What first took you to the Nicobar Islands?
I was working with nomads in the Himalayas in 1998, when the Indian government called me, looking for someone who could document the traditional Nicobarese culture – somebody who could live in difficult conditions. The Nicobars had no real infrastructure or communications at the time.
Tell me about the islands and your first impressions.
It is a really stunning, beautiful place – and very isolated. The islands are part of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, about 1200 kilometres east of the Indian mainland in the Bay of Bengal. Around 12 or so of the Nicobars are inhabited and the population when I arrived was about 42,000. The last leg of my journey had to be by canoe.
How were you received by the Nicobarese?
I met the chief, Ayesha Majid, and she gave me permission to visit the villages. I slept in an old, ...
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