“The people are cheerful in disposition, and are light-hearted by nature, and, unlike the plains people, seem to thoroughly appreciate a joke. It is pleasant to hear on the road down to Theriaghat from Cherrapunji, in the early morning the whole hillside resounding with the scraps of song and peals of laughter….”
That’s from The Khasis written about a century ago by Major P. R. T. Gurdon, I. A., the Deputy Commissioner Eastern Bengal and Assam Commission.* Gurdon wrote an ethnological study of the people in the Jaintia Hills of India. Feminists should love them: The society was totally matriarchal until it was influenced by western culture and religion, but it still maintains a thread of the superior position of women.
The Khasi tribes occupy about 6,000 square miles from northeastern India to Bangladesh, from the West Garo Hills through the Khasi Hills, to the Jaintia Hills.** Cherrapunjee (Cherrrapunji, Sohra) south of the East Khasi Hills is one of the wettest places on our planet. In July 1861, for example, more than 30 feet of rain fell, and in the previous twelve-month period, over 86 feet of rain fell. Want a perspective on amount: One inch of rain on one acre is more than 27,000 gallons of water. Eighty-six feet equals more than 1,000 inches, so 1,000 X 27,000 = 27,000,000 gallons of water per acre or 40 Olympic size swimming pools. Picture that in your neighborhood. Picture your neighbors under the deluge of millions of gallons of water per acre. Happy campers? Probably not.
Why should I mention the rain? Listen to the people around you when rain dominates the weather for a few days. Back to what Gurdon wrote: the Khasis are generally inclined to express and appreciate humor. The rain doesn’t seem to take away their laughter.
Think of the environmental influences of mood on your neighbors (I’m assuming that your own mood is not the product of external influences of place and that you can look objectively at the emotional states of others). The people in one of the rainiest places on the planet appear to have a humor not subject to the influence of weather.
About to experience a hot humid day? About to experience a continued cold spell? About to experience incessant rain for a week?
How do you feel?
*
Project Gutenberg, 12786-8.txt or 12786-8.zip
https://ia600503.us.archive.org/0/items/thekhasis12786gut/12786-8.txt
**
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=map+of+khasi+tribes&id=88FB6AF853299B5769A9D1294C3CDF54B447EB39&FORM=IQFRBA
That’s from The Khasis written about a century ago by Major P. R. T. Gurdon, I. A., the Deputy Commissioner Eastern Bengal and Assam Commission.* Gurdon wrote an ethnological study of the people in the Jaintia Hills of India. Feminists should love them: The society was totally matriarchal until it was influenced by western culture and religion, but it still maintains a thread of the superior position of women.
The Khasi tribes occupy about 6,000 square miles from northeastern India to Bangladesh, from the West Garo Hills through the Khasi Hills, to the Jaintia Hills.** Cherrapunjee (Cherrrapunji, Sohra) south of the East Khasi Hills is one of the wettest places on our planet. In July 1861, for example, more than 30 feet of rain fell, and in the previous twelve-month period, over 86 feet of rain fell. Want a perspective on amount: One inch of rain on one acre is more than 27,000 gallons of water. Eighty-six feet equals more than 1,000 inches, so 1,000 X 27,000 = 27,000,000 gallons of water per acre or 40 Olympic size swimming pools. Picture that in your neighborhood. Picture your neighbors under the deluge of millions of gallons of water per acre. Happy campers? Probably not.
Why should I mention the rain? Listen to the people around you when rain dominates the weather for a few days. Back to what Gurdon wrote: the Khasis are generally inclined to express and appreciate humor. The rain doesn’t seem to take away their laughter.
Think of the environmental influences of mood on your neighbors (I’m assuming that your own mood is not the product of external influences of place and that you can look objectively at the emotional states of others). The people in one of the rainiest places on the planet appear to have a humor not subject to the influence of weather.
About to experience a hot humid day? About to experience a continued cold spell? About to experience incessant rain for a week?
How do you feel?
*
Project Gutenberg, 12786-8.txt or 12786-8.zip
https://ia600503.us.archive.org/0/items/thekhasis12786gut/12786-8.txt
**
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=map+of+khasi+tribes&id=88FB6AF853299B5769A9D1294C3CDF54B447EB39&FORM=IQFRBA
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