In 2015, I attended the Ziro Music Festival at Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh. The venue had two stages. In the day, small acts performed at a picturesque slope to small audiences on a small stage.
In the evening, big acts performed on a large stage with superb lighting and sound systems. On the periphery of this venue, there were stalls, tables and benches for people to eat or simply sit. All these were made of bamboo.
The locals in Ziro mainly consists of people from the Apatani tribe. The long knife, many of them carry, makes them appear intimidating. A local told me that though the knife can be used for fighting, it is usually used for cutting grass and bamboo.
At the music venue, I met a young, local man and his friend. They were repairing benches. They were fast. They could easily construct a bench in an hour. I found their ability to quickly construct things with bamboo very empowering. I started considering learning to build things from bamboo.
So I asked the young man, "Where did you learn to use bamboo?"
He replied, "From friends."
I asked, "What do you mean?"
He said "When my friends went to make furniture or build houses, I joined them."
In my ignorance, I visualised a community of carpenters from whom I could learn. So I asked him, "Where can I find these carpenters?"
He said, "What carpenters?"
I said, "The people, who make benches"
He gaped at me and said, "Carpenters? Everyone here makes their own furniture and houses."
I looked at him blankly. I thought he and his friend were carpenters. They did carpentry work. But they were not carpenters. The man I was talking to turned out to be an M.A. in Literature!!
For some days, I couldn't wrap my head around what he had said. Then it dawned on me. Most of the North East states have a caste-less society. Despite being a Christian, which supposedly doesn't have a caste system, I had always lived in a casteist society without recognising it fully. Intellectually I abhor casteism. But I don't see even a tenth of the way it plays out in society because I don't recognise its structures, systems its challenges. In fact I practice casteism unknowingly. Running over a man because I didn't see him doesn't make me less culpable for murder. Casteism is my fault as well because I never attempted to find out enough to recognise it.
After the music festival, I took a public transport, a jeep, to travel within old Ziro. There were well-dressed locals who sat with me. At one of the stops, a woman labourer with a muddy basket got into the jeep. I thought "she is dirty. How will we manage?" whereas one of the well-dressed locals shifted to make space for the labourer and continued to have a warm chat with her. I don't know what the well-dressed woman was thinking. But it was a simple act in a caste-less society. People did different jobs but they weren't defined by it.
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| The small venue at the Ziro Music Festival. Image credit: Photograph by Adam Halliday for the Indian Express |
The locals in Ziro mainly consists of people from the Apatani tribe. The long knife, many of them carry, makes them appear intimidating. A local told me that though the knife can be used for fighting, it is usually used for cutting grass and bamboo.
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| Dressed up Apatani tribal woman from Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh Image credit: Photograph by Vinod Panicker |
So I asked the young man, "Where did you learn to use bamboo?"
He replied, "From friends."
I asked, "What do you mean?"
He said "When my friends went to make furniture or build houses, I joined them."
In my ignorance, I visualised a community of carpenters from whom I could learn. So I asked him, "Where can I find these carpenters?"
He said, "What carpenters?"
I said, "The people, who make benches"
He gaped at me and said, "Carpenters? Everyone here makes their own furniture and houses."
I looked at him blankly. I thought he and his friend were carpenters. They did carpentry work. But they were not carpenters. The man I was talking to turned out to be an M.A. in Literature!!
For some days, I couldn't wrap my head around what he had said. Then it dawned on me. Most of the North East states have a caste-less society. Despite being a Christian, which supposedly doesn't have a caste system, I had always lived in a casteist society without recognising it fully. Intellectually I abhor casteism. But I don't see even a tenth of the way it plays out in society because I don't recognise its structures, systems its challenges. In fact I practice casteism unknowingly. Running over a man because I didn't see him doesn't make me less culpable for murder. Casteism is my fault as well because I never attempted to find out enough to recognise it.
After the music festival, I took a public transport, a jeep, to travel within old Ziro. There were well-dressed locals who sat with me. At one of the stops, a woman labourer with a muddy basket got into the jeep. I thought "she is dirty. How will we manage?" whereas one of the well-dressed locals shifted to make space for the labourer and continued to have a warm chat with her. I don't know what the well-dressed woman was thinking. But it was a simple act in a caste-less society. People did different jobs but they weren't defined by it.
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