Add to playlist
On a summer morning in August, Tsumungi and Pithunglo are off to the bamboo grooves in the forests of Ralan, a village in Wokha District of Nagaland. They call out to Yanchano to join them to harvest fresh bambooshoot along with them. They are a team.
Thousands of women in Northeast India forage and ferment food such as herbs, beans, and tender bambooshoot. The months for foraging tender bambooshoot depends on the elevations in this part of the Himalayan region. Foragers from mountaintop villages enter the forest by June looking for tender shoots to harvest, while across the middle and lower elevation the bambooshoot season extends until August.
Fermented bambooshoot is a delicacy as well as an everyday staple for many communities across Northeast India. It is an integral part of the food culture and links the region to its Southeast Asian and East Asian neighbours. In Nagaland and its neighbouring states like Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Mizoram, bambooshoot is used in various forms: fresh, soaked in brine, and dried. As Pithunglo tells us, “Bambooshoot is like a spice to the Lotha Nagas.”
Seasons of Life follows Tsumungi, Pithunglo, and Yanchano, as they labour to forage and ferment tender bambooshoot, a food item cherished across several Himalayan households in South Asia.
