What I learned from the tribals of Ziro | Himani Chaukar | TEDxPICT

Are tribals really "backwards"? Himani Chaukar takes us through her journey in Ziro and shows us what makes tribal culture special and important to the outside world. Himani Chaukar is an enthusiastic teacher of Philosophy at Ruia College, Mumbai. She is a recipient of Asiatic Society’s research fellowship for a social sciences and the best research project award in the state level inter-university research convention ‘Avishkar’ She has been studying and researching on the subject of tribal studies focusing on the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh and is well versed with the intricate details of their lifestyles! At TEDxPICT, she will share some interesting experiences and aspects of her 5 -year long study of living with these tribes. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@bin99kalung2]

I'm Kalung Nobin from ziro.. ma'am I love the way you explain donyipoloism. And I appreciate the interest you showed to our people. Thank you . Hope to meet you one day.

[@Worldwideavailablein]

Sadly Christian missionaries are converting them to Christan

[@katotasso8196]

Amazing work. I am an apatani myself and the way she has explained it , has enlightened my own understanding of our religion even further. She has taken a different approach towards northeast tribal religions in general, which is often vastly misunderstood by majority of mainstream/mainland indians. Hats off to her. Need more such initiatives by our fellow Indian sisters and brothers.

[@gyatilento5661]

💯

[@naniriku9898]

As per explain by dear Madam excellent job indeed.But she needs further more depth .

[@yashagrawal88]

@@naniriku9898 The video is just a small portion of her actual research.

[@Worldwideavailablein]

Sadly Christian missionaries are converting them to Christan

[@KushalMangal]

Beautifully said! So glad that you took the time out of your 'mainstream' life, and studied these tribes, so that we all could benefit out of it. These tribes indeed do surpass many of our global beliefs and thought patterns. I hope that the world gets to look at them through your eyes, and appreciates these backbenchers for who they are ;)

[@GurpreetKaur-qz5qv]

I love northeast .. I always feel a connection to them .. yesterday in metro I hv met with a girl from Manipur.. I can’t stop myself from talking to her .. she was great soul made me sooo happy .. we talk about Manipuri culture a little bit .. 😊 n about our lives n goals .. I wish her gud luck before leaving n great success in all sphere of life .. Beautiful experience.. I will continue to live these experiences 🦋🦋🦋

[@awinashbiniwale8012]

Dr. Himani Chaukar, yr talk is fantastic. You have explained the tribal philosophy in a very simple way. You should work similarly on other tribes in Arunachal Pradesh.

[@lay7821]

Being an apatani in this generation.. i couln't have explained it any better.. or even have known much of these fact.. Thank you

[@Worldwideavailablein]

Sadly Christian missionaries are converting them to Christan

[@KazeTdr]

Yes truly, a lot of studies needs to be done on tribal cultures inorder to preserve it. Even the new generations of our tribal groups are now unaware of many of our old cultural ideologies and ethics. Main reason is the lack of proper script and documentation and also a slight lack or decrease of interest of current generations in their own heritage.

[@rohit3927]

Wonderful explaination. I spent 1 year in Arunachal and know many Apatani and Nyishi families closely. You have explained the paddy cultivation in Ziro so well that I felt like I revisited that place again. Apatanis and Nyishis are so loving people, really proud to know them personally and now being part of their family..thank you

[@sandoken2678]

Thank you ma'am for this beautiful description of our tribal religion and culture. In fact the best description so far I have heard about Donyi Poloism. Hope it will reach out to as many people as possible. And please do further study if possible.

[@gerikjini4948]

Superb.... Madam... Impressed with your research.... And i would like to thank you for this awareness giving to the rest of the part of india... My religion is also donyi-poloism..

[@taruyajoh6289]

When I was asked what religion do I follow(by any non-Arunachali friends ), I would just end up telling that I am a Hindu cuz I couldn't explain them Donyi Polo & they never have even the slightest idea... But now after watching this video I feel our religion is also one of a kind & finally more & more people are aware of it.. Honestly... Thanks Himani mam for such a beautiful interpretation. One respect!!!!

[@lunekopak9309]

@Gold Fish we are not Hindus by the way. We didn't embrace Hinduism till today unlike manipuri Assamese and tripuri. We worship sun and moon as told by my ancestors we don't worship Krishna Shiva and other sorts of Hindu deity n we don't chant Hindu mantras

[@lunekopak9309]

@Gold Fish then why meitei people have caste system n they also worshipped Krishna as their deity. They may follow shamanism but they have already embraced Hinduism

[@lunekopak9309]

@Gold Fish the Hindus you are seeing on census are the other migrants living in arunachal for business purposes. Local population follow donyi poloism. By the way chutiya and ahom ruled the super minor parts of ap which were mostly vacant ...later that land was ceded to the present arunachal govt. Most of the arunachalee identifies themselves as donyi poloism or any other animistic religion.

[@lunekopak9309]

@Gold Fish there are no tribal Hindus in arunachal. But ur manipur mainly consist of Hindu population....

[@lunekopak9309]

@Gold Fish see for yourself.. Many arunachalee are animistic or Buddhist or Christian. No place for Hinduism in our arunachal

[@beingfree7172]

Outsiders influence had changed many thing. Majority of Tani tribal group are Christian now. Some that continued ancestral beliefs system are too heavily influenced by Hindu Organization, Religion got the name as Donyi-poloism, started making pictures of Sun&Moon for worshipping and have temples too & mostly funded by VHP.

[@leviackerman8155]

This has come in response to conversion by institutionalised religions. I admit that Donyi-Polo has also become almost institutionalised in the recent decade drawing some inspirations from neighbouring religions most likely from Assam. In the plains of Assam, most animistic faiths have lost their essence and have become Hinduised.

[@ameyajoshi8849]

@Jamba Lorgo, If you so feel about it then first stop calling them 'animistic'. Why do you want to use a term which is not there in the first place in that faith. Just call them what the people themselves call and describe it.

[@ameyajoshi8849]

@Being Free, At least the so called VHP is protecting them from getting converted to Christianity and also not converting them to Hindu either.

[@tananatung1]

Beautifully said about philosophical ideology of Nyishi and Apatani indegineous traditional, culture, faith and believe. A very bold decision to choose this topic for research. My best wishes to the Author.

[@tergekena7916]

Am from arunachal nd am now 18 yrs old nd I was so ashamed not knowing my own culture in that way...

[@RagulRoshan]

I am from Tamil Nadu...I know Nyshi....I lived in Arunachal gor more than 13 years....

[@sanayakashalkar8412]

This was so damn insightful! A true eye opener❤️! The tribals too think in such a deep manner & really have a lot to contribute to the society, if only we all realise this. Thank you so much for bringing those oblivious things to light Ma’am. It’s a privilege to be your student🙏🏻

[@mudangpengo5657]

I hope my folks understood well. how important and philosophical is our culture as maam explained so well...so dear mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters through out the hill valley stop converting and start preserving so that such stories remains forever young for coming generation

[@goanbingo]

I would like to visit Ziro and write about the Apatani practices. If any local is willing to help me in any way, kindly WhatsApp me on 8007217310 I'm from Goa

[@sarachavan2063]

Just two words.. Simply Amazing!!!! Hats off to you Mam!!

[@mungtailyang9595]

Hats off to u maam..... really proud to be an Apatani....

[@Pura.19]

Himani Mam! You have chosen the best places for your research work; Nicely done and Beautifully explained about our religious thoughts and the self sufficiency....Best wishes for the future...Always smile and shine your way.

[@NikangVideos6377]

While my engineering in Maharashtra, I was asked to tick the religion section in the form. The options were Hindu/Muslim/Jain/Sikh/Buddhist/christian etc. I said I follow donyi polo(animism)and the HOD looked at me like an alien. I explained that Donyi polo is the worship of sun and moon. After much explanation, she ticked my religion as Buddhism, which I am not by a very very large margin. I realised that, hindus are like the upper bun of a burger, muslims the lower bun. While jain,sikhs,buddhists,christians,parsis are like all the fillings in between those buns. And the tribals (not practicing those standard religions) are ketchup dips which has no status independently. Some may dip the burger in the ketchup, some may not.

[@Ktara235]

I've almost never stayed in ziro (my own native home) and spent my whole life outside... Now I'm in chennai watching this. Felt lil ashamed and proud at the same time. Ashamed coz I didn't know so much about my own culture and religion and proud for obvious reason. Thanks you Himani ji. And for TEDx....It never failed to impress me.

[@Kayh601]

Thank you for this. As an apatani myself, I am overwhelmed. Beautifully explained and I really hope that your work will have a far fetching impact.

[@habungtamer5619]

Very accurate! Can't expect better explanation than this.

[@bamingambo1644]

so beautifully spoken. haven't been so enlightened though i am from ziro, geart work. hats of to you mam.

[@hageyangha7238]

well done mam👍 Really appreciating n perceptioning work.. m really grateful. love on behalf of all apatani community..😊

[@aniksinha6409]

Hage Yangha hi sister

[@chigingshah1824]

Ata yangha, noh sishi noh da?

[@tagia7718]

Cha Gaye Guru 👏

[@giokensiga673]

This is one of the most revolutionary research and video for our people of Tani ancestry. Our culture needs alot of upliftment and attention like she did beautifully because it is more richer than what we think. Like the indus valley, chinese, romans, greek etc. We the tani pple too has a great history and culture whose philosophy can be groundbreaking in todays world. I feel my utmost thankfullness to Ms. Himani for making such an exceptional effort and study.

[@wangdeyronrang833]

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires"-William.A.Ward I sincerely appreciate your time and love for all the cultures, with your assistance many new studies for Donyipoloism can be possible. Your help has been invaluable. Thank you Himani chaukar maam. P.s love for Henry too

[@mihinomo2190]

Wonderfully Explained Nelli(Apatani concept of afterlife) and Apatani philosophy of death Excellent work let the world know

[@yashagrawal88]

This is amazing and very insightful.

[@tachalusi5136]

We have culture but we are losing its importance because of outsiders influences hope your presentation will work as eye opener for every tribal of Arunachal Pradesh.

[@libombagra9424]

Mam, thank you so much as you have given many insights of our Arunachali Tani Tribe Group. Please do more in Tani Group and it would be our great pleasure to give hospitality to you especially in West Siang District.

[@rajendrajagdale4469]

Dr. Himani Awi mama shared this your TED talk. Congratulations for great work done on these tribes of Arunachal. You have done great job of mainstreaming them by unfolding their life and philosophy. Keep it up! Dr Rajendra Jagdale

[@rachelpotom23]

Wow..dats a great research from an outside northeastern..

[@minH-pj9jp]

Its sad that now the indigenous people are converting to other religion such as Christianity or getting it confused it with Hinduism...anyway peace and thanks for the research

[@jobirock]

Hats off to u ma'am...we need more like n open minded scholars like u to maintain n preserve our culture which is slowly diminishing by d yrs...n u r alwaz welcome to our place specially to to correct d miscnconcepts dat d rest of d world think bout us..

[@batman6432]

Damn man! She really did a good research. Was very interesting listen..

[@mcking1510]

i never tought of our cultural beliefs would pass through entire India.Especially broadcasting religion understanding(Donyi Polo),living styles n stuff like that.BTW its good to see announcing about our North east.Indeed ur speech enhance my understanding even further.

[@priyankatibrewal370]

A brilliant study and presentation. Informative as well as engaging. Hats off to you:)

[@departmentofphilosophy4139]

It was an interesting talk...and getting an opportunity to speak at tedx is wizardly 🙏 totally agree with all that was said in the end. (# Backbenchers metaphor)......Congratulations ma'am on your Ph.D .....Sampada.(2015 batch)

[@RAVENORAON]

Excellent. So like other tribals, they too have their own religion and are infact not Hindus. And therefore all these talks of Ghar Wapsi are factually incorrect.Further, there are similarities of value system, beliefs ethics etc in other tribal communities Well explained but at the end inspite of their richness the suggestion for their integration in the mainstream society was just not acceptable

[@mrigankbaruah4638]

Yeah other tribals like Sikhs, Jains... Want me to continue?

[@mrigankbaruah4638]

Are you still ravin' raven eh?

[@mrigankbaruah4638]

How far this Raven will fly? Will be interesting to see. And how many likes of like-minded people does this little animal that dreams of flying in the skies will get. Interesting.

[@mrigankbaruah4638]

Hey! Why doesn't the little birdy swing on the rod like thing dangling in his cage?

[@MichiKai]

beautiful presented mam :) We apatani will welcome you again with great affection :)

[@talabamin8723]

beautifully explained ...thank u ...(from a back bencher)

[@wellenjeje]

I don't y but I felt this deep in an emotional level 💓

[@michaelkino3637]

Thank you for presenting our culture in such a beautiful way. I hope the people from outside and from our own state will understand their culture in better way.

[@geyiretekamgo8311]

So beautiful😍

[@BroYameNortheast]

Loved your ways of analysis I even didnt know about it being aruanchale.. Thanks a lots.. With lots of love from arunachal ❤️❤️❤️💕💕💕

[@पंकजसिन्हा-स5घ]

Excellent. I much like. Your research work will motivate to youth of Janijatis. Congratulate you.

[@creativesand5897]

She not only described that specific tribe's religion but its the BHARTiYA sanskriti thats the hindu culture but no one of us understand it 😐 no one tells us this because Indians have forgotten our culture. This is the way to bring humans back to humanity. This is not only about any specific religion its the right way to live life And if we do that we are going to succeed in our lives 😊

[@mansipawar5096]

So much to take from the tribes..😍ma'am u explained it so beautifully ...I wish each one should watch this video and understand the relation of human and nature

[@tagepussang203]

Mem I think you visited only on village areas. You should also need to visit the forest area like tale valley, pange, ring road, biirii,siiro etc. that help you to learn much more about the biodiversity of ziro.

[@hbglaaji]

Congratulation to you for completing your project. You are very insightful and brought good presentation.

[@JTamut]

Thank you ma'am for your love and respect for our tribal society. Wishing for your good health and happiness. Love from Arunachal Pradesh.

[@gurubaki6105]

Love d way u explain our land,religion,nature,custom,donyi-polo,culture in such a positive vibe.. Even u know more then our new generation... Do visit Arunachal Pradesh,we have lots of other tribes.our state n culture needs such kind of support to be in front of this whole world.. Keep it up maam

[@JalyangP]

Wow!! 👏👏👏👏👏

[@RoboBaba]

Hello Internet.I would like to correct one thing...its not a "Priest" the proper translation of a "Nyibo/Nyibu" would be a "Shaman". besides that I agree to everything else.

[@DaniUja]

Very wonderful Presentation.👍 We really appreciate the research you carried out in depth without having any influence of outside world thinking and beliefs, even when you yourself being from main stream society. Thanks for enligthing and putting forward of our beliefs and ideas.

[@waaaterbottle]

Happy indigenous day... Dec 1 2018! I am galo of arunachal and we have the same faith and beliefs Jai Donyi polo 🤗💕❣️ Edit: TEDx never fails to amaze me with all the topics they bring about! All love, keep up the inspirational work♥️♥️♥️

[@bullotajung]

Clearly shows you have worked really hard in the research. Wonderful job mam. Really appreciate your effort in bringing light to this subject.

[@RAJESHRAASH]

5:03

[@tagericho3408]

Thank u mam for ur beautiful description of our tribal religion n cultures. ..

[@priyankabhattacharjee5504]

Can I boast a bit about the fact that I was lucky to get her as my second year psychology professor? 😭😭❤️

[@priyankabhattacharjee5504]

@@MrINDIA-wc1gd Ramnarain Ruia, Mumbai

[@JPTVIDEOS4U]

Himani chaukar mam, I am really impressed by your thorough research. Well sorry if you have faced any kind of problems while doing your work. I must say you have learned,studied, and gathered more knowledge then the people of arunachal themselves. I wish you to come arunachal and research more on different tribes. Because we need people like you to do such thing, because you are saving us . You are saving the tribal generation. Thank you. But I wish to hear from you more on the rituals that we perform, apart from the donyi poloism

[@duyunado]

Perfect research mam!! Truly m appreciate ur explanation. Hope u ll visit again n learn more about our philosophy regarding universe n earth

[@dadangtanatara3225]

never new our indeginious faith is so deep n beutiful. it took me outsider to understand it. thank you mam, it was eye opening....

[@awesomevideo5525]

Bro try to learn donyi polo

[@achoomt6952]

Oh my god I love her work..!!!!

[@tanyadabi2767]

The description about Donyi Polo concept as Religion is not justified.She need further studies as scholar.

[@robinhissang7363]

Madam, nice explanation about donyipolosim. Perfect description but now a days, the there is worshiping or prayer house namly Nyedar Namlo. New movement has already started for more systemisation and revitalisation of our great religion donyipolosim.

[@gargigeedh3650]

Truly amazing ma'am... 👌

[@lklfamily9253]

Respect for you mam and thanks for all you describe our religion to rest of the world... I'm NYISHI tribe of Arunachal Pradesh.

[@charudoni1406]

And outstanding piece of work Maam. Being a tribal in a place like our Country, its kinda tough to express the very existence of our own self. And, you've explained all the details beautifully. Now, I feel that, everything thatwe stand for, are already on the stage of well being. Great work. Loads of Love from Arunachal Pradesh💓💓💓❤❤❤

[@tushardhamale4952]

Truly amazing👌

[@duyunama]

My hometown

[@mylaw7337]

Thank you maam for choosing our religion. Couldn't have better explanation

[@thanojr4472]

Amazing explanation. I heard of donyi polo but never read in context or couldn't find any details about this religion. am interested now to know more.

[@kakiyarda2742]

An amazing works maam 😊👍 im not nyishi either apatani but im from Arunachal pradesh i felt very proud and guy's stop those who were saying im belong to this community that community , we all are Arunachali peoples. we should feel happy for one anothers.😊

[@cheeseballs007]

Everything is correct maam@himani chaukar but the only thing wrong you said is that doni polo is not the main source of birth of every thing its Apo tani..next time focus and study about abo tani..

[@jkaccountancy9313]

I am an Arunachali and genuinely I wanted to convey this message to our mainstream peoples. Thank you so much Madam! 🙏🏼 you made me happy and my eyes wet. Truely appreciated!

[@antaravaidyanathan6796]

What an amazing session ma'am! Thank you for making me aware about these amazing cultures and subcultures in our country. I hope this inspires more study into other cultures, so that they are also brought into the limelight! Thank you ma'am, I feel like I was in your class again attending another interesting lecture. :)

[@aestheticanzi]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Correct good massage Its good to hear about apatani bcoz i m also apatani

[@quicksilver9978]

I am Donyi polo

[@RajkumarJanagam]

So happy to have come across this video in my preparation to going to ZIRO. Thanks a lot ma'am, proud to be your student :)

[@binlung8326]

I just love her.. She really did research.. I wish ma'am come again and research more, I want to help her in doing that

[@karbigabbar1947]

You are so beautiful and you explain so well. Wish I could meet you. Thanks for your explanation 🙏

[@Tktube9925]

Well explained. North eastern people are very down to earth and our culture is helping in preserving the nature

[@hazaradous7081]

Abotani will be deep Proud of you ma'am....

[@liliesandtulips2000]

I think the concept of omnipotent, omnipresent entity is similar to the concept of Brahman (not entirely but still has commonalities)as described in the vedas. Also, I don't find anything wrong with animism. There's no harm in worshipping nature. But what does the speaker mean by "major religions"? If she's including sanatana dharma in it as well , then I must say it's wrong. Because sanatana dharma is not a religion. Dharma can be roughly translated to righteousness/duty/ action performed according to a situation. It's a way of life. It's not a religion of the book (this characteristic is actually ascribed to abrahamic religions). Also, temples are not places of worship(it's an abrahamic concept). Temples are consecrated spaces with a certain kind of energy(in the form of a deity) that we try to get connected to. This is as per my understanding. But all in all, I think tribal faiths are interesting and do somewhere share commonalities with the holistic indian culture (I'm specifically talking about vedic dharma/sanatana dharma, excluding atheistic point of views within the dharmic fold). We need to preserve these traditions of ancient knowledge and stop the foolish conversion activity in the northeast. Jai Bharat 🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@wanmaiamaiong6367]

Thank you mam for such a wonderful am from meghalaya .

[@duyunama]

Thank for share my tribal with people

[@gakhalcedric3308]

Very good

[@jampellhamu]

Beautifully explained. 👍🏽👏🏽

[@anolimendo]

Thank you, mam explain nicely

[@Malodaiofficial]

She justified the subject

[@arlihere]

Why this has got only 17k views ?

[@its-K69]

Very much appreciated 👍

[@reflection723]

very well explained hats off

[@SaktLondaa]

👍👍👍

[@baminbtr9609]

Nice work well explained maam

[@dusuyoubey9547]

Paya Aro Pacho🙏

[@MrRahulpc007]

is lives in my biulding

[@qwerthage6256]

👍 words of wisdom

[@demlinnalo2030]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍