by the musicians in the temple’s inner sanctum who throatily declare their love of God to every visitor.

Airplane fare in India: mango custard, lentil salad, a curry potato sandwich and a water bottle from the company that owns the vanity airline.

Ninth-standard students at Adugodi Government Girls High School edit their documentary on Bangalore’s population explosion. (The scene on the screen shows women fighting for scarce water in the slums.) The filmmaking team is one of 16 in Bangalore creating multimedia projects, supported by my foundation and Adobe.

Varalakshmi, 13, at school in Bangalore

Calcutta scenes