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Journalism of Courage
WHEN Macedonian King Alexander ended his expedition in India, he returned home, westward from the mouth of the Indus river. But some of his weary troops decided to set roots in the Indus Valley. The Dropkas of Ladakh are said to be their survivors. Their claim to Aryan roots apparently has German girls coming to Ladakh in hope of finding a partner and getting a pure Aryan child. And now a Ludhiana-based doctor is trying to transfer the magic of the Dropkas on screen.
The hour-long documentary to be directed by Sukhwant Dhadda of the Ek Chadar Maili Si fame will be filmed by a 10-member crew this September.
The shooting8217;s timing is carefully chosen. 8216;8216;It coincides with the Festival of Fertility which these people celebrate every year to thank Nature for making their land fertile,8217;8217; says B.S. Shah, who practices at the local Dayanand Medical College and Hospital and is the brain behind the project. 8216;8216;The belief is that since the land has been kind to them in yielding food, its women too will bear them children.8217;8217;
It was in 1986 that Shah visited villages in Ladakh for the first time and noticed that the inhabitants of these village had different physical features compared to the rest of the population. 8216;8216;Both the men and women were taller, fairer and had sharp features,8217;8217; says Shah, who prefers to call himself a 8216;8216;haemotologist with a special interest in male infertility8217;8217;.
Shah floated the idea of filming the lives and rituals of these people to Dhadda who was hooked. 8216;8216;It was such an exotic concept that I knew I had to film it,8217;8217; says Dhadda who stayed in Ladakh for a fortnight this June. 8216;8216;These people show traits of Vedic times as is reflected in things like animal-worship,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;Also, by marrying amongst themselves, they are trying to preserve the purity of their blood.8217;8217;
But the obsession with purity could be dangerous. 8216;8216;Although it is yet to be proven scientifically, there is belief amongst these tribes that inbreeding over the years has rendered their women infertile,8217;8217; says Shah. 8216;8216;To counter this, free sex is allowed during the Festival of Fertility with the hope that a new male partner may be able to impregnate a barren woman,8217;8217; he adds. 8216;8216;A pregnancy after the festival is event looked forward to,8217;8217; says Shah.
The film8217;s cinematographer will be internationally acclaimed Shaji N. Karun. Dhadda plans to take the film to various international film festivals.
