———- Forwarded Message ———-
Letter PAMHO:21764807 (14 lines)
From: Samba (das) (Mayapur Masterplan)
Date: 14-Jun-11 06:36 (12:06 +0530)
To: Global Varnasrama Mission [662]
Subject: Interesting article
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In 1987 Akiko Wada left her bustling hi-tech metropolis in Japan to go
backpacking with friends around the remote mountains of northern Pakistan.
But once she discovered the beautiful village of Balanguru and the unique
Kalash tribe that lived there, she decided to stay.
An island of high-altitude tranquility within a sea of violent change, she
adopted Balanguru as her new home and decided to \"become Kalash\" and adopt a
simple life – no phones, no television and, at the time I was visiting, no
electricity.
She laments the changes she has witnessed, saying that while it is good that
boys from the area are getting an education, the simplicity of life when she
first arrived is under threat.
Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/13637608
——- End of Forwarded Message ——
The Japanese tourist who joined Pakistani mountain tribe
By Nosheen Abbas Kalash valley
Akiko
In 1987 Akiko Wada left her bustling hi-tech metropolis in Japan to go
backpacking with friends around the remote mountains of northern Pakistan.
But once she discovered the beautiful village of Balanguru and the unique
Kalash tribe that lived there, she decided to stay.
An island of high-altitude tranquility within a sea of violent change, she
adopted Balanguru as her new home and decided to \"become Kalash\" and adopt a
simple life – no phones, no television and, at the time I was visiting, no
electricity.
She might even be the first foreigner to adopt the mountain tribe as her
own, but she says that the regular stream of anthropologists who lived among
them allowed the Kalash people to become accustomed to outsiders.
\"They are very happy that someone stays with them, they welcome it. They are
a minority so they feel proud if someone from outside joins them,\" she said.
Continue reading the main story
The Kalash are not Muslim: they worship their ancestors as well as a
pantheon of 12 gods and goddesses.
She learned the language and never looked back.
But it was a different story back home in Japan. Her father was incensed and
she was not allowed to return to his house for almost a decade. Now her
parents are elderly and she has been to visit them, although her immediate
family has never come to see her in her new mountain home.
Friends no longer come either, she says, as they are afraid to visit
Pakistan because of the violence.
Akiko says she chose to stay because she was impressed by the Kalash\’s
self-sufficient lifestyle.
\"They follow nature, they are self-dependent, weave their own dresses. It is
not like working in the office. It attracted me.\"
She even married into the tribe, but the relationship foundered.
\"We are separated now. He used to help and he used to be co-operative.
Through him I thought I could do something for the community, like I thought
of it as a dreami but he changed.\"
Helping the community
Despite the estrangement, she has a deep link with the community and today
Akiko is a respected Kalash. Twelve years ago she came up with the idea of
making hand-made paper using many kinds of waste material as a way of
generating an income. She attempted to involve children from the community.
kalash house that akiko lives in Akiko lives with no phone and no television
Through the Japanese government she got a generator for the village. A part
of her house also serves as a multi-purpose hall for the Kalash community.
\"In the morning we do crafts and then the children come in the evening for
the library… My Kalash relatives have a lot of functions and it usually
involves the entire village.\"
Although she is protective of Kalash culture, Akiko also has her criticisms.
\"Women can only wash their hands in the village, otherwise they have to go
outside of the village to take a bath or wash their hair. In some villagers
the closest water is two hours away. I feel this is really unfair.\"
So Akiko began building common bathrooms for the women of the village, but
the project has met with limited success. She says there needs to be a
change in attitudes.
\"I don\’t say anything. They themselves need to be awarei but I find some of
these taboo traditions very annoying,\" she says.
Outside pressure
Akiko also feels the Kalash have been besieged by modernity and Islamic
missionaries. During the 1980s, under the regime of Gen Zia-ul-Haq, a wave
of Islamisation reportedly saw self-styled \"guardians of religion\" forcibly
converting many minorities including the Kalash.
Electioneering also kicked off in the area at that time. \"Money started
flowing in, political candidates came with money and the projects that NGOs
did showed no results. I think now Kalash are following the Pakistani system
and they are not as simple and pure as they used to be.\"
She laments the changes she has witnessed, saying that while it is good that
boys from the area are getting an education, the simplicity of life when she
first arrived is under threat.
\"There is no difference between them and a Karachi boy. They don\’t go to the
fields and herd sheep any more.\"
Such a conservative attitude appears incongruous coming from the mouth of a
Japanese-turned-Kalash, but Akiko Wada is clearly respected among the
community here.
During a recent Kalash festival she was right in the middle of proceedings –
ordinarily a place where only Kalash are allowed – and when the cleric was
reciting a prayer, she was sitting on a chair as one of the core circle of
elders.