Tuesday, September 20, 2011

World Bamboo Day

As the world was observing the World Bamboo Day on 18th last, I was looking around the ways we use bamboos in our daily life. I briefly mentioned the roles of bamboo in our live here and so, will not repeat that. I'll show some bamboo items as I looked around my home. 

Piipiñ and yagii are two of the most prominent items in any Apatani house. Piipiñ is used to dry paddy, millet, chilly or other items. It also serves as giant plates for many people to eat together on certain special occasions.

Yagii essentially serves as a basket to carry things around. They are named according to their sizes - giida pata, entii yagii, puhe yagii and so on. The one in the picture is the giida pata.
 There are many other bamboo implements that I mentioned earlier. I recently constructed a bamboo furniture which I find is really useful.
 And this is the season bamboo is harvested at Ziro. The following are the remains of the bamboo - the top (milyiñ and arañ). They too are used for many purposes; I am still figuring out the best uses now.

The few points mentioned here are hardly a comprehensive list of the ways the Apatanis use bamboo. It is just a pointer to the fact that bamboo is the material that sustains our lives.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Shades of Gold at Ziro

Colors never cease to play at Ziro. Gorgeous grey with placid blue as background in winter. Spring brings with it riots of color - whites of pecha apu, reds of sembo apu and pinks of takuñ apu. As the season advances, greenery spreads everywhere. The blanket of greenery goes on darkening, giving way to yellowish tint.

Middle of September, however, is the best time as far as color combination at Ziro is concerned. Ripening paddy presenting various shades of gold. Emo look whitish with green tints due to their leaves. Different varieties of mipya, which are ripe now, are either golden or blackish. This, verily, must have inspired the pyamiñ combination so characteristic of the Apatani textile.
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At places the paddy fields look like islands of gold in the sea of green. At others, the villages with their characteristic green rims of bamboo gardens look like islands of white in the sea of gold.
More shades can be seen here and here. Welcome to Ziro before it turns grey with harvesting of paddy in two weeks from now.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Hapoli - Then & Now


Ziro in mid-1980s (Source: posting in Facebook by Tadu Omo)
Ziro in mid-2000s