Visiting the E-Base

On 11 Aug early morning we were at the Mahabodhi school to meet the kids. It was an exciting start talking with the girls while we waited for the Guruji to arrive. I was happy to see these kids were not shy at all. 

The students lined up with traditional tibetan scarf, the Khatak

Meet Seeba, a world wanderer (24 countries already!). Her maritime profile took her to places and now working in renewable energy sector. We had a nice talk with the Mahabodhi girls.

I loved attending a morning assembly after so many years with the kids. They offered us khataks and today we were to inaugurate a robotics lab in the school.

A robotics demo by the students reminded me of my passion I had for robotics during my college.  This was exciting stuff as all these robots were solar powered.

Kids demonstrating their robots

The talented Mahabodhi students amazed me more when I learned they won the first prize all over the country for their waste management solution in a competition. The prize was a ‘Disney Lab’ in their school that was also inaugurated today.


Behind the school building you can see a set of solar panels soaking the sunlight, and a small room in the background. This is the Third-Pole education base (The E-base; learn about 2041 and you will learn what an E-Base is).

Third-Pole Education base

Even its construction is done in a renewable manner using the sustainable rammed earth technique, a culturally unique to Ladakh. As Paras explained the solar grid, the panels, the charge controller, the power inverter, I was getting familiar with the terms as we talked more about how a micro-grid worked and why it made the most sense to install them in this region. Sunlight falls for the maximum part of the year here, 300+days as compared to rest of India, and the low temperatures enhance the performance of the panels owing to its silicon components.

Inside the E-base we met Aarati, doing 3 month fellowship at E-base. I learnt she is also an Ultimate Frisbee player, which made me feel proud as I keep meeting wonderful people associated with this sport.

Aarati, fellowship volunteer at E-base

A collection of books, documentaries, robotic kits, tablets and a AV set-up for conferencing, the E-base is a hub of opportunities for the students to explore the world.

That evening we visited the hostel. I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of these young chaps as they came and played around with us.

I tried to coach a few with my Frisbee disc and later their small performances were added delight.

One really young girl came to me as asked, “Will you be friend with me”. Her name was Simskit. I was awed by her innocence and talked with her and her friends. She was from a close by village. Among her friends I met one from Shingo. When I told her we are going to setup electricity in their village, she could not believe it. I wondered next time she goes to her house it will be a different world for her.

with Simskit and other kids

At boys hostel we had a football match planned against the Mahabodhi team. These players were way too good than we imagined. It was an hour long battle which we lost by whooping 7-0. I also got a chance to play for a while and I know I was nowhere near their talent. The team spirit we all showed was also priceless as we hugged each other at the end of game.

The best venue possible for a football match

Now we headed to the cultural hall for the performances by Mahabodhi students. There were various performances by them, mostly on live drums. I remember a set of five girls who performed on 6 different type of Ladakhi dances. It was amazing to know the cultural richness of this place, and the talent of these performers as they were singing and dancing at the same time.

The performance close to my heart is that by the very young girls (all 7-8 year old). I was smiling during their entire performance. I remember Simskit said to me “please see my dance tonight” and I spotted her dancing confidently on the Ladakhi song that played in background.
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The cultural night ended with all GHE participants on stage dancing on drums and local dance steps being taught by the students to us as we circled the stage.