Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Scheduled to Stay


In light of the political developments in the state of Andhra Pradesh, a central question has been that of identity. There have been domiciliary claims based on dialect, culture, lineage, property, migration and so on.

But if the question of "Sons of the Soil" is explored to its logical conclusion, then the first inheritors of that title should be the ancient tribes of the region who date back their origins to time immemorial in the hills and forests of the realm.

Here is a fascinating anthropological documentary with footage from around 70 years ago on the tribes of this territory. While we inhabit and claim for ourselves various provinces today just as so many unsuccessfully did before us, as always by not playing our games, these tribes quietly focus on outlasting all other claimants.


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