Importance of cultural & traditional values of Lahaul & Spiti
A district which is the largest among all others. District of Lahaul and Spiti (H.P) area wise and the least as per population is cut off for almost 5 months from the rest of the world is full of different cultures and religions. It gives me great pleasure to be a part of such amazing culture. It is an opportunity for me to write about its inhabitants who live away from their motherland.
A rich heritage of simplicity and courage which is a part of each individual, where religion and traditional values flourish together with any conflict.
This is Lahaul and Spiti.
This is a dedication to my people of Lahaul and Spiti where traditional values are still deserved though we are progressing towards a better life. At times when our grand fathers lived the life in Lahaul and Spiti was a struggle for survival and in such conditions they managed to give us better education and improve our life style. It is due to their efforts that today I can see out people in every corner of India. Mostly working in private and public sectors.
For the past few years in Chandigarh I have found out the count of Lahaul and Spiti citizens has rapidly grown, no matter they are students or employees but it shows that we are prospering fast in every field.
Living away from our home town has not influenced our way of life but it has strengthened the bondage to our culture and traditions, I was amazed to see that for those living away has developed a sense of respect their traditional values. Participation in festivals such as halda losar, fagdi, kus and event other national festivals has increased remarkably and it is one reason to come together as Lahaul and Spitians.
Our sources of entertainment has also been upgraded, where chholo (a traditional indoor game) has not lost its value similarly drinking and dancing has been an important part of our traditions.
I believe we cannot leave them behind. I find that tsati( a local non veg soup) is still being served at our homes even away from Lahaul and Spiti. Yes there are a few changes where noodles and vegetables are added for enhancing the flavor.
Even though students of Lahaul and Spiti have up graded their wardrobes with stylish fashion apparels but when it comes to traditional values we respect it from the depth of our hearts.
I would say the world say the world has changed and we are moving ahead and prospering, we should not forget our values. Our culture is one of the finest which has a wide variety and the capability to still absorbs a lot from others too which makes it stronger every time we adopt good values from other cultures. We are influenced by them while we reside away from our home towns.
To conclude the above even though we live away and are influenced by other cultures we have learnt to adopt all those policies and new ideas from them to strengthen our own culture.
“Change is a necessity but it should not be by stepping over our traditional and cultural values. It should be by combining them to our
Lives and not leaving them behind”
Proud to be a son of Lahaul and Spiti.
---Raj Narayan Bodh