Naddi Culture

Dharmkot, Bhagsu (or Bhagsunag), Naddi, and Baal are small mountain villages in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. They are inhabited by a population of half-nomadic Hindu shepherds, the Gaddis, who speak their own language and have their own traditions and occupations. All the money used for running the society comes through donations from friends or charitable institutions. The only exception is the salaries paid to the women working in the Food Processing unit, where they are paid with earnings from the sale of their products. The money received for funding goes into a common pool; from there it is used as and when required.

The man is a professional tailor, teaching the teachers for the tailoring schools.It started with a conversation about how useful it was to know how to sew and how expensive it was and how far it was to the nearest place where one could learn. (It is a one hour walk, followed by a one hour bus trip, one way.) The Gaddi Women's Self-Help Society decided to open their own tailoring school in Dharmkot. There was a potential teacher in the village, Vrikma Devi. She had learned the profession when she was only 12 years old, and is now the local resource. She is knowledgeable in modern fashion as well in the craft of traditional Gaddi dresses, wedding dresses, and men's outfits.

Gaddi DanceThe cultural life in Dharamsala is colourful and rich in tradition. The fairs and festivals are occasions for relaxation The "Gaddi" are a tribe living mainly in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. They are Hindus and belong to several castes including Brahmin, Rajput, Dhangar, Khatri, Rana and Thakur. Gaddi Language The Gaddi's wandering way of life has made it challenging to preserve their written language. In Sunil's composition book, he's written out his lyrics phonetically in Devanagri, the script of the region's predominant Hindi language. Still, the spoken tongue is very much alive. Sunil says he does his part to keep the language alive through his music. Lately, he's been performing regularly on a regional station of the state-run All India Radio network. In Dharamsala's Gaddi community, he's a star.