A Ladakhi in the trans-Himalayan nexus

Ruhail Qaisar, a noise musician from Ladakh, draws from intergenerational trauma and the ravages of late-stage capitalism.

Sitting on the balcony of a cafe in Thamel, Ruhail Qaisar deconstructed the abstruseness of handmade instruments. “You get Piezo mics, best for metal surfaces,” he said as he knocked on the cafe’s metal balustrade with his ring, briefly clanging through the metal. “They pick up the sound from the inside.”