The setting is near the India - Myanmar border in the village of Phek in Nagaland. The villagers work together to produce rice for their own consumption, saying "When we work together the sun sets early." Their melodies change as the seasons change, melodies which are a metaphor for the love of working together, of remembering love and loss and celebrating community.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2018
A Farming Culture of Singing While Working
There is an 83-minute award-winning documentary which tells a beautiful story of culture of an Indian village of 5,000 people, where everyone sings while working in the rice fields. The documentary title is "Kho ki pa lü" which means "the sound goes up, the sound goes down and the sound goes sideways", thus the English title "Up Down and Sideways". (Kho ki pa lü is the way the polyphonic music of Phek is described in Chokri, the local language in Phek village.)
The setting is near the India - Myanmar border in the village of Phek in Nagaland. The villagers work together to produce rice for their own consumption, saying "When we work together the sun sets early." Their melodies change as the seasons change, melodies which are a metaphor for the love of working together, of remembering love and loss and celebrating community.
The setting is near the India - Myanmar border in the village of Phek in Nagaland. The villagers work together to produce rice for their own consumption, saying "When we work together the sun sets early." Their melodies change as the seasons change, melodies which are a metaphor for the love of working together, of remembering love and loss and celebrating community.