India, that amazing subcontinent of mystery and imagination has been known to the world for centuries. Or has it? Spread throughout this amazing land there are hidden pockets of civilisations that go back beyond any written word. Valleys and plains holding fascinating glimpses of the past in the forms of tribes who still hold, just, to their traditional ways. Others of these fast-disappearing tribes are on the edge of assimilation. Learning modern ways and adapting their age-old customs, these people and this book take us back in time as well as forward, as they struggle to survive in a land that has tried to forget them.
For some the hand-to-mouth existence has become too much and they have drifted towards the towns and cities. For many this means the loss of their religions, traditions and their links to the clan. Others continue to hold to their way of life, a life that appears to strengthen them as they close ranks and ignore the rest of the world. From their strong sense of family and clan to their traditional building techniques and their ornate jewellery, these forgotten people have a dignity and flavour that we can only hope will see them safely through the pitfalls of the 21st century.
