The warmth of cold!

Very few forms or methods of lifestyle can be more challenging than the life in an igloo! It is a whole different experience for the people who love an adventurous environment for sustenance of life! The temporary shelter of an igloo is very common in the tribal groups of Canada’s Central Arctic and Greenland.

The concept of an igloo is relevant only during the winters. In these regions of Greenland, one finds 6 months of sunlight and 6 months of darkness and building a shelter made of ice is the only practical solution. It will amaze you how normal activities of everyday life are maintained perfectly smoothly in the cold shelter of an igloo. Living in an igloo, sure has a lot of challenges, but it forms an exciting take on life in the cold and deserted.

All the supplies are stored inside an igloo. One half of the ice house is kept separately for cooking and eating, aided solely by an oil lamp, providing light and more importantly, heat! The residents hunt down seals, caribous and fish, which are usually cooked over an oil lamp and sometimes frozen meat is eaten raw.  Sleeping arrangements inside an igloo require particular attention to details. A mattress made of willow twigs, and protected from the cold by animal fur is what serves the purpose. An igloo is the only perfect solution to protection from the severe cold in the Arctic regions.

An igloo paints the perfect picture of a life led in sufficing necessities. For us, in the times of urban lifestyle development, it is difficult to imagine a life like the Eskimos, but they have a totally different definition of life. They are deprived of the luxuries of urban lifestyle, but for them, ‘fulfillment of necessities’ is what gains primary importance. They do not have exquisite edibles, or fancy clothing, or even luxurious activities to engage themselves in. Life in an igloo means wearing animal skin clothing, eating the bare minimum animal meat, cooked in the most basic form, and spending their spare time with their fellow residents, protecting one another from the cold.

In our urban lifestyle, we tend to compartmentalize time in different aspects of life and fail to realize time with our loved ones. There is no one to blame. We are kept busy in all the various activities that cloud around our time. We spend more time on things in this world, rather than our fellow human beings. In case of an Eskimo, whose world has a small radius, his life runs along the circumference of the circle of the loved ones and living life with people, instead of things.

The interaction of the Eskimos with the external world, and their concept of an intrinsically simple life set this group of dwellers apart. With small ice shelters, animal skin and animal meat, they live a life of self sufficiency, echoed through the disciplines of an environment of harmony and simple living.

Attractive Lifestyle in urban India

India has always been known for its agrarian economy and simple lifestyle of its people. But with the opening of the economy and exposing of Indians to globalization, there has been a paradigm shift in the lifestyle of Indians, especially the urban Indian. Urban India has changed like never before in the last two decades. Whether it’s the cloud touching skyscrapers or the immensely developed public transport network or the huge malls, urban India has changed beyond recognition and this process is still ongoing.

Skyscrapers form an essential part
of urban architecture

The urban lifestyle in India is very attractive with streets full of lights, huge malls, multiplexes galore and pubs which are the venue for the nightlife in the city. With increasing number of people moving from rural to urban areas, in search of a better job and thus a better lifestyle, there is starting to be a huge shortage in quality housing. Urban lifestyle in India is quite different from the rural with skyrocketing cost of living and nuclear families. The current urban lifestyle in India gives an opportunity to one and all to work hard and realize one’s dream of a luxury housing, expensive car and a cool lifestyle, but never delivers peace of mind or true inner satisfaction.

A very integral part of the modern Indian urban lifestyle is the emergence of the apartment. In every major city in India, the old house concept has been transformed to the apartment system, both due to the absence of enough space and due to the sudden huge increase in land prices. Although the apartment system of building has to some extent reduced the problem of shortage of quality housing, it has destroyed the Indian system of joint family, leading to the emergence of nuclear families.

Urban India has truly been transformed when one reviews the food scene. Long gone are the days of the “thelawalas” and “dhabas”, which have been replaced by MNCs like MacDonald’s, KFC, Subway and others, almost crippling the business and livelihood of the “thelawalas” who have been delivering food to one and all over decades.

Another change in the landscape of modern urban India is the absence of playing fields and parks. This particular problem has lead to the children being addicted to video games, which have become their only form of entertainment. The fact that children are half the time  sitting in front of the television and not undergoing any form of physical exercise, has also lead to the emergence of diseases like obesity and diabetes in children.

Although the urban lifestyle looks really tempting, with almost everything at hand and the promise of a comfortable lifestyle, it is really a hollow illusion. A huge amount of money, or a luxury home can never truly satisfy anyone, and one gets bored of the illusion of perfect life, which is embodied by modern urban lifestyle.

Civilisation of the uncivilised.

Talk about varieties in lifestyles, talk about Indian tribal lifestyle. Indian culture and lifestyle is brought to you in exquisite fashion by the Tribal community of the country. It penetrates every aspect of lifestyle that one can seek to look for in a land showering diversity among all.

The current tribal population in India is close to 20 million in total. There are various tribes that have migrated from different parts of India, and settled down across the country, especially, in the North-eastern states.  While some of the tribal societies live the life of vagabonds, changing locations every few days, and others have stayed at the same place for generations.

The most striking feature of the tribal lifestyle is the culture and customs they foster and pass it to everyone in the community and the harmony that prevails among them! The tribals, very distinctly, paint out a picture of simple living, in harmony and peace. The tribal community follows a lifestyle, way different from that of the modern urban lifestyle now. They have remained more content to retain the traditional methods of lifestyle, embracing nature’s palette of colors, and create a picture of peace and serenity with it.

The tribal community believes in a more natural form of lifestyle. They practice the most conventional methods, living life in the open. Their activities result in a set of implications, laying positive impacts on man and the environment. The tribal community has contributed to programs leading to energy conservation and environmental protection. They might not be aware of the consequences, but the actions of the tribals have impacts on the environment. Their usage of food and fuel at the most natural sources gives them the purest form of every product they collect for survival.

Celebrations in the Tribal groups

The lifestyle of the Indian tribes clearly depicts their dependence on nature and animals. These tribes have their own incarnations and beliefs of the holy power and celebrate their festivals and occasions in their separately simple ways. It usually involves a gathering around the fire and enjoying their merriment amidst nature. There are no music systems, no exquisite edibles. It mirrors simplicity from every angle. Most of the Indian tribes are amiable and maintain harmonious relationships with the other parts of the diverse community.

Urban lifestyles in our world involve around a more materialistic approach, making us dependent on these man-made products. However, in the world of the tribal communities, whose life revolves around circumnavigating nature and its eccentricities, lives boast of the confidence of simplicity, and bank on nature entirely, for their sustenance. Their concept of ‘necessity’ largely differs from that of ours!

The simplicity defined through the lifestyles

The study of the Indian tribal community is one of the most exciting research pieces one might come across. Their lifestyle is different from ours, but it amazes me how they define the concepts of simplicity and grandeur in the most explicit fashion. The self sufficiency of the tribal groups is unmatchable! Their depiction of simple living enthralls me!

The changing trends of lifestyles in India

The lifestyle and buying trend in India has undergone a pragmatic shift in the last 20 years or so. It is not just urban India which has ushered in the change, but also rural India, where technology has transformed the lives almost completely. This immense change in the lifestyle of the Indian man, has been brought about due to the single decision to open up to International trade, and undertake policies which could be called as the Liberation Privatization and Globalization model, that had been ushered by the present Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the finance minister in 1991.

India, with its huge population and consumer oriented policies, soon became the destination of choice for the global investors. Soon, India was introduced to fizz cans from global majors like Pepsi and Coke besides a huge list of articles from the West. This, along with rising per capita income brought about a change in the spending pattern of the middle class Indian, both in the rural and urban areas. Television shows, which had been blockbuster hits in the West, are found to be telecast in Indian homes in their ‘desi’ avatar. There has been a shift towards the free flowing nature of lifestyle which is practiced in the west.

Yes it is apparent that a paradigm shift is taking place in consumer behavior in India with a confident growing middle class asserting itself– this is a shame as this is eroding the pure culture, which once was the pride of Indians with the delusional aspects of a debased and spiritually empty Western model. India has been exposed to the full blow of western culture, so much so, that today, children are shy or unwilling to touch the feet of their elders, which used to be an involuntary action in times gone by!

This may seem innocent to those who are concerned solely with making profit. But, in order to make a sustainable, holistic and rooted progress in India, which will be able to realize the projected 30 year boom, it will require sensitivity to cultural idiom. If this subtle, yet extremely vital metaphysical notion is understood by those who are responsible for progress in India, it will certainly result in permanence of all round progress and not progress in fits and starts as is seen today. Western capitalism is near dead and the admittedly paradoxical new wave of Indian social(ist) capitalism has begun and this alone can propel India to the very top of economic prowess.

Life in Dal Lake. Paradise on water.

Lifestyle, simply, a way of life. The concept has undergone immense changes over the years. Sometimes, it changes as rapidly as along the generations, and sometimes it manages to remain the same, standing through the acid test of generations and remaining the same for years at long.

Lifestyle is what defines the community. Marauding along the fence, separating change and constancy, lifestyle is what makes a society, and fills the void that exists between them.

Lifestyles differs from one part of the world to another. The people in one corner of the world will be amazed to learn about the lifestyles followed in the other sections of society, across the globe.

Here I have the chance of bringing together some of the different lifestyles across the world. The form of lifestyle that struck me as the most adventurous one is the lifestyle of people settled on boats and contented to live their entire life on water. This is a tradition that has been preserved in still water across several generations. It is still very evident and well known in certain parts of the earth, like Kashmir.

The essence of Kashmir is unmatchable in spirit. With all the political disturbances and commotions that have crowded Kashmir’s lifestyles, it has managed to retain the culture over the years. Kashmir, in a few words, is the pride of India. Totally secluded from the rest of the country, the state has a glorious reserve of rich culture.

 We can almost see an entire settlement, families settled on the boats. These boats are especially designed to house the members that reside on it. Life sure is unsteady on boats, but it is a whole new level of adventure. Houseboats form one of the most exquisite features of lifestyle in Kashmir. This tradition commenced during the British rule, when the foreigners sought to life on the boats as hotels as they were prohibited from buying lands. The concept today is far different from that.

In today’s world, houseboats are a place or medium of a strong rusty romantic atmosphere. Apart from the residents themselves, the tourists have accepted the idea with open arms. Houseboats on the Dal Lake have become one of the best tourist attractions. Not only is the accommodation available, but there are shops and similar businesses operating in the middle of the lakes on the boats. Life on water bodies is made self sufficient and comfortable for everyone who chooses this form of lifestyle.

The best exhibition of culture and lifestyle is presented through the life lived in floating, on pieces of wood that assures you safety in the middle of the waters. Houseboats have been made popular through a variety of events that managed to spread the culture to the world. In 1966, one of the greatest in the music industry, Pandit Ravi Shankar, taught George Harrison to play the sitar, a musical instrument, on one of the houseboats on the Dal Lake. As I speak, the great Ravi Shankar’s recent demise indicates a sense of loss to the world of music. May his soul rest in peace.  

One of the oldest lifeboats in Kashmir, named as the Inline Royal Sovereign.

I have always wanted to live an adventurous life, and this is one of the lifestyles I have fancied! We all learn so much about these exotic places, but for myself, these innovative ideas have always enthralled me! This is a great lifestyle, to be living on a form of physical feature that some people have a phobia of, trusting those few pieces of wood of the houseboat, enough to rest ourselves on those, and keeping faith in our fellow residents. This is indeed a simpler form of lifestyle, away from the din and commotion of city life, getting us closer and closer to the most natural creations of nature. 

The epiphany, through life in the waters, is what captivates me!