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Chapter Ten. Paradise in the Jungle |
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The people of Oting, acting on Chingai's suggestion, had also built me a comfortable hut on piles and it would be good to stay in this friendly village. I do not think that any other Naga village can boast of so lovely a position as Oting, and the people seemed to have the easy amiability of most sun-kissed lands. To my great surprise, even the girls were not afraid of my camera, and smiled gaily with black mouths whenever I wanted to take their (90) photographs. The great difference between the individual villages in their attitude to my Contax was always a puzzle. While there were villages where the photographing of women was either altogether impossible or a matter for diplomacy when dobashi and gaonbura must intervene, there were others where the girls seemed to think it fun to be taken, and would continue with their normal activities as though nothing unusual occurred. Perhaps the women were shyest in the villages lying closest to Borjan or to the plains; evidently on their frequent visits to the markets of Assam they had unpleasant encounters with strangers. |
