#87 Sonam Wangchuk - Revolutionary Voice of Ladakh: Fighting for Indigenous Rights & Climate Justice in the Himalayas

Join us for a deep dive with visionary engineer and activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose groundbreaking ideas on education, sustainability, and social justice have inspired millions worldwide. In this extended conversation, you’ll learn:• What education is truly for: Why we must shift from conquering nature to nurturing it, and how unschooling and mother-tongue instruction empower real learning.• Climate wisdom from Ladakh: Stories of Wangchuk’s mother predicting the farming crisis and how indigenous knowledge drives his fight against glacial melt.• The “I Live Simply” movement: How a pledge-based platform can mobilise global behavioral change—planting trees, reducing meat consumption, choosing trains over flights—without spending a rupee.• Revolutionary activism: Lessons on nonviolent resistance, the power of failure, and Gandhi’s timeless call to “live simply so others simply live.”As Wangchuk awaits a Supreme Court hearing on October 6th, challenging his detention, his words resonate with urgent clarity: personal change sparks collective revolution. Perfect for climate activists, education reformers, social entrepreneurs, and anyone seeking practical, scalable solutions to today’s most pressing challenges.About I Live Simply movement:A unique crowd-funding campaign where the contribution made is not monetarily, rather by pledging a greener and simpler lifestyle changes.As leaders of tomorrow, students’ participation in this movement can have a huge impact on fighting global warming. Some of the pledges today’s youth can make could be: Making your college campus plastic-free, planting more trees in your campus and around, adopting bike-pooling or using more of public transport, reducing unnecessary water consumption, less data consumption which meant lesser online streaming, taking initiatives to partner with waste management organisations for proper recycling of e-waste, TetraPaks, plastics etc.PS: To measure the impact of this episode, I urge you to use #ilivesimply #TheGalataPodcast  Link: https://www.ilivesimply.org/ About Sonam Wangchuk,A mechanical engineer by education, Sonam has worked in the field of education reform for 27+ years. The man who inspired the popular “Phunsukh Wangdu” character in the Bollywood hit Three Idiots, Sonam has been instrumental in changing the face of education in the mountains. His sessions throw a whole new perspective on innovation and entrepreneurship that embraces social change.In 1988, he founded SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) that aims to reform the government school system in Ladakh. In 1994 he was instrumental in the launch of Operation New Hope, a triangular collaboration of the government, village communities and the civil society, whose work has been instrumental in improving the pass percentage of 10th graders in the region from a dismal 5% to 75%.For students who still failed in their state exams, he founded the SECMOL Alternative School Campus near Leh, a special school where the admission criterion is a failure in exams and not grades. As an engineer, Sonam Wangchuk has been teaching innovation at the SECMOL Alternative School, where together with the students, he designed and built solar heated buildings that are low cost, made of earth/mud but maintain +15 C even when the outside temperature is –15 C in Ladakhi winters.His “Ice Stupa” artificial glacier has claimed fame for helping solve the water crisis in the region due to climate change and fast melting glaciers. The Ice Stupas store water in the winter in the form of giant ice cones or stupas, which melt over summer and provide water to the lands, just in time for irrigation.Sonam is the recipient of several awards, The Rolex Award for Enterprise 2016 in Hollywood USA, The Terra Award 2016 for World’s Best Earth Buildings in Lyon France, The UNESCO Chair for Earth Architecture for India in 2014, ‘Real Heroes’ Award by CNN IBN Channel in 2008, ‘Green Teacher’ Award by Sanctuary Asia Magazine in 2005, Ashoka Fellowship by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public in 2002, ‘Man of the Year’ by The Week magazine in India in 2001 and the Governors Medal by the J&K State Government in 1996.Introduction Credits: Outstanding Speakers Bureau.Links to reach Sonam:Twitter: https://twitter.com/Wangchuk66Website: https://secmol.org