We've all heard or perused a lot of things about Romani in our lives, however there's tiny that we truly think about their way of life and their lives. We know they're a traveling society, sure, yet that is essentially where it closes for a great many people. They don't have a decent standing either, so I surmise the vast majority would prefer not to become acquainted with them.
That seems like the ideal pardon to sort a few things out and investigate some cool realities about the Romani, so we can paint ourselves a substantially more practical image of this gathering of individuals.
Their Way of life
While they are a group with a background marked by mass relocation and mass migration, this wasn't generally by decision. Similar as today, they've met with opposition and investigation wherever they went. This basically driven them away from where they'd settled themselves eventually. Their traveling way of life may be tied as much to endurance all things considered to being unique.
Their Religion
While the Romani have no formal belief, they’ll often assimilate to the religion of the country they’re currently staying in. Their own beliefs are treated separately from that and following the dominant religion in the country they’re in can also be seen as a survival mechanism here.
Their Numbers
With all the migrations and moving around the globe, we don’t really know how many Romani there are. Not to mention the fact that there are very good reasons why someone would want to keep their Romani origins hidden from the world. Only The New York Times ever dared guess how many Romani there were, and they reached a number of 11 million. It could be much higher or lower however, it’s anyone’s guess at this point.
Their Modesty
I know, we’ve all seen My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and none of us would associate any of that with the term modesty, but that’s not how they always behave. Romani are modest people in daily life and their form of belly dancing even uses no hip movements at all because that would be deemed too immodest.
Their Origins
Well, we’re not sure where the Romani come from. It’s generally assumed that they came somewhere from India and then split into three branches of which the Romani is one, but some professors assume that instead of one big migration splitting the people in three, there were actually three smaller migration waves.
Their Name
Where the Romani are often called gypsies, this word is actually an ethnic slur. Well, it’s an ethnic slur to the Romani. It’s been a word that has been used to single them out and create an imagery tied to the Romani. The word “gypsy” in itself is also derived from words that refer to criminal activity.
Their Art
When talking of the Romani, many people seem to mention their habits of claiming houses that aren’t theirs or resorting to criminal activity, but we never mention what the Romani people have given us. Many known and lesser-known artists have Romani backgrounds. Some examples: Carmen Amaya, the greatest flamenco dancer of all time. Author Mikey Walsh. And because you can’t win them all: Ke$ha.
