Against the odds, a tribal farmer in southern India strives to conserve and share dozens of indigenous rice varieties. WORDS AND VIDEO  G. S. Unnikrishnan Nair | IMAGES  Anvar   . It is widely known that rice is the staple food for half the people on earth. In Asia, it lies at the very heart of the

WORDS Raynold Lyngdoh IMAGES Raynold and Anne Lyngdoh Nestled in the more secluded northeastern region of India are several unique tribal groups, each diverse and distinct in their own right. Every group faces immense challenges in maintaining their linguistic and cultural diversity, as globalization and external influences perpetually challenge and erode the age-old traditional practices

WORDS Kanna K. Siripurapu and Sabyasachi Das IMAGES Chandrasekhar Nemani and Kanna K. Siripurapu A few months ago, I received a document written by my colleague Uday Kalyanapu about the success of a backyard poultry project in the tribal-dominated areas of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The project was started by WASSAN (Watershed Support

WORDS Manju Maharjan and Yuvash Vaidya IMAGES Sheetal Vaidya and Shashank Shrestha We are Newahs, the Indigenous people of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. We are worshippers in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions and belong to several different ethnic groups, but historically we all spoke a common language, Nepalbhasa. While the language is prevalent among

Kanna K. Siripurapu The sacredness of the cow in India, especially to the vast majority of Hindus, hardly needs an introduction. According to the Hindu scriptures, all cows are descendants of the mythical cow Kamadhenu (also known as Surabhi). Born of an ocean of milk, Kamadhenu generously provides good things to anyone who asks. Her

Manju Maharjan, Yuvash Vaidya, Prakash Khadgi, and Sheetal Vaidya About twelve kilometers southeast of the city of Lalitpur in Nepal, an urban village called Badikhel sprawls over an area of nearly six square kilometers. Surrounded by a dense forest, the village harbors about 3,600 members of an Indigenous community, the Pahari, whose unique dialect, Pahibhae,

by Rakhi Kumari Food—its cultivation, cooking, and consumption—is an important ingredient for studying a society. Whether looking at food through the lens of anthropology, history, or linguistics, we cannot skip this strand of the cultural tapestry of a society if we wish to understand it clearly. What we eat, and how we eat, isn’t just

by Marina Aman Sham Malaysia is a vast country with a mosaic of cultures blending Asian and European influences. Its natural heritage spans rainforests that are home to many species of endemic wildlife, the great heights of its mountains, and seas filled with amazing underwater creatures. I am from Sabah, the Malaysian portion of the

Text by Zubair Torwali Photos by Aftab Ahmad When I still used to lend a hand in the fields to my father, now 78, he would refer to a certain guy, Bahadar |bahadər|, for his oral traditions about the right weather for sowing and harvesting. At that time, I was in college and was familiar

by Raynold Lyngdoh Nestled in the more secluded northeastern region of India are several unique tribal groups, each diverse and distinct in their own right. Every group faces immense challenges in maintaining their linguistic and cultural diversity, as globalization and external influences perpetually challenge and erode the age-old traditional practices and knowledge of the people