Gastronomy and Ethnomusicological Factors: Cultural Sustenance in the Bodo Heritage through the Whistles of the Siphoong

Abstract

Music and Food have always been one of the sources of cultural strength in ethnic groups. The novel Whistles of the Siphoong by Rashmi Narzary is an embodiment of cultural values of one of the largest indigenous communities of Assam- the Bodos. Food and music play a very important role in preserving the culture and legacy as they play the role of the cultural signifiers. The paper is study on the gastronomical and ethnomusicological factors of the people of the Bodo community. Some of the main gastronomical and ethnomusicological elements in the novel include, the rice beer (jou), phali, pitha, napham, etc and the consistent use of the siphoong, a flute made out of the bamboo plant. These elements become the sustenance of the community through times of sickness and health, wealth and poverty, etc. The tales are narrated orally from one generation to the next solely from memory. The paper also discusses how oral narration becomes a form of documentation of the culture and heritage of the tribe group and how culinary practices store within them, resilience and cultural identity. The theory used are Social Identity Theory (SIT) by Tajfel and Turner and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital to discuss how same food and music practices promote and preserve the Bodo culture.