The way we live was shaped by the place we live.

How we talk, what we wear, what we eat, how we pray, how we raise our children and how we treat the land did not come by chance. Each was learned over many lifetimes, from a particular place. When a way of life is forgotten, the knowledge inside it is forgotten too.

This site asks one simple thing of each culture: say what you do, say why you do it, and say what we would lose without it. Then it asks the reader to look at their own life the same way.

How we look at any culture

Every culture is described through seven roots. They are the same for the mountains of Ladakh, the lakes of Bengaluru, or your own street.

Five questions for each root

Under every root we ask the same five questions, in plain words.

Places so far

Ladakh is our first complete page: the seven roots, how to visit with respect, official rules, what people are standing up for, and a health record. Others will grow the same way.

Same need, different answers

People who never met found different answers to the same need. Each answer fits its own place.

Add yours

If you belong to a place, you know it best. Tell us how your people live and why. Write about your culture.