Thong Tay Hoi, VN
Fri, 3/29/2024
few clouds
34
Few clouds

33°C - 34°C

46%

1009hPa

3.6m/s

20%

10Km

10:52 PM

11:04 AM

Basar Confluence or Bascon – the best time to visit Arunachal Pradesh?
The magical location of the Basar Confluence On a huge open ground, the two rivers sealed two sides and a thicket of bamboo and palms covered the other two. Rice fields, ready for harvest and glowing golden in the mellow winter sun were spread out in between. In the middle was a rich flourish of colours, dance, music and fun.
Basar Confluence was a plastic-free zone When the first sign we saw even before we entered the venue of the Basar Confluence was a board saying “Bascon 3.0 is a plastic free zone”, we knew this was a serious commitment to make Bascon a stand out eco-friendly festival.
This was further validated by a water filling station right outside the welcome arch. They would check your bags and empty any throwaway plastic bags into eco-friendly containers made of bamboo. Even inside the venue, there was a water station. The bamboo mugs had a sling attached to them so you could conveniently carry these mugs over your shoulders and just refill them at the water station.
All of this, every single detail was designed and built by the people of Basar themselves. Wholeheartedly. Lovingly. Voluntarily.
Different sections of the Basar Confluence venue – a well thought out design
While the main ground and the stage were dedicated to cultural performances, songs and dances there were other aspects to the Basar Confluence that shed light on the overall lifestyle of the people here.
An interesting aspect of the Basar Confluence, which we are yet to see at any other festival is the Artist Residency. Six artists were tastefully curated by Phoenix Rising after assessing the many applications received this year. They had spent a month in Basar prior to the festival, interacting with the people, trying to understand their lives and their stories. At the Basar Confluence, the artists – a writer, filmmaker, photographer, musician, installation artist and a painter, demonstrated their creations in a tastefully decorated Artist’s Corner.
Then there was the traditional games section. We had been seeing young guys trying to scale a tall bamboo pole, sort of like Malkhamb but much higher, since day 1 of the Basar Confluence. Then there was a pole to which a rope was tied at the top with the other end to the ground. Many had tried to climb up this rope to reach its other end, at the top of a bamboo pole. All of this culminated into an inter-village traditional sports competition.
The most fun sport though was the traditional fishing. The venue for this had shifted from the Basar Confluence ground to the Si river of the Gori 2 village. By the time we reached there, some men were busy pounding a tree bark to a pulp. It was the bark of the Taneer tree. Found only in a few select forests, very few of the Galo tribe now can identify this tree. Its speciality is that once pounded, it secretes a sap which when released in water temporarily numbs the fish in the river, making them easy to catch. Cultural performances at the Basar Confluence Of course, the cultural performances were the mainstay of the Basar Confluence. They played the main role in introducing us to the Galo way of life that the people of Basar follow. There was the Galo Ponu, a welcome dance performed by the women.
A beautiful showcase of their main festival, the Mopin, let us experience the Mopin even in November. The mega Galo dance performed simultaneously by over two hundred women from all the participating villages of Basar looked lovely, a strong metaphor for what the Basar Confluence represented – growing forward together.
The people at the Basar Confluence We loved that the local people were at the Basar Confluence in large numbers. We felt like we were celebrating their life, with them. It was a great opportunity was us to mingle with them, have conversations and make friends. Everyone we met was as curious about us as we were about them. They wanted to know where we had come from, what we did in our lives.
What else is there to do in Basar besides attending the Basar Confluence? Lots. Exploring unheard of villages, enjoying the Galo hospitality in the homestays, jungle walks, treks to waterfalls, caves and haunted places, bird watching, photography, expanding your palette – the options are boundless. Basar Confluence was a beautiful gift from the beautiful people of Basar to the whole world. Cre: Sandeepa and Chetan

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