How I hate myself for going to Ziro Music Festival!

Shri
Oct 9, 2017
11 min read

"How many people can fit in a Tata Sumo?"

After a lot of curiosity, I took myself on a trip out to the mythical Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh for the Ziro Music Festival. Getting to ZFM was as alien as the artist line-up at the festival. A lot had been heard about the back breaking work of getting to Ziro, the variety of modes of transport to be hopped on, before getting to Ziro. All this had to be experienced. A bigger intent was to experience a laid back atmosphere I had often seen in those live performances by Icelandic band Sigur Ros, especially the one of them performing the song "Olsen Olsen". I am going to breakdown the entire experience of ZFM into different parts in this story:

1. Getting to Ziro

2. What the hell is Ziro?

3. Surviving ZFM

4. The Apong expedition

5. The music festival

6. Paya aro pacho. Ngo Ziro mi hendu

First 5 parts will be a good guide to get in and around the festival. The last part is my interpretation of what the festival as a whole stands for & how you have to be/can be receptive to it. (In short, me trying to be a little melodramatic about the entire experience)

1. Getting to Ziro

"How many people can fit in a Sumo?","Well, that depends!","Depends on what?!","How desperately you want to get to where you want to get to!"

My journey to Ziro started from Bangalore & I had braced myself for the long journey. But, nothing prepared me for a long two days. The journey in itself had multiple stages: Bangalore-Guwahati (Air), Guwahati-Naharlagun(Train), Naharlagun-Ziro(Dumb & Dumber style Sumo).

The thing that needs to be well understood is that, the party at ZMF starts right at Guwahati train station & you generally find your tribe. I would like to call this the party train, something on the lines of Vodka train of Russia. The train starts in the night around 9 and gets to Naharlagun at about 5 in the morning. You can possibly get a good 3 hour sleep, since you will be up discussing life on your way, under influence of the greenery abound & around the train ;)

You get off the train, and it is already a sunrise at 5 in the morning. An interesting thing to note is, even though Bhutan is to the west of Arunachal, it is half an hour ahead of us (which is particularly senseful, because of early sunrise). Here, you are treated to a classic Bangalore style auto rickshaw haggling routine, but only with the rickety Sumo or an uber luxury Alto. The choice is yours, but I would suggest you to hop on a ride till Naharlagun city from the train station to get a better worth on your buck.

After about 3 hours of search and beg work early morning, we were able to settle on this gorgeous ride, which would escort us till Hapoli, which is about 7 kms from Ziro & the festival venue. It is a 100 kms journey from Naharlagun to Hapoli, but it might take anywhere upto 10 hours depending on the scene on the route that might be affected frequently by landslides et al. Thankfully, my onward journey had no such glitch & it took about 5 hours to cover the route with pit stops for food & leaks.

Our uber-lux ride to ZFM. I would like to call this 'Ze(i)ro', since it came with as many features.

Along with a host of other features like:

1. Suspension system, which is as existent as a 3.5mm pin on an iPhone 7

2. Luxury leather upholstery done from the bits & pieces remaining from previously existent uphosltery

3. Doors that are so light, they are non-existent

4. Top-notch safety system that allows a heavenly feel (literally) under crash conditions

The ride also boasts of a BYOM feature. For dummies, it is a advanced feature available, which lets you Bring Your Own Music.

Tip 1: Carry your own bluetooth speaker & collection of offline music

Some good views enroute with some good music, if you were wise enough to BYOM

A friendly gentleman from Nyishi tribe, which constitutes the biggest of 26 major tribes & hundred more sub tribes.

After a good 7 hour journey, I got to Hapoli. A quick ride on a sharing autorickshaw for 40 bucks, and you are mooted into the festival site. The festival site is located closer to Old Ziro, nested between two Apatani villages of Hong & Hari. Apatani is the tribe local to Ziro Valley & are known for their nose plugs & face tattoos. More on this in the next part

2. What the hell is Ziro?

Ziro is the district headquarter of Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. It has been a favorite for being named as a nomination for UNESCO World Heritage site list for its beauty, people, cultivation, culture & food. But, the festival site is closer to district headquarter of Hapoli town. The festival itself is held in Ziro Valley. The thing that is to be understood well about weather in a valley is that it is as unpredictable as tweets from Donald J Trump.

Ziro valley is no different in this respect, and that is what particularly makes the four days of the festival so lovely. I land in Ziro, it was sunny. The first set of performances on day 1 at Piilo stage starts & it rains for a while. Day 2 morning it rains cats & dogs. I almost gave up on being part of the festival & enjoying it. Then you are depressed for having made the harrowing journey & go up and sit on the bamboo hawaa mahal constructed over at the hillock in the festival ground. Then the skies clear up & the sun comes out playing hide & seek with its warmth behind a batch of clouds & you are rewarded with the performances going on in the background on Danyii stage. How are you supposed to not love this play of weather, scenery, music & atmosphere that makes the festival what it is?

Ziro is native to the Apatani tribe. Apatanis are known for their wet rice cultivation without use of machines or farm animals. It is also astonishing to know that there was absolutely no consumption of milk from cattle. Atleast, I didn't come across the same. Apatanis pride themselves in the hard-working nature of their women, intelligence. A couple of rides with locals they mentioned to me about a host of firsts of Apatanis compared to any other tribe in Arunachal Pradesh.

However, the things that Apatanis are most known for, are their attire & the amazing variety of Apong. This video by NatGeo is a good primer on the customs of Apatanis.

I believe they are really beautiful, but sadly the customs are out of the window and you will only find cute grannies in this traditional make up now. The tribes around world have eccentric customs, is to help themselves stand out from the crowd, rest of the tribes. I cannot say it is a good thing, or a bad thing that traditions stop existing. But it is good to witness it before it achieves a complete death.

Apatanis have two major festivals: Dree & Myoko. Dree being a harvest festival, presently celebrated in July every year. The festival most exciting for Apatanis however is Myoko. Myoko is a local version of friendship day, but on the contrary goes on for a month. Apatanis divide themselves into three bastis, all in the Ziro valley. But, come every Myoko, one of the three basti plays host for the people of other bastis. You are allowed to be a guest at anybody's house & it is their responsibility to fulfill your appetite for food & apong. I got invited in March by every single Apatani person I interacted with. Including this cute one:

3. Surviving ZFM

Well, this part of the post refers to the survival guide during the festival. I hope to address the major concerns of human existence - EPS. Eat, Poop & Sleep.

Eat

There are many enticing options for food in & around the festival. As is the case with any music festival, the food inside is way more expensive than it is outside. But, the options inside is a culture in a bouquet & you can try all local delicacies from pork to mithun. (Sadly, I am a vegetarian & had to stick to conventional rice dal routine. But the amount of spiciness the food had, made up for it).

Credits to respective Instagram contributors

One of the foodcourts in the festival grounds

Sleep

There are plenty of options, but be assured all of them are far off from what you are generally used to, with your urban existence. You will crib about amenities being scarce, far off, ill-managed from the ideal image you have set in mind.

I came across local huts, tent campsites, resorts, regular hotels to BYOT (Bring Your Own Tent) options available. I had chosen to pitch my own tent at a superb campsite right beside the festival grounds, which gave me an option to be present in the festival without actually being present in the music festival grounds. 'Ziro Degree' run by East India Tours & Travels, had a campsite right outside the festival grounds, very close to the BYOT offered by ZFM itself. This campsite was particularly good for its vibe, with barbecue area, campfire & the festival view. Even the organizer, Acheles Sanju is a seasoned man, with his show running across much of North-East for Hornbill festival, NH7 Weekender @ Meghalaya & in Majuli. I would whole heartedly recommend the same.

You can find Acheles Sanju & his newest ventures here -------> EAST INDIA TRAVELS

One other name I heard was of Eagle nest camp, which had local bamboo huts on offer, which would have been a particularly nice experience since the only use my city bred brain knows of Bamboo is of the Feng-Shui plant which brings good luck. The last I tried keeping it on my desk, it just suicided itself by drying out!

Poop

One aspect that has been of much personal interest after having heard Modi thump his chest & cry #swachbharatabhiyan, #swachatahisewa is the issue of managing to poop. My personal motto is "Poop well, everything else will be taken care of." With this in mind, my gang formed an early morning mission each day & set out on a 'Tatty Expedition' to the city. Not that the campsite did not have portaloos, but just that portaloos do just what they are said to do. You can use them only a few times & after that, they are just as bad as public defecation.

A good walk till Hong village, which is about a kilometer on foot, with the following amazing view every morning.

Not my image, but the view is as good except the roads during the rains

And then, in the village you meet an Apatani gentleman or a lady on his/her ride to Hapoli. You will be invited whole heartedly for a good chat which will be about one of the following things:

1. Myoko festival & invitation for you to visit them in March

2. Apatani pride in being the most intelligent of tribes in Arunachal

3. Hong village being the second largest village in Asia (An unverifiable fact in a country like India, where a baby is born every other second)

4. The weather

All of the topics above are pleasant to talk about & worth it.

Getting to the city, we visited the aptly named City Hotel to get things done & 'Make Ziro Great Again', or in short MZGA. (Totally, worth the pun!)

With this tip, I hope you all find your happy place, which you can call your toilet.

4. The Apong Expedition

There are certain things, I really hate. One of those, is having to overpay for a local delicacy. Another being, not doing it the local way, since experiences are better, when done the local way.

You won't enjoy the momo stuffed with Paneer, deep fried with batter & then dipped in schezwan sauce served on a plastic plate to be consumed standing in a decrepit street in Lajpat Nagar or Subhash Nagar. The previous statement won't make sense if you are from Delhi, in which case, my condolences with you. (Customary Delhi rant over!)

In this quest, I was forced by a friend to set out looking for a local waterhole to try out the Apong. For starters, Apong is a rice beer, which is traditionally prepared by some tribes of North-East India. Apatanis especially get all creative with their brews & have it flavored as a pear, ash, kiwi (the best), black rice etc. The price of a half liter bottle inside & around the festival ground would be about INR 100.

The following is a photo series of our expedition in hunt for a local apong hole.

Is this it? Nah!

Spot the entrance?

(This place is opposite to Apatani market)

Got to our spot. Now to get our brew

Got that white brew. Totally worth the struggle!

5. The music festival

Much had been said about the music & the artists that were going to perform at ZFM. Out of the long list, I was aware of just about two or three artists - Barmer Boyz, Dhruv Vishwanat & Damo Suzuki. A lot of other artists were a revelation. There is a long list of recommendations I have:

1. Kroashia

2. Burudu

3. Rizal & the Resandriyas - for his unique music with an instrument created by him, the resandriyas

4. Koloma - Tripuran folk music with jazz & blues influence

5. Vivek Arora - What a bomb on stage

6. Skylevel

7. Reggae Rajahs

8. Sapta - I had a neck pain the next day because of banging my head to something they call 'Indian electro', electronic music with live drummer, Tapas, who is extraordinary.

I can't write much about music as it is best experienced live for their unique flavor & the atmosphere.

This illustration by Tarini Sethi, helps you get around easily.

View of the day stage, Donyii Stage. This sort of laid back atmosphere is something to look forward to.

Not many were spared in the after parties

6. Paro aya Pacho. Ngo Ziro mi hendu

The day I reached Ziro was quite exhausting. It was a 40 hour non-stop journey that started the day before at 4 in the morning, with a cab to the airport. I had overpacked, as is case with most Indian "travellers". I thought my call on borrowing the portable tent to put up my own tent at a campsite was a wrong call. Added to all this, the rains, mud roads, ever changing weather. I had several complaints.

In every concert or music festival that you probably go to, there is an order of sorts. There is always someone guiding you with the directions, telling you what not to do. But, here, at Ziro, in the 4 days I was there, I did not see a single volunteer except for the ones at the ticketing counter, security checks & the MCs. You are basically let to your own will.

Apatanis believe in sustainability & staying closer to the nature in their existence. This shows in their Apong consumption in a bamboo mug, cooking in bamboo, houses made of bamboo. The festival follows the theme & the entire set up had bamboo construction. You hate the mud for a day or day and half, after that you are basically used to it.

My interpretation of the same is, as is the culture of north east, "What is the hurry to get where you want to get to, if you will eventually get there?". You have come to the festival to release the pressure from your mundane life. So be it. Take it slow, walk mindfully, fall in the wet mud, relive the carefree days of your childhood, where it did not matter and one where you died everyday to play in the sand dump right outside a house under construction. Relive those days, where you would make friends easily. The other beauty of the festival was that I went all by myself and I could walk right up to anyone to ask for some green help ;) and they would help me right back & we would discuss anything non-sensical, anything except the regular lives we lived back home.

Music is just one aspect, ZFM brings together a lot of other things, which seem quite inexplicable and begs to be experienced. It must be a cliche to say, I left a part of me there. But, in this case, it was Ziro breathed some fresh air into me & made me believe there are still things that are good existing around us & you have to go out seeking. The journey will be hard & filled with a lot of challenges, but then it is totally worth it once you make it there. Even though, I would not prefer revisiting a place, this is one place I would want to make that exception for.

In the end, Thank you Ziro, Paro aya pacho, I love you, Ngo mi hendu. I will sign off with just one wish though, coming years don't make the festival more commercialized than it already is, to an extent. See you very soon. :)