Ethnographical blog on Karbis earning rave reviews globally
In recent times, blogging has touched the lives of every individual one way or the other. During the last general elections, we saw BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani using this dynamic medium to spread the principle of his party to all the netizens of the country, and even those living abroad. The US presidential election also saw wide use of this medium by the political parties and candidates to propagate their respective issues.
The north-eastern part of the country has also not remained untouched by this ever-growing phenomenon in the virtual world. Today, we can see various blogs on various topics emerging from a section of educated net enthusiasts, most of whom are youths.
Herein, I would like to make mention of www.karbi.wordpress.com - one of the most popular and emerging ethnographical site from this part of the world. This particular site is one of the first ethnographical site from Northeast India and as the name suggests, is based on the Karbi people living in Assam. Today, on an average, this blog receives 40 clicks per day, which is literally unheard of for an ethnographical site. The achievement becomes even more special when one realizes that in 2003 when the blog was first started, the site used to receive a meager four clicks!
The blog has been conceptualized, designed, maintained and the matters resourced by Morning Keey Phangcho – a young ethnographer who has been following his field of study with much passion. The blogsite boasts of having contribution from Dr. Philippe Ramirez, the pioneering social anthropologist from the France National Centre for Scientific Research. Dr. Pascal Bouchery, a senior lecturer of Social Anthropology, University of Poiters, France and also Dharam Singh Teron, who is a noted cultural activist of Karbi Anglong.
Today the blog attracts maximum traffic from researchers and cultural activists from around the world. The blogsite is also recognized by University of Heidelberg, Germany in its SavifaGuide as most trusted Internet Resources on the Culture of South Asia. In the meantime, due to the quality of the field reports published in the site www.karbi.wordpress.com, Morningkeey Phangcho has been able to earn laurels from each and every nook and crevice of the society for his work on the Karbis.
Dr. Philippe tells me: “Having myself worked with Phangcho, I was able to appreciate his high intellectual curiosity, his great knowledge of the Karbi culture and his exceptional mind openness. I consider him as a true professional social anthropologist,” Starting from scratch, today the site boasts of already getting traffic of around 19,500 clicks and has been able to inspire other communities of the State like the Tiwas, Dimasas, Misings, etc to start their own ethnographical websites.
The site www.karbi.wordpress.com is the site you must visit to know everything about the Karbis of Assam as it boasts of well researched article on kinship, political system, rituals, mythology, folklores and tales to the present social behaviors of the Karbis in every aspect, which only a true ethnographer can think of. The site also contain various article of academic values like the meaning of Mikirs, name of all the clans of the Karbis, political system of both the hills and the plains, census data pertaining to the Karbis etc. Meanwhile, the administrator of the site Morning Keey Phangcho continues with his work passionately. Recognizing his intellectual curiosity and credibility as a true ethnographer in the making, he has also been involved by one of the most reputed scientific institution in the world CNRS (Centre National De La Researche Scientifique) within the project on “Languages, Cultures and Territories in Northeast India”.
Random Stories
30 Jan 2018 - 3:16pm |
AT News
IMPHAL: The Impulse NGO Network (INGON) has launched a project engaging media to counter human trafficking in and between the borders of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal. The Impulse Model Press...
9 Mar 2010 - 12:42pm |
editor
For the first time on Monday the Assam government admitted that dreaded terrorist and DHD-J chief Niranjan Hojai is absconding. This was confirmed by Assam forest minister Rockybul Hussain as he was...
28 Aug 2023 - 7:45pm |
Shreegirish Jalihal
২০২০ চনত প্ৰধানমন্ত্ৰী নৰেন্দ্ৰ মোদী চৰকাৰে কৃষকৰ আয় দুগুণ কৰাৰ সপোনৰ বৰ্হিপ্ৰকাশ হিচাপে প্ৰৱৰ্তন কৰিছিল তিনিখন বিতৰ্কিত কৃষি আইন। এই আইনৰ জৰিয়তে কৰ্প’ৰেট গোষ্ঠীক ঘেঁহু, চাউল, দাইল আদিৰ দৰে...
14 Jan 2014 - 7:56am |
AT News
Bhugali bihu begins across the state with traditional pomp and gaiety. The much awaited festival begins with uruka night on Monday evening where people of all walks of life held feast in bhelaghars....
Other Contents by Author
Last year around this very time, a new rock festival started off in Silchar. It was being organized by NIT and was labelled “Thundermarch”. At that time, I was kind of apprehensive about the whole event and somehow could not link Silchar with rock. However, much to my delight and to the benefit of the rock scene in this corner of the country, I was proved wrong. Thundermarch 2009 truly struck Silchar in an unimaginable way and immediately ensured that the festival gets a place into the Northeast Indian rock calendar.
More than 20 bands from different corners of the region had competed with each other for the top prize. And to add further sheen to the entire festival were...
Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, the iconic anthem written by Piyush Pandey with which thousands of Indians of a particular generation grew up, had recently been re-shot in a new avatar. The new version was released in Mumbai on Republic Day earlier this week. The popularity of the original version of this anthem cannot be gauged in words as it was highly successful in generating patriotic fervor among the masses. The original video featured some of the most popular Indians of that era, like Amitabh Bacchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Jitendra, dancer Mallika Sarabhai, cartoonist Mario Miranda, filmmaker Mrinal Sen, Sunil Gangopadhyay, author Annadashankar Ray, singers Bhimsen Joshi, M Balamuralikrishna,...
Kalpa, a Society for Promotion of Art, Literature, Culture and Social Harmony, founded a year ago is hosting the ‘Pragjyoti Dance Festival: A View of Indian Dance’ by young proponents for the second time on January 8, 9 and 19, 2010 in Rabindra Bhawan, Guwahahti. It may be remembered that the first Pragjyoti National Dance Festival, held in February 2009, covering almost all the major Indian classical dance traditions including Sattriya Dance created a susceptible impact among the dancephiles and art connoisseurs of the country. This year’s festival, which is being supported by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, will be...
Though music has remained an unerring passion of mine right from a very early age, the harmonica had always been an alien instrument for me, and it was only recently that I began to appreciate the immense musical possibilities associated with the harmonica. Thanks to my friend Abe from Suzuki who introduced me to its limitless possibilities, and who helped arrange a music concert for harmonica virtuoso Jia-Yi He in our city earlier this year, I have been encountering quite a few harmonica players and enthusiasts in our region.
Sometime back, I came across another Indian who has been creating waves with the harmonica in the global circuit. His recently released album, Tip of the Top,...
Around 5,000 musicians and music lovers from Guwahati, Karbi Anglong, NC Hills and Dimapur lighting candles in remembrance of the October 30, 2008 serial Assam blasts victims in the 1st Karbi Anglong Beats Contest, organized by Eastern Beats Music Society as part of the 7th Rongthe’ang Traditional Dance and Music Fest, in Diphu on Thursday. The 1st Karbi Anglong Beats Contest was organized by Eastern Beats Music Society – the first comprehensive music society of the region.
Photo by Morningkeey Phangcho
Over the last few years, the live music scene in Northeast India has been picking up momentum, making the region one of the most vibrant music destinations of the country. Performance of international artistes and rock bands in cities like Shillong and Dimapur have further helped bring international focus to the region. Though the region is being promoted as a music capital, a section of musicians of the city are unhappy with the sorry state of affairs of the local music scene. They feel that just a few international artists cannot make a region a music capital and the local music scene needs to develop for hat. Moa Subong, frontman of Grammy-nominated experimental rock group Abiogenesis,...
India’s Northeast can rightfully be considered an uncrowned jewel, what with its remarkable beauty and splendour. The topographical, geographical, cultural and other factors which distinguish the region from other parts of the country may indeed be attributed to the diverse group of people inhabiting the region and their rich and varied customs, which influence the lifestyle and way of life of the people. Indeed, the Northeast is literally an unexplored paradise; a region bestowed with such pristine beauty and splendour that is bound to drive a visitor in a state of perpetual amazement.
Speaking of the Northeast and its distinctive features, one facet of life of the people here,...
A young Asomiya girl recently made the entire State proud by making a mark in a prestigious national- level model hunt. Yes, I am talking about Shyashree Saikia of Jorhat who proved the better of models from all over the country to clinch the runners-up trophy in the Dabur Gulabari Sananda Tilottama Beauty Contest 2009. Besides anything else, I appreciate this young girl’s determination to pursue her passion despite all odds and I guess this is the very quality which has taken her this far. Confidence is the first thing that would strike you when you talk to her and I guess the youth of the region would do good by taking a leaf from her book.
I recently called up Shyashree to talk...
Almost five decades back, virtuoso saxophonist Albert Ayler had proclaimed: “Music is the healing force in the universe”. Ayler was right on mark when he said the above words for his proclaimed words are relevant even today, especially in our very own strife-torn Northeast India, where mankind is in sure need of quite a bit of healing.More than just a healing force, music is a tool which can be used for greater understanding between different cultures around the world. As modernisation and technology makes inroads into each and every aspect of our lives and the entire world becomes one small little village, music is the very medium which can help bind people and their hearts...
The Indian terms ‘Jai Ho’ and ‘Slumdog’ recently generated a lot of discussion worldwide after they lost out to web 2.0, the latest buzzword in the IT industry, to make it as the one millionth word or phrase in the English dictionary. But despite the non-incorporation of these two popular words, with AR Rahman’s enthralling score for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and the film’s subsequent grand show at the Oscars, having picked up eight Academy Awards - including that of best picture, director, best original score and best song – there is no doubt that world music has definitely come of age and is going to be the next big musical genre...
Comments
Pages
Add new comment