Khoda Yapa, Arunachal Pradesh, India

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The Apa Tani, who live in a stunning open valley in the tribal state of India, are a particularly beautiful race of people.

For many, many years their looks were legendary throughout the region – so much so, the menfolk had trouble keeping their women to themselves. They were often the victims of inter-tribal kidnappings.

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To prevent this from happening, the men devised a unique solution: disfiguring their wives and daughters with facial tattoos and somewhat radical nose-piercings to make them appear less attractive to their swash-buckling neighbours, the Nishis.

When Chris and I were travelling through this extraordinary part of the Himalayas, the custom had thankfully run its course. But every woman over the age of 30 bore testimony to the past, for the procedure was irreversible.

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The bamboo plugs fitted into each side of Khoda Yapa’s nose were some of the largest I saw in the valley, but she was still able to breathe through her nostrils, although they were compromised by her disfigurement.

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It was a sad consequence that Khoda Yapa and others of her generation never travelled beyond their valley – even though they were no longer cut off from the rest of the world. They feared ridicule and humiliation... Simply being laughed at by children who would not understand why they looked the way they did, filled them with absolute dread.

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I have never actually forgotten Koda Yapa – but not because of her deliberate disfigurement…. I remember her for the light and inner beauty that radiated from her face despite the “jewellery” she had been forced to wear.

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