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- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Survival / Success
- Subject: Culture / Heritage / Lifestyles
- Published: 05/22/2021
In our World, there are so many things happening, there is no dearth of beliefs, legends, philosophies depending upon the inhabitants at different locations. As a result of these varying factors , some thinking emerges as common for the mankind and takes the shape of the common belief. They could be right or wrong, logical or illogical, genuine or ingenuine but the common perception becomes a sort of conceptual image in the minds. One of such common images within our society is the belief that indigenous people, or in other words the Tribal people, are backward, poor, primitive , uncultured, with horrible appearances and shabby conditions, so not easily acceptable to the modern world. They live in absolute isolation , happy within their own community, within the available means of living.
Here in this article , I would like to share the fact which defies the common misconception about the indigenous people, as an exceptional case. I would like to highlight the wonderful existence of the ‘Burusho tribe’ , the natives of “Hunza Valley “ in the Gilgit region, which , till 15th August 1947, existed in India and after the political partition of the country, is now a part of Pakistan. This is at extreme North bordering Afhganistan and China. ‘Hunza Valley’ is also known as ‘ The lost paradise’ at an altitude ranging from 2450 to 3500 Mtrs, in the gorgeous Himalayan range. Quickly I would speak on the factual details about this tribe;
Appearance & Life style :: Both the genders Men & Women belonging to Burosho Tribe are extremely handsome & beautiful, pink complexion, soft skin. Blue eyes , with very impressive personality appearance wise. They live very close to the nature, with almost no dependence on the present day comfort devices available. Their domicile being of very cold climate, they are dressed up with their own fashionable warm colourful garments and jewellery particularly girls and ladies. Their god gifted charming appearance, of which they are quite conscious and take pride of , makes them maintain them physically , second to none in the modern world. I would say the nascent and natural beauty of girls in this tribal community, can beat any beauty queen of our modern world with all decorations and make ups. There is no exaggeration in this statement.
They bathe in glaciers and drink glacier water. Their main occupation is cultivation of fruits, vegetables , dry fruit farming and dry fruit business. Their diet is organic raw vegetables , fruits, dry fruits, pulses, grains and non- vegetarian food from their own resources. They live free of tension, in the lap of Himalayan range breathing fresh air. They do not know what is pollution. They have never heard of diseases like Cancer , Tuberculosis , heart ailments. They speak their tribal language known as ‘ Burushaski’. Though geographically they are located in present Pakistan, but they are totally a different race than the normal inhabitants of that country.
Life Expectancy:: It is an amazing fact that the average age of the Burusho tribes of Hunza valley is 90 years. There are many men who live up to 120-130 years. Ladies live up to 100-110 years. Can it be believed that Burusho women can conceive even at the age of 70-75 years.
High land dwelling in the lap of nature in the Himalayan range:: Mostly confined to their own community, contended with their possessions without high expectations , busy in their day to day routines , lovers of their folk music , traditional dances , deeply engrossed in their customs and festivities , Burusho people live their lives in pure nature , without any artificiality , in highlands , enjoying green forests , flowing mountainous rivers , ravines , green pastures , snow clad mountains , water falls and streams. The activities of their daily life routines keep them in absolute fit and fine physical and mental conditions . The marvellous landscapes of their dwellings can easily be compared to any highly beautiful tourists’ destinations in the World , barring the infrastructure. In fact due to their location at extreme North bordering the neighbouring countries not much interference from the others , their originality is not much effected with time , and they continue to live in their heavenly World of Hunza valley as Burusho Tribe. It is said about their life-style, that they live like free birds.
Food & Beverages :: Burusho people consume highly nutritious food & beverages. Grains , pulses , fresh vegetables, fruits of high altitude cultivation like apricots, apples.Glacier water and apricot juices are their main drinks. They are very hard working people who eat to live with complete enthusiasm in their lives. Dry fruit farming and trading are their main activity . So dry fruits also make an important part of their food .
History :: Burusho tribe of today have an ancient history. In the 4th Century the , great ambitious warrior King of Macedonia, Alexander the Great , defeated the Iranians, destroyed their empire and moved to Kabul. From where he made his move to then India border , crossing Afghanistan. Fighting continuously ,starting from Iran and then with Indian Kings, including Porus, his army was terribly exhausted and got war weary and challenged Alexander to stop fighting as they were under severe effect of nostalgia and wanted to go home. Looking at their defiance attitude, Alexander had no option but to retreat after reaching the Indus valley of then India. The prominent historians narrate that Alexander was never defeated by any of his enemies but by his own army due to over ambitious attitude . Alexander was in India for nineteen months and then retreated as a compromise with his army. In this whole process many of the injured and ill soldiers could not go back and reach their homes and had to dump themselves out of helplessness at the region of India, where they are located now, the Hunza Valley, presently in Pakistan. The Burusho Tribe people are the descendants of People of Macedonia , who settled down in 326 BC in Northern most portion of then India.
Burusho people’s ancestors have a gallant history of warriors, which is reflected in their happy and industrious life style, maintaining their graceful identity at their present location. Though they remain as minority tribe , but very much comparable with harmonious living of the modern society.
Hem Bhandari
Defiance of the common global concept(Hem Bhandari)
In our World, there are so many things happening, there is no dearth of beliefs, legends, philosophies depending upon the inhabitants at different locations. As a result of these varying factors , some thinking emerges as common for the mankind and takes the shape of the common belief. They could be right or wrong, logical or illogical, genuine or ingenuine but the common perception becomes a sort of conceptual image in the minds. One of such common images within our society is the belief that indigenous people, or in other words the Tribal people, are backward, poor, primitive , uncultured, with horrible appearances and shabby conditions, so not easily acceptable to the modern world. They live in absolute isolation , happy within their own community, within the available means of living.
Here in this article , I would like to share the fact which defies the common misconception about the indigenous people, as an exceptional case. I would like to highlight the wonderful existence of the ‘Burusho tribe’ , the natives of “Hunza Valley “ in the Gilgit region, which , till 15th August 1947, existed in India and after the political partition of the country, is now a part of Pakistan. This is at extreme North bordering Afhganistan and China. ‘Hunza Valley’ is also known as ‘ The lost paradise’ at an altitude ranging from 2450 to 3500 Mtrs, in the gorgeous Himalayan range. Quickly I would speak on the factual details about this tribe;
Appearance & Life style :: Both the genders Men & Women belonging to Burosho Tribe are extremely handsome & beautiful, pink complexion, soft skin. Blue eyes , with very impressive personality appearance wise. They live very close to the nature, with almost no dependence on the present day comfort devices available. Their domicile being of very cold climate, they are dressed up with their own fashionable warm colourful garments and jewellery particularly girls and ladies. Their god gifted charming appearance, of which they are quite conscious and take pride of , makes them maintain them physically , second to none in the modern world. I would say the nascent and natural beauty of girls in this tribal community, can beat any beauty queen of our modern world with all decorations and make ups. There is no exaggeration in this statement.
They bathe in glaciers and drink glacier water. Their main occupation is cultivation of fruits, vegetables , dry fruit farming and dry fruit business. Their diet is organic raw vegetables , fruits, dry fruits, pulses, grains and non- vegetarian food from their own resources. They live free of tension, in the lap of Himalayan range breathing fresh air. They do not know what is pollution. They have never heard of diseases like Cancer , Tuberculosis , heart ailments. They speak their tribal language known as ‘ Burushaski’. Though geographically they are located in present Pakistan, but they are totally a different race than the normal inhabitants of that country.
Life Expectancy:: It is an amazing fact that the average age of the Burusho tribes of Hunza valley is 90 years. There are many men who live up to 120-130 years. Ladies live up to 100-110 years. Can it be believed that Burusho women can conceive even at the age of 70-75 years.
High land dwelling in the lap of nature in the Himalayan range:: Mostly confined to their own community, contended with their possessions without high expectations , busy in their day to day routines , lovers of their folk music , traditional dances , deeply engrossed in their customs and festivities , Burusho people live their lives in pure nature , without any artificiality , in highlands , enjoying green forests , flowing mountainous rivers , ravines , green pastures , snow clad mountains , water falls and streams. The activities of their daily life routines keep them in absolute fit and fine physical and mental conditions . The marvellous landscapes of their dwellings can easily be compared to any highly beautiful tourists’ destinations in the World , barring the infrastructure. In fact due to their location at extreme North bordering the neighbouring countries not much interference from the others , their originality is not much effected with time , and they continue to live in their heavenly World of Hunza valley as Burusho Tribe. It is said about their life-style, that they live like free birds.
Food & Beverages :: Burusho people consume highly nutritious food & beverages. Grains , pulses , fresh vegetables, fruits of high altitude cultivation like apricots, apples.Glacier water and apricot juices are their main drinks. They are very hard working people who eat to live with complete enthusiasm in their lives. Dry fruit farming and trading are their main activity . So dry fruits also make an important part of their food .
History :: Burusho tribe of today have an ancient history. In the 4th Century the , great ambitious warrior King of Macedonia, Alexander the Great , defeated the Iranians, destroyed their empire and moved to Kabul. From where he made his move to then India border , crossing Afghanistan. Fighting continuously ,starting from Iran and then with Indian Kings, including Porus, his army was terribly exhausted and got war weary and challenged Alexander to stop fighting as they were under severe effect of nostalgia and wanted to go home. Looking at their defiance attitude, Alexander had no option but to retreat after reaching the Indus valley of then India. The prominent historians narrate that Alexander was never defeated by any of his enemies but by his own army due to over ambitious attitude . Alexander was in India for nineteen months and then retreated as a compromise with his army. In this whole process many of the injured and ill soldiers could not go back and reach their homes and had to dump themselves out of helplessness at the region of India, where they are located now, the Hunza Valley, presently in Pakistan. The Burusho Tribe people are the descendants of People of Macedonia , who settled down in 326 BC in Northern most portion of then India.
Burusho people’s ancestors have a gallant history of warriors, which is reflected in their happy and industrious life style, maintaining their graceful identity at their present location. Though they remain as minority tribe , but very much comparable with harmonious living of the modern society.
Hem Bhandari
Gerald R Gioglio
08/04/2021Hem, absolutely fascinating. Thanks for researching and reporting on these folks.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Hem Bhandari
08/05/2021Many thanks Gerald. Its a pleasant feeling when an effort is appreciated by readers. Hem
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
08/04/2021Hey Hem,
I agree with both Shirley and JD, and Aziz, even tho it wasn't a Story in one way, it was the Story of a People in another. I learned a whole lot of History, not to mention Geography - and the lines drawn by man that don't really exist except on maps. Lovely, just lovely.
Smiles, Kevin
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Hem Bhandari
08/05/2021Hi Kevin:: I do agree with observations that this text in fact is not a story, but an interesting sequence of
folklore life-style of a particular race, as a realistic history. Such, texts or descriptions out of
their attractive features , become an inquisitive material for many readers, and appreciated,
which has happened in my case of this article also. I love history of any place, so such juicy
instances , become my choice to share with friends. I am lucky, it has been always admired by
readers. I thank all my reader friends, for their lovely compliments. Hem
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Shirley Smothers
08/04/2021Wow! What an interesting story. Nice to read of people who have been little affected by modern people. Bravo for them. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Hem Bhandari
08/04/2021Many thanks Shirley. I am pleased you liked the article. Request you to read my same article on
another site www.photoblog.com , also. Here you will find many pictures of the place/people,for better
visual effect. In case you decide to do so, I will welcome your views on that too. Cheers. Hem
Help Us Understand What's Happening
JD
08/03/2021Love the pic you provided to go with this story. What beautiful people. For the most part this story is more like a Wikipedia article than a story. However you provided a lot of interesting information and history about this people who I had not known of before, so thank you for sharing your knowledge about them on Storystar. Happy short story STAR of the day, Hem! : )
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Hem Bhandari
08/04/2021Many Thanks JD.
Storystar permits only 1 pictures. Request you to read my same story on another site www.photoblog.com, under author hem2411 . You will fall in love with also the place besides the
very beautiful people with such longevity. The entire race in Hunza Valley is really God gifted on
their charming appearance , healthy environment, food and life-style, in general. If possible do visit
this heavenly region to see the all round beauty yourself.
Cheers. Hem
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Aziz
05/22/2021Very interesting article. You dealt with a cultural issue and threw the light on many deep thoughts. Personally I ignored most of what developped in this piece of work.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Hem Bhandari
05/22/2021Salam Walequm Aziz bhai:: Thanks for your compliment. I have the same respect for all the religions, languages, culture, traditions, as much for my own. To the best of my ability & believe, I practice the principle of " Sara Jahan Hamara", in my life.
In this article, for the feelings, which you had to ignore , I should be pardoned, as I do not wish to hurt any one's feelings, in my interactions with others. Best Wishes
Hem Bhandari
COMMENTS (5)