Subu Sie

Amazing are the ways the nature has designed our home. Even in smallest details which we usually overlook! The muddy puddle we see below are no ordinary place, but a Subu Sie where the mithuns in the area make it a point to make a visit each day.

Sube Sies are special places in Ziro area (I am not sure of their existence in other places) where the mithuns come to drink water. The water in such places are said to be salty. The picture above is one of the better known sie at Siiro. There are piita sies where birds come to drink water too! Birdwatchers, watch out this space for more.

First Water Supply System

The first water supply system in the Ziro area is 51 years old now. Indira Gandhi inaugurated the system at Hari village on March 18, 1958.

What impresses one is the fact that inaugural plate is written in Hindi as well as Apatani. The Apatani version says:
Hari Yasi Sukuñ
Srimati Indira Gandhi mukobite
Mloko Polo, 18 March 1958

I have seen innumerable inaugural plates prepared under the supervision of Apatani officers today, but not a single one written in Apatani. Can we learn from the past?

The Rainbow - Nyime Yaru

If there is anything associated with monsoon at Ziro, the most pleasant one is the Nyime-yaru - the rainbow. It is believed to be the god that stops the rain from coming nearer. Whenever a rainbow appears, the rain does not move any nearer and usually stops. Sounds unbelievable, but it happens to be a fact!

One thing is sure - I have never seen rainbows in any other place as often as at Ziro.