Glimpses of Culture

A kaleidoscope of glimpses into various cultures within Asia. Each tribe, each ethnicity expresses its identity in various ways – music, dance, textiles, costumes, food, language, life format etc.

It is impossible for an individual to capture the complete essence of any tribe – either one’s own or another’s – but it is possible to experience the diversity and be nothing less than awestruck by the beauty of human society.

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Sometimes the customs and traditions are so different from the ones I have been exposed to until now, that it is hard not to be alarmed and to remain unjudgemental. But the only way to view any custom is to see it as a part of the complete picture, within the paradigm that has given birth to the custom. It is only then that the view is fair.

Every society has its reasons for doing what they do. The set of rules that have evolved have withstood the test of inter-generational transmission. Therefore they are always internally consistent within the system and provide answers to all of the issues faced by that particular society. When viewed from outside, a traveller usually only gets a limited view and she sees a single custom / tradition without seeing all the evolutionary factors and the paradigm within which this is perfectly valid.  Given that this  is merely a slice of the whole life model, which is  quite likely to be different from her own, this view is likely to cause the viewer some dissonance and sometimes result in an imbalanced judgement.

Of course it is not only the limitedness of the view that causes this bias. Sometimes the close-mindedness of the viewer also contributes to this.

It has taken me many journeys into the lives and minds of others to realise that unless the context is known and empathised with, the judgement is unfair and therefore invalid.

I try to make a deliberate effort to ‘understand’ and ‘empathise’ instead of judging.

It is in that spirit that I have written my articles. My respect for their lives is total (and unconditional) even though my information about their paradigm is not.

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The posts have been listed below in order of posting.  You could either choose to scroll down all the way and read all  or click on the titles that interest you.

Return to Ladakh

Anachronism – Mumbai the Mega city & Elephanta the ancient caves

The Ladies Compartment in Mumbai Local trains

Kalinga Diaries

The stylish priests of Jagannath Puri

Journey to the Past – the Science of Epigraphy

In the Presence of the Past

The Magnificent Stone artefacts of Odisha

Camels go on a Pilgrimage

A Rabari Gypsy Tribal Wedding Ritual

A walk through a Rabari Tribal Village

The Stunning tribes of Sarawak, Borneo

A Cultural Stay at Kuching

Bidayuh Tribal Longhouse in Borneo

Puppets & Puppeteers of Rajasthan

The Batak Calendar  of Sumatra, Indonesia

A Python for Dinner

A Dog’s Sixth Sense

Loss of Cultural Diversity

Colors of Mewar,  Rajasthan

Turban Art – The Crowning Glory of Indian Men

The Gangaur Festival – praying for Marital Bliss

The Classic Indian Village fair – Gogunda Mela

Alternate Sexuality Traditions 4 – The Garasia Tribe

The Blacksmith Gadalia Community of Rajasthan

Music of the Manganiyar Tribe

Folk Dances of Rajasthan

Women of India – the Weaker sex

The Holi Bonfire – Past & Present

Mizo Mosaic

The Chapchar Kut Harvest Festival of Mizoram

Alternate Sexuality Traditions 3 – The Lushai Custom

Bnei Menashe – The Lost Tribe of Israel in Mizoram

The Siddi Tribe of Gujarat India of African origin

The Komusa Wandering Monks & their Shakuhachi flute

My talk at Asian Civilisations Museum

Intense Spirituality – Body piercing at the Thaipusam festival

Back to the Future – Tribal Life in Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 1: Glimpses of a contented People

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 2 : Hunter-Gatherer-Weavers

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 3 : Innovative housing

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 4 : A chance encounter with a Shaman Priest during a sacrifice ritual

Arunachal Hilltribe Lifestyle 5: The Gaanv Boodhas or Village Headmen of Arunachal Pradesh

Tribal signatures – Face Tattoos of the Apatanis

Fierce Nocte Headhunters

Head Hunting Trophies

Arunachal Pradesh Lifestyle – Innovative Housing

Traditional Sports – Kabutar Baazi or Pigeon Gaming

Ram Leela at Dassera in Mumbai

Traditional Sports of Ladakh – Archery

Traditional Sports of Ladakh – Polo

Mountain Adventures 18000ft above sea level – a landslide at the Khardungla Pass!

Bactrian Camels of the Central Asian Silk Route – Ladakh

A night-out with the Nomads of Changthang

Mastering the Mind & Body – the Monk Warriors of Shaolin

The Ambubasi Tantric Festival

Church of Saint Francis Xavier of Assisi, Old Goa

Terracotta Warriors, Xi’an – a photo gallery of exhibits at Asian Civilisations Museum

Viva San Jao 2011

Invitation to a Lambani Gypsy Tribal Wedding

Exquisite Vintage Kebayas – costumes of the Pernakan Culture

Sikkim Diaries

Chanting Ceremony at Lingdum Monastery, Sikkim

Losar Celebrations – Bonfire at Kagyud Monastery, Sikkim

Procession at the Enchey Monastery, Sikkim

Little Lamas, Sikkim

Lama Dances at Thongsa Monastery, Kalimpong

Dancing with the Nuns at Phendzong Nunnery

Cross border handshake at Nathu-la Pass on the Silk Route

Yak Horn textile adornments, Sikkim

Street Shrines of India

The Hornbill Festival, Nagaland

Naga Lifestyle

Tribal Dances of Nagaland

Traditional Naga Bamboo Climbing & Fire Making

Tribal Textile and Bead Art of Nagaland

Sacrificial Lamb at Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati

Train Ride across rural Assam – Guwahati to Dimapur

Sumazau Dance of Sabah, Borneo

Journey of a Lifetime – Tibet

The Narakasur Festival

Lifestyle of the Qashqai Tribe, South West Persia

Nomads of Mongolia

Driving to Sindhudurg Sea Fort and back

The Eunuch Community of Bombay

The Dhunuchi Dance at Durga Puja

Thumbuakar Tribals of Borneo

Lucknow – Capital of Awadh & city of Nawabs

The Dragon Dance

The Magnificent Lion Dance

Janamashtami Festival

A cup of tea with nomads and gypsies of the Kutch

Alternate Sexuality Traditions 2 – The Tibetans

Textile Symbolism 1 : Hilltribes of Northern Thailand

Alternate Sexuality Traditions 1 – The Khmers

The children of Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Time Travel Tour Operators

Kissing a Bengal Tiger

Common Memes between Tribes

Into the Arabian Sea at Mumbai

Through Rural Gujarat

Life in an Ashram

Goan Village House

Monsoon at Miramar, Goa

Dances from another place

The Fishing Nets of Cochin

The Lambani Gypsy Tribe

Lifestyle of the Hilltribes of Northern Thailand

Travelling Godmen

Colors of San Jao festival, Goa

Rajasthan Folk Art

Mountain flight to Mount Everest

Pashupatinath – celebration and sorrow

New posts are constantly being added to this list and will appear at the top.

jm

Fierce Nocte Headhunters

Portrait-collage of the Nocte Tribe, Khonsa, Arunachal Pradesh, a friendly happy yet fierce tribe with headhunting ancestry.

Hi res images available on http://www.jainamishra.com

My other related articles

Headhunting Tropies

Back to the Future – Tribal Life in Arunachal Pradesh

The Tribal Hornbill Festival, Nagaland

jm

January 2012

Head Hunting Trophies

The British had banned head hunting during the days of the Raj and ordered that all trophies – such as skulls of enemy tribes – be destroyed.

Most tribes complied. But a few Naga tribes stashed their spoils away in secret spots.

Skulls of men captured in tribal wars were buried temporarily and were later recovered.

These are on display in the village community hall today – images of which are displayed below:

These may evoke a spectrum of reactions from people from other worlds – but it is important to remember the original purpose while viewing these as part of the history of a culture – that these were seen as rewards for the bravery & courage and were badges of triumph of good over evil (self = good, other = evil, as it is in every world).

The injury mark that was probably caused by a ‘dho’

Skull of a dwarf warrior (right) alongside the skull of an elephant and a bird

Kohima museum exhibit (from Wikipedia)

Notwithstanding the laws of the British rulers, this practice continued to prevail. Later efforts of Christian missionaries resulted in conversions and brought a gradual end to the ethnic culture and this practice was given up not through the power of the ruling sword but through changes in belief. Further modernisation in present day India presented interaction with the outside world. This brought opportunities that were infinitely broader than those available to their ancestors whose lives were limited to a geography of a few hundred kilometers resulting in inter-tribal fights for territory and other resources. And so the head hunting practice completely died out in the 20th century.

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Just as I have no authority to judge a lion killing a deer, I have no authority or moral right to judge the rules that had evolved within a society that lived and thrived for centuries. I am an outsider whose comprehension of the inner workings – the logic, the social dynamics, the beliefs and the emotions – of that system will never be 100% complete.

As I mull over these peeps into lives that I will never live, I have to remind myself that curiosity and comprehension are the only valid lenses through which my mind should look at these traditions. No moral judgements and no prescription should be allowed to color my vision.

The Nagas who practiced these traditions a century ago  lived by a set of rules that were complete and internally consistent. And I am just a passer by in space and time – intrigued and in awe of a world beyond that is orthogonally different from the 2 or 3  worlds that I am used to.

My other articles on Arunachal Pradesh & Nagaland are linked below

Fierce Nocte Headhunters

Back to the Future – Tribal Life in Arunachal Pradesh

The Tribal Hornbill Festival, Nagaland

jm
December 2011

Terracotta Warriors, Xi’an – a photo gallery

Made of . These and other artifacts like bells, cranes, amulets and weapons are all widely speculated by experts to be part of the recreation of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s court in his afterlife.

The terracotta army buried near the tomb of the First Emperor of China  - Emperor Qin Shi Huang  was unearthed in 1974 outside Xi’an.

A few images of the low-fired clay intricate statues including a general (one of nine in the world), two archers, infantrymen, a cavalry officer, a charioteer, a strongman and a horse that are being exhibited by the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore.

Note the unique expression on the faces of the individual warriors

Note the spectrum of  designs of costume and head dress designs…

For a larger set of pro images, please visit http://www.jainamishra.com

jm

July 2011