ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the lives of non-married women from khangun, offshoot or small houses, who became adults in the 1970s. It shows how some individuals have transformed their position through the speculative rendering of new and unconventional houses. Tashi Chenzom and Tashi Dolma have built a home for themselves and left behind the old with all its work. Buddhist Ladakhis emphasise the interdependence of religious and secular houses, and both monks and nuns contribute to the wellbeing of their natal house. Nuns are known as chomo, referring both to lay or household nuns and to those who live in nunneries. Tashi Chenzom and Tashi Dolma pioneered the making of a new house, but it may not last. Like offshoots in general, Nyarma may come to an end as its elderly nuns leave one by one to die at home.
