If you are like me (well, I feel sorry for you if that were the case!) then you already dreaming a vacation to this place, to get a feel for the people and their culture and the landscape and ...
It is, apparently, the time for winter harvest festivals in Western Meghalaya:
During the festival, the Garo — indigenous residents of the sub-tropical hills in Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura and Bangladesh — offer produce from the first harvest to Misi Saljong, the giver or the Sun God, in a ritual called Rugala. Nokmas or village chieftains lead troupes of male drummers and female dancers in a parade, accompanied by buffalo-horn trumpets and flutes.Of course, I have drooled about this part of the world earlier too--three Novembers ago--and there I had included this photo, also from The Hindu:
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Well, at least not a concern for now!
A final note from The Hindu:
Alva Sangma, the editor of Achik Songbad, a Garo weekly, offered this reporter a lift from Tura. Alva, a former rally driver, drifts past the hairpin bends through the hills with terrifying ease. Rod Stewart keeps her company from the stereo. “Garos are confident drivers and musicians.Maybe in December 2013, equipped with a whole lot of dramamine? I have an inalienable right to dream, right? :)
2 comments:
Its both captivating and not so captivating at the same time ! I went there in 1987 - was it so long ago:( . Parts of Meghalaya were very pretty and parts, even in those days, bore every resemblance to the haphazard ugliness of small town India. A major problem was water shortage - in Cherrapunji, which was the wettest place in the world, water was in short supply. In hilly terrain, with no capacity to store water, the water all drained away into the valleys below.
But the beauty of the place and the people, must still be there. The Khasi, Garo and Jaintia, the tribes that are the majority of Meghalayans are very hospitable, nice and to my eyes those days, when I wasn't that much traveled , "exotic".
You should go to the Seven sisters. Nagaland and Meghalaya are beautiful. Parts of Assam are too. Manipur is exotic. Mizoram, even more so. Tripura, I wouldn't go to. Arunachal -- waaaah; the one place in India I would really like to go to , and haven't.
Next visit to India, you should venture there. Forget those innerline permits. They aren't an issue really.
you are most welcome to join us at our harvest festival next year in 2013....100 drums wangala festival will be held every year on the 2nd friday and saturday of november.... so please do join us. you can also view our blog www.hundreddrumswangalafestival.blogspot.com
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