For more than a year I have been living in a remote bordering village along the North Eastern parts of India. The place is also known to be the home of the Dard tribes, the first inhabitants of Ladakh with Mons of Northern India and the Mongolian nomads from Tibet. Staying with a local family, I had the privilege to experience a saner way of life. I could see the orchards and farms were all taken care of by two sisters, Dolma and Samsket. Rest of their family members worked far from home and visited once every season. Sometimes it felt like the sisters lived in a world of self- contained existence, together alone.

After months of winters, the apricot orchards awaken with the blossoms. Traditional costumes that had lived through generations kept inside metal boxes get to breathe the spring. Locals wear them as part of the festival to welcome the flowers. Samsket would wake up early that day and start braiding her sister’s hair. Braiding has been a part of their cultural identity. There is such tenderness in braiding the hair of someone you love, hands steady, eyes focused not leaving a single strand of hair left behind.

These are a short series of photographs from an on-going project about the life of two sisters. Shown through the lifecycle of apricot trees, how their lives adapt and transform like a tree, as it goes through all the seasons.