Respect。Connect。Reflect。 "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." - Henry Miller

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited - The Vanishing Kalasha

PAKISTAN | Monday, 14 January 2013 | Views [585] | View Larger Image

The funeral of a respected person in the village was held over three days, with the beating of drums and women dancing and singing in circles. The life of a deceased is celebrated by a life story retold by the elders of the village. Life and death are treated by the Kalash as part and partial of the undying cycle of nature.

Tucked away in the dramatic mountainous region bordering Afghanistan, the remote Kalash Valleys can only be accessed after winding for hours through sharp turns and bumpy roads. The primary form of communication of the Kalash Valleys to the outside world is, apart from the only TV in the village at the communal teahouse, the donkeys that transport people and commodities to and from the villages. But such isolation is gradually disappearing with introduction of the money economy by homesteaders coming from other parts of Pakistan, which are starting to outnumber the indigenous population.

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To erect homes along the slanted valley walls, Kalash houses are laid out such that the rooftop of a house is used as foundation for another house built above. Having settled for generations on fertile river banks dotted by apricot and mulberry trees deep in the Hindukush, the Kalasha people live in tune with nature and take its provisions as blessings for their survival.

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Respect。Connect。Reflect。 "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." - Henry Miller

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited - The Vanishing Kalasha

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