Of Monkeys and Modernization

I first heard about the Dard Shin or Dard tribe, or Broghpas as they are also sometimes called, on account of a hydroelectric project I had read about, which threatens to wipe out the entire ecosystem of the Gurez valley in Kashmir.

The 330 Megawatt, multi million dollar project on the Kishenganga river (still apparently in the initial stages) aims to inundate the entire valley, driving out more than 25,000 people belonging to the Dard tribe. Not only is the unique culture of this little known tribe endangered, but also the wildlife in the region including rare animals like the snow leopard and a number of little researched, exotic species of plants.

This is not the first time that the monster called "I don't care about you" has come to us in the form of modernization. However you try to justify the gains brought about by gigantic projects that adversely affect the lives of poor people, you end up with the fact that precious, sometimes unnameable aspects of our lives and culture are lost through the destruction they bring about. The finer aspects of life are then replaced by some kind of robot like worship of money and grandeur, which has nothing to do with the actual wellbeing of people.

The modernisation of defence in fact seems to have opened the very doors to hell. With so much brain power being invested in creative ways to destroy each other, what has happened is that the same barbaric psychology we human beings have been saddled with for centuries (which nobody bothers to deal with at the emotional level in order for us to be able to overcome it) is multiplied a thousand fold, offering us the potential to destroy the world itself several times over, with a lot more aplomb than before.

You get the strange feeling of an arsenal of lethal equipment having fallen into the hands of a species of deceptively civilized apes. What makes it grotesque are the slick theories and concepts these intelligent apes have managed to formulate to justify its use. At any point however, the leaders of the various monkey factions could get into a serious squabble over a bunch of bananas and send the whole planet hurtling back into the void from which it came.

It is not technology that is the problem, of course. It is our mindset. It's the way we have consistently abused the gift of human intelligence from the word go. It is remarkable how little we have used the advanced circuitry of our brains to make the world a genuinely better place for all, instead of for the benefit of a handful of us.

What else was it I wanted to say about the Dard tribe? Oh yes. The fact that the process of modernization had begun to wear down their culture long before the gigantic hydroelectric project was conceived.

The Broghpas are the last representatives I discovered, of an ancient and unique culture whose influence at one point spanned the area from north eastern Afghanistan to central Tibet. Their fame is even recorded by the ancient Greek and Roman writers. Supposed to be descendants of a group of soldiers who, following the battle with Porus, lost their way returning to Greece, they settled down in the fertile valley of Dhahnu in Ladakh.

Norboo, a scholar who has extensively studied this tribe, describes some of their practices which include cow worship, sacrificial offerings and rituals centered around music, wine and dance at the onset of spring.

The interesting thing is that the Brogpas traditionally practiced polygamy and polyandry. Like the Gonds in central India they did not look down upon pre-marital sex. However, it has been difficult for the tribe to hang on to their cultural roots.

Long before the proposed Kishenganga dam threatened their existence, modern Indian culture (which at its worst is such a horrendous mish mash of old and new prejudices) had begun to chip away at the local customs, which were denounced as "uncivilized." Till 1970, men and women would kiss each other quite openly without consideration for their marital partners. The Indian army, aided by the local urban population in this region however, seems to have changed all this.
The Broghpas began to be initiated into the ways of Victorian prudery (which remains a part of Indian culture long after it has worn off in the country of its origin) and to be ticked off for sinful indulgence.

"We didn't know what shame was," says Tashi a member of the tribe. "But we are learning it gradually, because of modern education and we are giving up our culture and traditions.

"Now we kiss only when there are no outsiders around," he adds. Who knows, soon the Broghpas might stop kissing altogether by which time anyway their homeland would have been flooded by the waters of the great new dam.

It takes so little to destroy a culture, people's spirit, the environment, just about anything you can think of that is valuable. The price we pay for our loss - whether we are speaking of the loss of innocence, our connection with nature or the destruction of our ties with each other - is heavy.

In the scramble for those extra dollars we end up calloused and oblivious to our own and each other's suffering. Those of us who truly mourn the loss of our natural heritage are eventually left to hold each other's hands or to make our way to the nearest psychotherapist whom you have to pay a bomb to sort out the resulting mess in your head.