Andaman and Nicobar Corner

[Hermione]

South Indian food is so boring!

That is a flame bait. I have never seen breakfast preparations better anywhere else in India. The variety in South Indian food at breakfast is just awesome. Uddupi restaurants did not become popular for the heck of it.

 

[Indischer]

South Indian food is so boring!

You haven't had good/authentic South Indian food then. For a North Indian, South Indian cuisine is like fine Wine. Aadat nahi toh mazaa nahi.

 

[vicky sen]

That is a flame bait. I have never seen breakfast preparations better anywhere else in India. The variety in South Indian food at breakfast is just awesome. Uddupi restaurants did not become popular for the heck of it.

You haven't had good/authentic South Indian food then. For a North Indian, South Indian cuisine is like fine Wine. Aadat nahi toh mazaa nahi.

Well probably I should not judge. I havnt tried much, only south Indian restaurants in Kolkata.

 

[al-Hasani]

@al-Hasani Most of the Nicobarese tribes have been sort of integrated into mainstream civilization, while the Andamanese tribes are slowly seeing their ancient way of life disappear. But the Sentinel Islands are a seperate country for all practical purposes.Only the Sentinelese might continue to live the way they have for nearly at least 50000 years now.

Yes, I have actually read about all that. Indians settlers have now settled on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and most of the locals have now come into contact with modern civilization. The only exception, as you say, is the small North Sentinel Island.



I have no doubt that those people are descendants of one of the earliest human migrations from Africa into that part of the world. The question is though if they ever traveled through the Arabian Peninsula like almost all other humans before they migrated to the remaining world or whether they just took right off from Africa by sea all the way to the Andaman Sea.

Have any of you Indians visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands? If so how does their indigenous cuisine differ from the Indian one - in this case South Indian? Is/was it not quite primitive?

 

[Roybot]

Now that we have made a thread about Andamans, might as well make use of it and post information about the beautiful islands, promote it for tourism!

 

[liall]

That is a flame bait. I have never seen breakfast preparations better anywhere else in India. The variety in South Indian food at breakfast is just awesome. Uddupi restaurants did not become popular for the heck of it.

I miss that utaapam breakfast every morning :/ or dosa or idli better than our paratha breakfast. Even Canadian breakfast bacon and eggs is better

 

[Indischer]

Yes, I have actually read about all that. Indians settlers have now settled on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and most of the locals have now come into contact with modern civilization. The only exception, as you say, is the small North Sentinel Island.



I have no doubt that those people are descendants of one of the earliest human migrations from Africa into that part of the world. The question is though if they ever traveled through the Arabian Peninsula like almost all other humans before they migrated to the remaining world or whether they just took right off from Africa by sea all the way to the Andaman Sea.

Have any of you Indians visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands? How those their indigenous cuisine differ from the Indian one - in this case South Indian? Is/was it not quite primitive?

They are postulated to have taken a land route all the way actually. 40-50 thousand years ago, owing to the Ice Age still in progress, the sea levels weren't as high as they are today. The entire chain of islands across the Malacca straits all the way to Philippines, were one land mass accessible by foot.

The Andaman Islanders are supposed to have traveeled along the edge of the Indian peninsula, and then into Burma and from there onto the Islands.

 

[al-Hasani]

@Indischer
I have actually watched that documentary. If I recall correctly then all the human haplogroups/groups of people that they made into groups depending on their ancestry at the end of the documentary had all travelled through the Arabian Peninsula/ME expect one. That was obviously the native Africans who never left home. The other might be those early humans that travelled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

If would be interesting to see which route they took precisely.

What about the cuisine mate? How does it differ from the South Indian cuisine? Have the locals somehow enriched the cuisine or is is just South Indian cuisine basically?
Have any Indian visited those islands on this forum that you know of? I would like to visit myself.

 

[Indischer]

@Indischer
I have actually watched that documentary. If I recall correctly then all the human haplogroups/groups of people that they made into groups depending on their ancestry ad the end of the program had all travelled through the Arabian Peninsula/ME expect one. That was obviously the native Africans who never left home. The other might be those early humans that travelled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

If would be interesting to see which route they took precisely.

What about the cuisine mate? How doest that differ from the South Indian cuisine? Have the locals somehow enriched the cuisine or is is just South Indian cuisine basically?

Their migration route is stated as such because they have only ASI (Ancestral South Indian) genomes in them. And their genes also show evidence of a population bottleneck, brought about by isolation for thousands of years. Thus, it's said that they populated those islands via the Burmese land route, but became isolated as the rising sea levels soon turned the Andamans into an island archipelago.

Regarding cuisine, they don't seem to have any, as they never practised agriculture. They've relied solely on bushmeat and fruits/vegetables naturally found in the forest. The Jarawa nowadays have started to beg for food from the 'locals' (i.e people who settled recently, from the mainland), and seem to be abandoning ther previous lifestyle. But the Govt too has stepped up in preventing such contact, and the penalty for those found indulging in such contact is actually pretty severe.

 

[al-Hasani]

Their migration route is stated as such because they have only ASI (Ancestral South Indian) genomes in them. And their genes also show evidence of a population bottleneck, brought about by isolation for thousands of years. Thus, it's said that they populated those islands via the Burmese land route, but became isolated as the rising sea levels soon turned the Andamans into an island archipelago.

Regarding cuisine, they don't seem to have any, as they never practised agriculture. They've relied solely on bushmeat and fruits/vegetables naturally found in the forest. The Jarawa nowadays have started to beg for food from the 'locals' (i.e people who settled recently, from the mainland), and seem to be abandoning ther previous lifestyle. But the Govt too has stepped up in preventing such contact, and the penalty for those found indulging in such contact is actually pretty severe.

Thanks Indischer.

Which people from the Indian government are allowed to come near the North Sentinel Island? How frequently is the island monitored by India? I mean are there not many ships etc. who are sailing past that island on a frequent basis? Nearby, meaning close enough for the locals to spot them. What about fishermen?

How about Indian anthropologists? Are they allowed to come near the island?

I read about incidents of Indian fishermen getting killed by the locals. Although there seems to be a very big scrutiny about that island and maybe for the good.
It just interests me.

 

[W.11]

we will soon have 1.2 billion corners in PDF

 

[Indischer]

Thanks Indischer.

Which people from the Indian government are allowed to come near the North Sentinel Island? How frequently is the island monitored by India? I mean are there not many ships etc. who are sailing past that island on a frequent basis? Nearby, meaning close enough for the locals to spot them.

How about Indian anthropologists? Are they allowed to come near the island?

I read about incidents of Indian fishermen getting killed by the locals. Although there seems to be a very big scrutiny about that island and maybe for the good.
It just interests me.

Mention not Bro. At present, nobody's allowed to go near the islands. Only Indian Navy patrols and Helicopter surveillance from afar is undertaken to ensure that all's well on the island. The last casualty on the island happened about 2 years back, when a drunk fisherman drifted near the island with his boat. The sentinelese captured him, executed him, and buried him in the sand on the beach where he was dragged ashore. When the Indian Navy helis attempted to retrieve his body, they were met with arrows and spears and had to retreat.

In the 70s and 80s the attempts of Indian anthropologists to make contact with the islanders was met with hostility. It's said that they haven't tried going back there ever since.

 

[Chronos]

You'll have to wait till a few Jarawa, Onge, Sentinelese and Shompen tribals learn to access internet and PDF. Looks like I'm the only Tribal here for now.

They'll go extinct in a few decades AFAIK.

 

[al-Hasani]

They'll go extinct in a few decades AFAIK.

 

[Indischer]

They'll go extinct in a few decades AFAIK.

The Govt is concerned about it too. The Supreme Court has already given a verdict that the Andaman Trunk Road be closed and vehicular traffic through the Jarawa inhabited areas be prohibited. But the problem is, that road is also the lifeline of Indian settlers there, and until suitable transportation through sea isn't arranged for them, their livelihoods will be in peril.