Apatani Villages

“Why can’t your people keep your villages as neat as your agricultural fields?” a friend asked me when I was proudly showing him around in one of the Apatani villages some years back. When the officers and leaders of Ziro area took Kapil Sibal, then Indian Minister for Science and Technology to an Apatani village, he is said to have remarked, “This is a slum.”

The working section of the Apatani people spends 98% of their daylight hours in the agricultural fields or in the jungles. They leave the villages at day-break and return home at dusk. No wonder, the agricultural fields and the bamboo gardens are cared for in a better way than the village neighborhood.

The scene, happily, is changing. Following is a picture of Hija village I took yesterday when a senior friend from Delhi visited Ziro. “The villages are very neat and the children are so fair,” was his remark. These villages having recently celebrated the Myoko festival are richly decorated - with small babos and big babos, lapangs and nagos of different designs and newly carpeted roads.



Since the summer weather is still so pleasant, it is a sheer pleasure to walk around the Apatani villages these days. Watch the children playing, the older people taking rest on the simbyas and occasional young person returning home with a bundle of firewood. Chickens and dogs, which played a major role in dirtying the neighborhood, are rarely seen now.

These days, houses with innovative designs are coming up in the villages. However, those built mainly with concrete stand out grotesquely. The main component of innovation, therefore, could be retaining the traditional touches in any design.

Parliamentary Election Result at Ziro

The result of the recent Parliamentary election in the Ziro area makes one wonder about the voting pattern of the people. (Click on the image below to get better view).



The candidates were Kiren Rijiju (BJP), Takam Sanjoy (INC), Taba Taku (Lok Bharati) and Subu Kechi (Independent).

Paddy Transplantation and Siigañ

The Apatanis have two occasions in a year when everything can wait but their works in the paddy fields. One is now - time for transplantation of paddy saplings. The other would be in October - harvesting time.



Its a joy to look at the irrigation channels - siigañs these days. This is the time when the water should be flowing continuously in these channels.




As children, we used to put paper boats at the origin of this siigañ and follow the course till it joins back the original river downstream.

Eat Outs

Stinking meat market in the neighborhood. A couple of gambling shops. An unlikely location for eating place, but on the roof of one of the buildings is a well-designed restaurant - creatively named Feeder.





Decent preparation. A cup of tea costs Rs. 10. So called Feeder combo is Rs. 100. Smartly dressed young girls work as waiters. Wisely, alcohols are strictly prohibited. The restaurant closes at 8.00 PM.

Potable Water, Enjoyable View

The recently commissioned Water Treatment Plant is one of the welcome developments at Ziro. In contrast to tapping water from the sources in the jungle in the past, a proper treatment plant is functioning now on the hill behind the All India Radio. The water here comes from Seya Piro (source of Seya Kiile) and supplies most part of Hapoli township. The output tank here can store as much as 300,000 liters.


What prompted this blog entry, however, is not the water supply aspect of the treatment plant, but the way the location has been developed. As it is located on the top of a hill, it makes for a pleasant spot to stroll in the evening. The area is well maintained. One can have some of the best views of Ziro from here.


One only wishes the same quality of maintenance is kept up.