07/23/2011
So the Tziganes? Are they from India??
During centuries their origin remained a mystery. The most eccentric assumptions were made. They were the children of Adam and a woman before Eve, the descendants of the Telamones (from Northern Africa), the sons of a lost tribe of Israel?
Today the experts seem to recognize unanimously the Indian origin of the Tziganes. The linguists have confirmed that the language of the Tziganes was close to the "Hindi-rajasthani" Sanskrit and that it had gotten enriched during their trips with words borrowed from the vocabularies of the countries they crossed.
We don’t know the reasons of their departure of India around the IXth and Xth centuries. (According to texts partly from history and partly from legend, a few thousands of Tziganes (called then "Zott", " Rom" or "Dom") would have been sent by a king of India to his cousin the king of Persia to show him their talent of musicians.)
Their first migrations led them to the north of the Indus towards Iran, Greece and Europe via the Byzantine empire. The presence of the Tziganes is clearly attested in Constantinople in 1150. Since they were established for a long time in the Byzantine empire, their language became very influenced by Greek.
It is in August 1419 that they are spotted in France in Châtillon-on-Chalaronne. In the XIVth century the Roms started to come to Central Europe.
Sources : http://mayvon.chez-alice.fr/; http://www.cultures-tsiganes.org/cultures_tsiganes/histoire/histoire_p1.htm ; http://www.cultures-tsiganes.org/cultures_tsiganes/histoire/histoire_p1.htm
08:07 Posted in Incredible India! | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: india, gypsies, origin, tziganes | Facebook | |
07/16/2011
Faith kills
Everyone has by now heard of the recent attacks (on July 13th) in Mumbai. Toll: 18 dead people. They can do better… No provocation here; Indians have proved their expertise in terrorism and if you see the scale of previous attacks, they could really have made more damage. If the idea is to terrorize, they have a long way to go. Once passed the initial shock of “I could have been there” and “fuck not again”, life took over almost immediately. Moreover, nobody has yet claimed the attack though it is most probably for religious purpose.
PS: National religious terrorism makes India rank 6th among the countries more at the risk of the terrorist threat (2001: 5,839 victims, 2010: 1,902).
More fatal, the Amarnath Yatra. Two weeks after the opening of the pilgrimage – which Emilie and myself were supposed to do this year, already 51 pilgrims died. All that to go and worhsip a frozen giant penis (of Shiva). No no, no blasphemy here. Pilgrims face the cold, the rain, the altitude to go see one of the most sacred lingams of India.
Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/175941/10-more-die-way-amarnath.html
08:01 Posted in Incredible India! | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: india, mumbai, bomb blast, terrorism, religion, pilgrimage, amarnath yatra | Facebook | |
07/05/2011
Treasure hunting...
14:17 Posted in Incredible India! | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: india, kerala, treasure | Facebook | |