High in Himachal Pradesh lies Malana, a village of secrets and ancient traditions. From its fabled origins as Alexander's descendants to its self-sufficient democracy, Malana guards a culture untouched by time. Shrouded in mystery, this secluded haven blends breathtaking beauty with a way of life that captivates and intrigues all who hear its story.

Nestled between Himachal Pradesh’s Jari and Khiksa thatch lies a small village that feels like a world of its own called 

 are known for their unique customs, centuries- old traditions and obviously the breathtaking natural beauty. It is a place steeped in history, culture, and fascinating traditions that set it apart from anywhere else on earth. Known as the "World’s Oldest Democracy," 

s story is as intriguing as the journey to reach it. The inhabitants of 

 speak a peculiar language of their own, called 

 is its system of governance. The village operates a democratic setup that’s said to be the oldest in the world. They have their own version of parliament with two houses: the Upper House 

. Disputes and decisions are first handled by these houses. If no solution is reached, they turn to their deity, 

, whose verdict, delivered through a priest known as a 

, is final and binding. This is what they do now but one of their age-old practices involved poisoning two goats to determine guilt—the goat that died first signified the losing party. While this method is no longer practiced, it highlights how spirituality and tradition are intertwined in their justice system. 

 have relied on unusual methods to resolve disputes and even continue to do so for most of the disputes in the village only during some cases now they have to seek help from the police. This blend of democracy and spirituality has governed the village for centuries, offering a glimpse into how deeply rooted traditions can shape a community.

 customs are as unique as its governance. Outsiders are considered untouchables, a rule strictly followed to protect the village’s cultural identity. Visitors cannot touch buildings, belongings and especially the temples but if they fail to do so they are heavily fined. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the villagers maintained strict isolation and reported no cases, reinforcing their faith in their customs and rules.

s origins are surrounded by intriguing legends. Many believe that the villagers are descendants of Alexander the Great’s soldiers, who settled here centuries ago. This theory is supported by the distinct facial features of the people and their unique customs. The village’s architecture, including temples over 100 years old, further reflects its rich history. The most revered among these temples is dedicated to Jamlu Rishi, the deity who plays a central role in the village’s spiritual and administrative life. 

 belief in Jamlu Rishi is so strong that they attribute natural disasters to his anger. According to legend, the deity once burned down 180 houses in the village.

There is a folklore story about how Jamlu Rishi caused snowfall in Agra once: It is said that during Akbar’s reign, soldiers were sent to 

 to collect taxes. However, the temple priest of sage Jamadagni allegedly refused to pay them. During the Mughal era, it was believed that all deities in the Kullu valley paid taxes as a mark of respect to sage Jamadagni. The idea of the priest paying taxes to the emperor was

considered unacceptable. Despite this, the soldiers reportedly took a

According to the tale, Rishi Jamadagni was angered by this act. It is said that the gold coin taken as tax mysteriously started flying in Akbar’s treasury, leaving his officers astonished. Doubting the deity’s power, Akbar challenged Rishi Jamadagni to prove it by causing snowfall in Agra. The next day, a miracle was said to have occurred, and Agra, the Mughal capital, witnessed snowfall. Impressed by this divine intervention, Akbar is believed to have sent a gold idol of himself to the 

 is also often called the "hash village" due to its renowned cannabis cultivation. 

 Cream, a type of hashish produced here, is famous worldwide. For two months during the hash harvest season, life in the village revolves entirely around this crop. Schools often remain closed, and the villagers focus on processing and selling their produce. Hemp is also used for making ropes, blankets, and other essentials, showcasing the resourcefulness of the community.

 isolation has preserved its traditions, it also brings challenges. The village lacks basic infrastructure like roads. Education is limited, with children often missing school during the hash season. Marrying outside the community is strictly prohibited, and individuals who leave 

 rarely return. This collective focus on preserving their way of life often comes at the expense of personal freedom. However, the reliance on cannabis cultivation raises ethical and legal concerns. While some advocate for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes, it remains a contentious issue. 

For the villagers, hemp farming is not just a livelihood but a tradition they are proud of.

 stands at a crossroads, caught between preserving its unique identity and adapting to the modern world. Younger generations are increasingly curious about life outside the village, leading to a quiet tension between tradition and change. While their democratic system and cultural practices are remarkable, the lack of access to education and healthcare poses significant challenges. 

 is more than just a village; it’s a living museum of ancient traditions and governance. Its breathtaking beauty, coupled with its fascinating history and culture, makes it a place like no other. As the world becomes more interconnected, the challenge for 

 will be to retain its identity while opening up to the benefits of modernity. For now, it remains a hidden gem—a testament to the enduring power of community and tradition in the face of change.

Malana:  World’s Oldest Democracy

I’m from the mountains and during the summer evenings we sit outside every day while the breeze cools us off. I remember going outside on some evenings when my Daadi Aama would usually sit on a 

 (carpet), and asking her to tell me a story. Every time she started, I just couldn’t stop asking her “

Me and my Grandma were both lying down on our backs against the carpet looking at the star lit sky when she asked, “Do you see that star?” pointing to the brightest one. I replied, “Yes, I do see it”. She continued,“this is a star or maybe a planet”. I had recently learned about planets in school and so I asked her, “

, which planet is this out of the nine ones?”. We did consider Pluto at the time. She replied, “I don’t know which one this is beta but I do know a story about 

 and the nine planets…would you like to hear it?” To which I jumped with excitement, “Yay! Finally a story.”

And thus began the story — “You know 

. He was one of the most powerful beings to ever roam the Universe. What a lot of people don’t know about him is that besides being the great king of Sri Lanka, he was also an immaculate astrologer, because Jupiter, Moon and Saturn were in alignment in his birth chart.

He was strong and knowledgeable and had defeated a lot of 

 (gods) with the combination of his power and knowledge of astrology. When 

 was about to welcome his son into the world, the news spread like wildfire. All the devas were worried and scared because they couldn’t handle 

 alone and even the thought of somebody just like him being born made it twice as worse. They were all petrified, and after thinking a lot, all of them came up with a plan, which was to make the nine planets (

) shift in such unfavorable positions that it would somehow make 

“But how did they do that?” the confused little girl in me asked, to which my Daadi Aama said, “they are 

 beta, they also possessed powers, but guess what happened next?” “What?” I asked curiously. “Somehow 

 had been up to and he got furious and captured all the 

. He kept them under his feet with their heads facing downwards and because of this, the planets could no longer move into the unfavorable positions that had been requested by the 

 were disappointed and could only think of one person who could help them in this situation. That person was 

!” I exclaimed with joy to which my Grandma laughed a little.

 which was an evil eye that could be cast by one of the 

 ever fell on someone, then they were bound to face troubles and hardships in life. So, 

 and praised him a lot for capturing the nine 

 fell on him and that was the start of his hardships in life.”

“Wow Ravana got what he deserved, what happened next?” I excitedly asked.

“What do you think would’ve happened? 

 how he is, got extremely furious and caught hold of Shani and locked him inside a tiny cage that had no openings which prevented anybody from ever seeing Shani’s face again and thus prevented anybody else form being affected by the 

“So did Shani never escape?” I asked genuinely.

“He didn’t escape but after some years when 

, he heard a weeping sound from Shani’s cage. Hanuman didn’t think much and broke the cage and rescued Shani but Shani

“Oh no! So would the Shani Drishti affect Hanuman also?” I asked, worried.

 would not work on Hanuman since he had rescued 

 was bound by his virtue and had to inflict hardships on anyone on whom the 

 had fallen on him, he would have to face the consequences. 

 helplessness and probed more about the consequences. 

 head and cause family problems, which would compel him to leave his home, wife and children. But, since 

 was devoid of family, he had nothing to lose and agreed to 

, he had to crush a lot of things and even 

 that he is the only person who is not affected by the 

 and asked him to make a wish as a reward for saving 

 on his devotees anymore. And this is how people started to worship 

 and this concludes today’s story of what happened when 

Soon after, my parents called us for dinner. I was spellbound by the story and thought about it for days until she told me the next one.

This is a series called “Stories of Yesteryear: My Grandma’s Love” where the writer revisits and reminisces about the stories and folk tales that she remembers her Daadi Aama (Grandmother) narrating to her when she was a little girl.

Freya Thakur is a student pursuing English Hons. from Jamia Millia Islamia.

Stories of Yesteryear: My Grandma’s Love

The biggest freedom that this society can ever give to a woman is the freedom not to constantly be scared about her safety. Whenever people hear about a rape that has happened (which sadly happens every 16 minutes in our country), everybody finds a consensus that it is a heinous crime. However, the purpose of consensus is different for each group. The patriarchs condemn rape as it affects family honour. Whereas feminist scholars denounce rape because it is a crime against the autonomy and bodily integrity of a woman. So the difference in understanding rape naturally leads to opposite proposals for fighting rape. 

 says “If you don’t understand perpetrators, you’re never going to understand sexual violence”. This clearly states how we as a society mainly focus on things that cannot help us understand rape. This further states that rape is not just about sex for men but rather about power, domination, and suppression. It is a really bad representation of the deeply embedded patriarchy in our society and an even bigger outcome of the same patriarchy is marital rape.

People have classified the factors of the cause of a rape in a few ways; one of them being the biological factor which doesn’t necessarily but kind of tries to justify a rape by a man by stating that evolutionary theory plays an important part in this case. Psychiatrist 

 says that nobody is born to commit a rape however; the potential for rape is in every person. The biological reasons being brought up time and again in a rape case are just a mere excuse for not being able to hold accountable for one’s crime. Next are the societal factors which are formed by the surroundings in which a person is either brought up or is living. Our society believes that women are weak beings and are not capable of thinking independently hence they should be controlled. An extremity of this control is sexual violence. This might not be something that people speak out loud but it is something that men think of women which leads to them assaulting and raping women because according to them – ‘women invite rape’, ‘women should go back to their home before dark’, ‘western culture has influenced girls and they wear short dresses’, ‘somebody needs to keep women in their limits by raping them and by teaching them a lesson’.

, a lecturer of criminology interviewed 112 rapists of 

. Before talking to the rapists she was a bit scared and had some wild assumptions. She was expecting them to be really difficult to talk to and thought that they might be scary as well as abusive. But, to her surprise she was wrong and those men were ‘just ordinary men’. She went to talk to them to find out their understanding of gender as well as their attitude towards women. She says that the main thing that she noticed in those men was ‘toxic masculinity’- socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, devaluation of women and violence. She further says that a lot of these men don’t realize that what they’ve done is rape. They don’t understand what consent is. Most rapists do not remorse and mostly blame the victim. If they’re asked whether they did it forcibly, they agree but when they’re asked if they raped them, they refuse to accept that what they did was rape. While talking to these convicts, Madhumita realized that even murderers were accepting of the crime that they had done and they also showed remorse, unlike these rapists. What shocked her was that even when the rapists showed remorse it wasn’t for the heinous crime that they had committed but rather for the completely wrong thing – like the 49-year-old rapist who felt sorry not for raping the 5-year-old girl but rather, he said ‘ Yes I feel bad, I ruined her life. Now she is no longer a virgin, no one would marry her…..I will marry her when I come out of jail.’ So basically he felt sorry for the honour of the little girl and not the torturous stuff he did to her.

We cannot have a single solution to this issue due to its immense complexities. However, we can begin by acknowledging that rape is not merely a crime committed by an individual; it is a pervasive problem within society. We cannot simply place the blame on the accused and the victim. Instead, we must understand that making the world a better place is a shared responsibility. Rather than resorting to capital punishment, which might seem like an easy solution, we should focus on transforming our society. Some people demand harsher penalties, but if most women refrain from filing cases due to fears of repercussions like the death penalty, intensifying punishments will only reduce the number of reported cases, which is counterproductive.

Before the Nirbhaya case, was the government truly powerless to act? And even now, 11 years after Nirbhaya, another woman is brutally raped and murdered at her workplace in Kolkata. These are just the cases we hear about; countless others remain hidden. We live in a society where people casually issue rape threats, and we only seem to react when a major incident occurs. Our judicial system requires serious reform; it is long overdue. Victim blaming must end, and the shame should fall on the perpetrators, not the victims. It is crucial that the younger generation receives proper education and awareness on these issues to foster a more informed and just society.

Freya Thakur is a student pursuing English Honours from Jamia Millia Islamia.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of The Jamia Review or its members.

Breaking the Silence: Rethinking Rape

When one ventures to a new destination, the true essence of the place often eludes those who confine their exploration to its urban landscape. This sentiment holds especially true for Himachal, a region renowned for its picturesque beauty and cultural richness. While the cities and towns of Himachal offer modern amenities and bustling life, it is within the serene villages and rural heartlands that the authentic spirit of the state resides. Here, amidst the rolling hills and verdant valleys, one can uncover the enduring traditions and lifestyles that shape the daily existence of its people, particularly the resilient and industrious women of Himachal – 

These women wake up before the sunrise. Dressed in their brightly coloured ‘Salwar Kameez’ and head scarves during summers and the traditional winter garment “Pattu” during the winters, as dawn approaches, they set out to their fields, gathering fodder for their cattle amidst the cool morning air. Upon returning, they seamlessly transition into preparing meals for their families, a task woven with the same care and dedication. Every household, regardless of size, houses some form of cattle—cows, bulls, or even sheep. These women take pride in feeding their livestock and meticulously cleaning their living spaces. The workload in a village household is equally shared by both men as well as women. The summer season marks a time of intense activity for the women within the region. With a rich tradition of agriculture, these women play a pivotal role in the cultivation and harvesting processes.

As the warmth of summer envelops the valleys, they begin the meticulous task of sowing vegetable seeds, ensuring the crops receive the right amount of water and care. Alongside this, they are deeply involved in the laborious yet essential work of plucking, packing, and transporting a variety of fruits such as apples, peaches, and plums, which are major contributors to the local economy. Through their tireless efforts, these women ensure that the fruits of their labour reach markets far and wide, thus supporting their families and communities. Their expertise extends to the fields where they skilfully cut and gather grass, a vital resource for feeding livestock. They continuously cut and bundle up heaps of grass for the coming winter as well since then they sundry the same grass to give to their cattle during the winters. This grass after being sundried is then kept outside on an approximately 12 feet long bamboo shoot and is called by various names all around Himachal somewhere a “Tuhka” and even a Grass Hill.

During the harsh winters, these women adeptly transition their work indoors, engaging in various productive activities to ensure their households run smoothly despite the freezing conditions outside. They meticulously knit warm clothing and weave the traditional garment “pattu”, a skill passed down through generations. A woman named 

, a professional weaver, says that she feels so empowered when she can put food on the table for her family by selling what she has weaved. These women, known for their industrious nature, never sit idle; alongside their indoor tasks, they continue to cultivate hardy vegetables like cauliflower, etc. The collection of wood becomes a crucial chore, as the “

, a traditional wood-burning stove, provides much-needed warmth, around which families gather to spend the winter months.

As snow blankets the landscape, these resilient women embody the spirit of endurance and productivity, maintaining their homes and heritage even in the most challenging weather. As the harsh winter recedes and the vibrant spring emerges, the women tirelessly return to their agricultural duties, rejuvenating their land for the upcoming season. With the arrival of spring, they prepare to till the soil, a vital task that signals the renewal of prosperity. While some households have the means to invest in modern land tillers, many still rely on traditional methods, using bulls to plough their fields. The blooming flowers of spring not only symbolize the beauty of nature but also herald a season of renewed hope and economic stability for these resilient women. Their unwavering dedication ensures that the community thrives, embracing the prosperity that spring promises.

This has all been going on for a long time; a conversation with my great-grandmother (pad nani) revealed the rich history of this lifestyle. She spoke of her 19 siblings and how their father, who owned much of the village, assigned each of them tasks—from feeding cattle to cooking for labourers. She also recounted the daily trek through a narrow, rocky forest path to attend school—a journey so arduous that many of her siblings eventually dropped out, despite their father being a teacher. In the heart of India’s mountain villages, life has long been marked by simplicity and a deep connection to nature. For the women, this meant navigating the challenges of daily life with resilience and strength.

Traditionally, the lack of transportation meant that traveling even short distances was arduous, with ropeways often being the only means of crossing treacherous terrain. Buses were a rarity, making the world beyond the village feel distant and inaccessible. However, times are changing. Today, there is a growing awareness of the importance of education, and this shift is particularly evident among women. Encouraged to pursue their studies, both girls and boys now have once unimaginable opportunities. Education has become a beacon of hope, empowering women to dream beyond the confines of their villages while still cherishing their cultural roots.

Articles by Freya Thakur

Malana: World’s Oldest Democracy

Stories of Yesteryear: My Grandma’s Love

Breaking the Silence: Rethinking Rape

The Daughter of the Mountains: Women’s Vitality in Rural Himachal Pradesh

Malana: World’s Oldest Democracy

Stories of Yesteryear: My Grandma’s Love

Breaking the Silence: Rethinking Rape

The Daughter of the Mountains: Women’s Vitality in Rural Himachal Pradesh