Children weaving cloth in Khonoma Village near Kohima in Nagaland
I spotted these children in the Khonoma Village of Nagaland, located 20 km from the state capital Kohima. They were weaving cloth on the roof of their homes. The residents here belong to the Angami tribe. Scroll down for more images of these children; click on any for a larger view.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Ajay, great shots, Hope you are having a great time there. Manipur next time right!
hey nice pictures
i have been in nagaland, and can very well relate to the snaps..which part did you go to?
This is CHILD LABOUR
Thanks Palin, I am hooked to the North-East. This was a short trip, but cannot wait to go back in my own car. Most likely I will drive from Delhi in Feb/March.
Thanks Aniruddha. Went to Kohima and around and Mokokchung area. Plan to go back to Mon soon – but in my own car next time. Where all have you travelled in Nagaland?
Hi Rhea, I think they were weaving this cloth for their own use – not sure if this can be defined as child labour considering the circumstances they live in. But surely they deserve a life and opportunity as any other better off children in the world.
should have taken photos of the final product too. would have been interesting.thanks for sharing
If I had the time to hang around, I could have Sandhya. But it did not strike me to ask if they had any they made earlier. Anyway, language was a big barrier too I could not even get them to tell me what they were making.
These are very nice Ajay. On that note, what langauge were they communicating in? I heard people in Nagaland speak different dialects?
Each tribe has its own dialect Dhruti. And they have a problem even understanding each other. But some time back (not sure how long) they developed a hybrid language Nagamese which many understand.
Lol .. Thats no child labor… you can relate that to playing Barbies in cities
thats no child labor :-[…… u should think twice before u say anything !!!!!
Hi Ajay, I love the photographs on your site – really evocative, beautifully done. I’m feature writer for Lounge – the Hindustan Times/Mint saturday magazine. We do a full centrespread photo essay every alternate issue – I’d love it if we could feature some of your work. Please tell me if you are interested?
for correction,in the case of this village,this is not CHILD LABOUR,in fact,kids do it for,and with fun…there is no imposition on them that they should weave ,its free will.It gives them knowledge and company with friends…thats how time pass by for about a month in a year…next season,they may pluck fruits….rni am a khonomian.
they are learning to weave on toy looms! It takes many years of practice to weave the lovely cloth that you see men and women wearing in Nagaland. Of course the finest are woven for the family. rnrnhad you walked about little more in Khonoma you would have come across young girls and women weaving for their families.
We did walk around the whole town Vibha but saw only a few women weaving. And tried talking to them but language became a barrier – but we still hit it off well and exchanged chocolates and bananas