Real-Life Phunsukh Wangdu Who Inspired Aamir Khan’s Role in ‘3 Idiots’
Viewers would remember having been left awe-struck by Aamir Khan‘s many science experiments in the 2009 blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’ – now Sonam Wangchuk, the inspiration behind Aamir Khan’s Phunsukh Wangdu character in the film, has gained further global recognition bagging the prestigious Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2016. Sonam Wangchuk is a 50-year-old Engineer from Leh. He is better known locally as the guy who inspired Aamir Khan’s famous character of ‘Phunsukh Wangdu’ in 3 Idiots, the 2009 blockbuster that went on to become the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time.
In a feat of global recognition, Sonam has bagged the prestigious Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2016 for his project, ‘Ice Stupas’ , that act as artificial glaciers and have significantly reduced the problem of water shortage in the arid region of Ladakh. The awards were presented on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
The Ladakh region, at roughly 3,500-metre altitude between the Kunlun and Great Himalayan mountain ranges, faces acute water shortage during the April-May early crop-growing period. The people of Ladakh primarily depend on farming, but have been struggling hard to fight Climate Change over the past few decades. To battle the situation, Sonam has built ‘Ice Stupas’, that store winter water in the form of 40 metres high mountains made of ice. These act as glaciers during winter and provide for enough water to irrigate 10 hectares of land.
Sonam is also helping farmers in the arid Himalayan highlands to meet water deficit by tapping melt waters to build artificial glaciers.
Sonam’s project started two years ago. Today the desert landscape has turned green, and the level of groundwater in the area has risen significantly too.
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