LEH (Ladakh): Iron, and tons of it lying everywhere. The whirring sound of machines cutting through firm metal cut through the serenity of beautiful Leh. The activity of men at work was like a Monday at the office. About 200 metres away, at the NDS Memorial Sports Ground, local kids were playing cricket, a sight you would find anywhere you go in India. But the setting took the breath away, with the snow-capped Himalayan range in the background, running across like a panoramic boundary line, right through to the point that was in focus this morning.
It won't be a small achievement by any means for India to get its first indoor and, therefore, an all-weather Olympic size ice hockey rink up and running in Leh, and that's what drove an army of officials here, including Aivaz Omorkanov, vice-president for Asia and Oceania in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
