Chenchu music: “Kinnera” stringed music instrument – Telangana

The instrument uses bamboo for the neck, dried and hollowed gourds for resonators, human hair or animal nerves for strings, and pangolin scales for frets which are fixed using honey-wax. According to Mr. Rao, visiting faculty at the Centre for Dalit and Adivasi Studies at the UoH, Chenchus lost the instrument half a century ago … Read more

India’s tribal cultural heritage – Andhra Pradesh

“There cannot be a mere developmental/economistic solution to the Adivasi ‘problem’. But that has been the dominant approach to mitigating their condition. […] Adivasis cannot be equal citizens until they are considered holistically as a part of cultural and ecospheres with unique customs and practices, and not just as welfare recipients receiving doles. Further, there … Read more

Wild food festivals & Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN): The world’s most important food movement

Enjoy A Feast in The Forest In MaharashtraA few summers ago, I visited Vanvadi forest for the first time. I had just met the environmentalist Bharat Mansata, who asked me to help him photo-document the wild edible plants that grow there. A wise and endearing Thakur Adivasi [Thakar Adivasi] tribal from these parts, Bua, accompanied us; he … Read more