Elijah Spalbar Gergan is the Principal of Moravian Mission School Leh and Chairman of Moravian Welfare Society. He is the Pastor of Moravian Church.

He did his schooling from St. Josephs,Baramula in the year 1959 – 1960, Tyndale Biscoe 1959 – 1964, Graduation from Sri Pratap College, Srinagar Bachelor of Science (BSc) 1964 – 1968 and Master of Science Botany/Cytogenetics in the year 1968 – 1971 from Kashmir University Srinagar. Mountaineering basic course from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi in 1971. Asian Center for Theological Studies and Mission (ACTS), Republic of Korea, Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Master in Theology (MTh), Theology/Theological Studies 1975 – 1979 and Management Development Program (MDP), School Mangement 2009 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Gergan has contributed as Board Member at J&K Board of Secondary Education, Coordination Committee Member at Ladakh Autonomous Hill Council and Lecturer at Government Degree College, Jammu and Kashmir University in the past.

Presently he also contributes as President CBSE Schools of Leh, President Ladakh Mountaineering and Adventure Club and President Leh District Sports Council.

Could you share your childhood memories, learning, and experiences with the readers?

Well, I was born in 1948. I grew up at a time when India and Pakistan had just divided. I spent my early childhood in Ladakh with my grandmother and father. I remember having seen those caravans still coming in from central Asia from Kashgar and yarkand and all those locations. Later, we shifted to Kashmir, as my father with his duty in the forest Department was transferred to Anantnag and then to Bandipore. There I went to a small school in Khanabal and later to a government school in Bandipore. We couldn’t understand the teachers as we didn’t know Kashmiri. So, my parents decided that we shouldn’t go to school. After that, my father was transferred to Baramullah and I was admitted to Saint Joseph school, Baramullah, which was 3-4 Kms away from our place. And then my father’s final transfer was to Srinagar where we got our first real taste of a good school and that was Tyndal Bisco (1961-1964). After that, I joined S.P College where I did my B.Sc and then my M.Sc followed.

Q. Tell us about 23 years of your journey as the principal of Moravian Mission School Leh. What challenges and hindrances did you face?

My 23 years in the Moravian Mission School have been great. I was always interested in Education, having come in from Government Degree College, Udhampur earlier on my first posting as the Government servant in early 1972. But in Ladakh administration and teaching was a different challenge altogether. When I came in School was in shambles in terms of academic standards. I felt that we had to especially raise the standards in Science, Mathematics, and areas which are crucial. We used to have one teacher for each subject and he/she had to teach the whole school. So, I had to, first of all, handle the academic challenges in 1990. Second, the major challenge was the financial aspect of it. The school fee was very low. In those days, peons and maids used to get 200- 300 Rs a month and for teachers 900-1500 was the upper limit. I was shocked to find that the salary was rather low compared to the government. Another looming headache was the school property. We didn’t have the facilities like class rooms. There was only one building which had ten classrooms which were small enough for a school of 800 students. So, I had to create new facilities including classrooms, laboratories, Library, toilet etc. These were the three major challenges.

Q. As an Administrator, what do see as your primary mission and upon what basis do you believe school priorities should be established?

As an administrator, I have a very clear understanding of how the Moravian mission school should run and have an open admission policy which is different from many schools elsewhere in India, where you have a certain window period in the year when admissions are given. I made it a point that the children can get admission in any part of the year provided they fit into a certain class or category that is open for any child who wants to study.

The second important thing in my school is justice in the way we deal with the children be it rich or poor, rural or urban, Buddhist or Muslim, Christian or Hindu. My school is the few schools in Ladakh which has a very large number of children from the plains of India. And another principal thing is that we have a policy where we support children from the poorest of the poor.

Q. You are an expert in Educational Leadership, how do you see the present educational scenario of Leh?

I think the whole education scene in Ladakh has become rather lopsided. Private schools are more or less doing well because they have to be accountable to the parents. On the other hand, the infrastructure is largely in Government schools but the standards are not being maintained.

I think that the licensing of the teacher is crucial. In some countries, a teacher has to obtain a license and has to appear for an examination and to renew his teaching license.  But here in Ladakh any graduate can become a teacher.

Q. What role can be played by religion and religious leaders in eradicating various social evils in Ladakh’s society?

Religion and religious institution can play a major role and that is the need of the hour. It is because of the absence of inputs and says from religious leaders that we are finding a down trend in issues related to morality and the changes that we find in Ladakh. Use of drugs and alcohol has become rampant, in a way looser form of living has crept in where we do not keep the values of Ladakhi morality. Apart from this religion can play a role in opening up of people’s mind to do good things, understand and forgive each other?

Recently in the news, we had issues of Gay sex, and what stand we as Ladakhis take in this regard. How do we look at the lakhs of money spent in marriages, which have to be curtailed? All these are connected to a person’s moral that is so connected to the faith that we carry.

Q. When and how did Christianity flourished in Ladakh?

The Christian Mission or the Moravian Church came as a result of a work that was first started in Kelang in Lahaul Valley. From Keylong, they used to come to Ladakh to share the message of Christianity and they always had the ambition to establish a mission station in Leh, being on the trade route but were not allowed by the Maharaja as Kelang was a different state. Finally in 1884, the permission was granted and in 1885 they started coming to Ladakh.

The first priorities of this mission were Education and Medicine. In January 1887 Allopathic Dispensary was established that was the only allopathic outlet for about 3000 kms. Moravian Mission School was started in April 1887 and was a huge challenge as there was lack of proper teacher and my Grandfather was the first Tibetan teacher here. The missionaries were versatile who taught all sort of agricultural methods and handicrafts to help the income of the people.

Q. What is the history behind celebrating Christmas?

Christmas is the day when Jesus Christ was born. Christmas celebration is a worldwide phenomenon. It can be seen from three different angles-the spirituals, the Cultural and the commercial Christmas. In spiritual Christmas, we see the spiritual reasons for the birth of Jesus and his ministry. On the other hand, Christmas Candle, Christmas tree and Christmas Jingle Bells, Christmas Carols and Singing, visitations are all the cultural aspects of Christmas. This is worldwide and is celebrated by people from all religion. So, it is a huge festival even beyond the domain of the church. The third Christmas that has come up in the last 15 years is a commercial Christmas. You have this promotional super sale that’s giving you things on discount.  Commercial Christmas is because of the influence of the west- American or the European capitalistic way of Celebrating Christmas. I am the priest here and I am responsible here as the pastor of the Moravian Church for the spiritual aspect of it. But then we have a cultural aspect of meeting with our Muslim and Buddhist neighbors and friends, offering cakes, Christmas trees, and Singing and all that. And I am happy that at least in Ladakh the commercial aspect of Christmas has not come in.

Q. What hopes you have from the next pastor?

Stating this as a very difficult question he said that as I am getting old so obviously there has to be a next Pastor and a Principal and added that it is not easy to handle two different offices of education and religion all in the same bag yet I have done it over a quarter of a century. Who so ever comes as the principal must not compromise with the academic levels of the school; it should not be a school just for the sake of running it but for the sake of betterment of children of Ladakh.

As far as the church is concerned, you cannot compromise on ethical and moral values when you are a community leader. Many times the religious leaders are for the sake of just holding a chair rather than giving moral education to their people and so often what happens is that you get a bad name for the Christian Community because the head does not live a clean life. Living a pure and moral life is very important. I have always tried to do the best and be faithful to the calling that God gave me and probably I am happy with it.

Q. What has been the most imaginative thing that the church has done in the past year?

The church has been involved in things that were outward looking always in history. The kitchen iron stove (thap) were brought by the missionaries that were made of cast iron but iron could not be made in Leh so My grandfather gave the design and made the same thap with sheet metal stove that could be made in leh. The weather monitoring and meteorological data were recorded by the missionaries, leprosy work in Ladakh, allopathic dispensary, modern education system, modern science, writing of books. Apart from this, the growing of potato and cabbage were brought in by missionaries. The modern style of nursing and sterilization processes, in fact, the young Christians girls were the first nurses. The translation of the bible in Tibetan was done by my grandfather that took him 40 years to complete. He also wrote the most authentic history of Ladakh. All these were revolutionary things.

Message to the readers

Keep an open mind to things that you like and the things you don’t like. In fact, you keep a far larger mind to the things you don’t like. Listen to people who don’t agree with you. Generally, we shut ears to people who don’t agree with us either in our faith or in our thinking. Once you are open then the world is your arena and you have no barriers. Use libraries and read lots of books.  It’s a very sad thing that Ladakh has no culture of Libraries. We Ladakhis have to build up our own libraries. Let’s not stop our education at B.A or M.A or an MBBS or BE. Let’s keep on reading and enjoying.