When they open to page 52 of the Indian government’s “brand new” class seven social science textbook later this year, students in Ladakh, a mountainous region of far northern India, will find a number of curious claims about the land they call home. One is that “Ladakh is a vast sandy desert with bare gravel slopes and rocky mountains. Because of the severe cold, vegetation can not survive.” Bemused, they might point out to their teacher that, on their way to school, they passed a vast variety of plants—poplar trees, stinging nettles, wild roses, Artemisia—and very little sand.
