Dinner with Mom

July 28, 2010 | Category: Culture, Events | News by: Ross M. and Sandy W. (volunteers)

A few weeks ago, we went with Lobsang for an overnight homestay at his mother’s house in Tawang (the central city of this district in Arunachal Pradesh). While there is much modern influence in even the simplest of homes in this region, his mother still lives a very traditional lifestyle, preferring to preserve the customs and culture in which she grew up. Her home is almost like a little bubble of previous generations within our modern day, and a glimpse at the still predominant lifestyle in more remote villages.

Surrounding her house is a small field of corn which she tends to in the morning and evening, before and after she goes to work building roads during the day.

Inside, her two-room house is small but well cared for. The walls are built of smooth planks of wood, weathered by years of the annual monsoon rain and winter winds. It’s dimly lit, and the walls slightly blackened with soot from her indoor wood-burning stove.

The kitchen—also her bedroom, living room, and dining room—is modestly furnished, but her few possessions are ornate, carefully crafted to last for years. She showed us her two sets of remarkably smooth hand-carved wooden bowls, in which she has eaten three meals a day since they were gifted to her as a teenager. She stores her water in a traditional brass basin, adorned with a katak—a white scarf signifying respect, usually used to greet honored guests and often hung among prayer flags in places of spiritual significance. Lobsang explained this ancient method of keeping water, honoring its indispensability.

For dinner, she prepared for us a traditional meal of sen—a playdough-like block of millet dough—which is pinched into mini-spoons and used as a vehicle for churba—a soup made of local aged cheese and chilies. (Lobsang has used this technique for years to repel the ladies). This combination is served with hot chang, a local brew of fermented barley and millet, mixed with melted butter.

Before bed, Lobsang modeled for us a pair of traditional Monpa pants he is having specially made. While many girls—particularly older women—still wear traditional Monpa dress (a long, pink striped dress, tied at the waist, with an embroidered overcoat), traditional men’s dress has fallen out of fashion as Western clothes have entered the remote region in the last generation. His mother has ordered pieces of the outfit from friends of hers in various villages who still specialize in the craft, but fewer and fewer people are learning to make the clothing, and Lobsang predicts that in ten years it may be impossible to find.

Hey!  There’s a new gallery with more photos of Lobsang’s mom, and her beautiful place!

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One Comments

  1. gatsal
    on August 1st, 2010
    1

    Thanks to ROSS & SANDY for their wonderful job!
    Hope to see more..
    :)

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