At its western tip is Arunachal’s Kameng district, an area covered by tropical and semi –tropical forests. It is here that the famous Tawang Buddhist monastery is located. Tawang sits on a plateau 3,048 meters high and its monastery is said to be over 350 years old.
With communications, the people of these areas have been awakened to the existence of a large life outside their own villages. With this awakening, of course, some problems also have arisen. The new life and the new education are eroding into the influence of old established social institutions. Much of the traditional song and dance of the tribal people is being replaced by the ruder noises of the dance orchestra. The soft and soothing lilt of the rural flute is rarely heard, for it is considered more stylish to strum the electric guitar.
The beautiful hand weavers are fast disappearing and, instead of the lovely shawls of old the young men of the villages prefer to sport their leather jackets with fancy zips and cowboy belts. We of the old school make our small endeavor to remind the people that all that is new is not necessarily good, that there is much in the old traditional institutions that still have value and deserves not to be summarily discarded.
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