Joy of being born as a tribe...

The dance in parab

The word tribe has always been narrated as downtrodden, the group of captive who are less civilized, old fashioned and underdeveloped. As I travel across the tribal villages for my research, the so called definition of tribe proved me wrong. The clean floor of the houses, the well organized and planned kitchen, the well placed sacred places provoked me to intriguing more into the life of the tribe. They do not need soap and purified water to clean their body. Little fresh mud and cool stream water enough to splash their skin. For me coming from city and having constant cosmopolitan thoughts, how can people live without entertainment? I found myself trapped in fallacy, seeing them singing, drinking and dancing to their tribal tunes and beats. The music was far better than I have heard in English pubs and clubs. The dance was mesmerising me and my feet was dragging to dance with them. The colourful beads and metal ornaments hanging on women body was dazzling with the sun rays. The life full of natural self, nothing stops them from falling in love with. The women seen happily fagging and boozing with their mates giggling and enjoying the chats with their love ones. No set rules for them to get indulge with their partners. They are more modernized and open than the so called civilized communities. The experience was overwhelming me. I was enlighten with the offer for a country liquor made up of from a very indigenous techniques. The cashew nuts fruits boiled to collect the vapour. It taste like improvised beer. Clinging on to the urban lifestyle, I started strolling around to check out the shopping mall. They had the best market area, open space and naturally made, male and female sitting on line selling all traditional eatables, liquors, freshly grown vegetables and fruits as if pluck straight from their kitchen garden. I could smell the freshly heaven in the market. Far better than the Oxford street posh shopping area of London and the MG road shopping complex of metro Indian cities. The cool breeze were natural AC they need not need a four walled room to set their commodities. Every stuff was arranged very nicely, they were seen laughing and giggling enjoying selling, having no monopoly among them  and no competition to have the best product in the market. Simply love the friendly and homely market atmosphere.

The Market area

Each social organization I tries to explore wonder me with amazingly beautiful thoughts, how accomplish these people are. The festivals, marriage ceremonies, the christening of babies and many more things made me joyful and never hesitate to say blissful to be born as a tribe!!!

Making of country liquor

 

Women are the back bone of the scoiety...

' Being a women born in a Oriya family, I was always bounded with social customs and tradition. The word shy, sober, talk slow... constantly remind me of a female child' Its been a journey of 30 years now. The experience of gender segregation exists not only at home but at every sphere of life. The women in rural villages of Odisha has more to follow than the women in urban Odisha. But the charismatic appearance of the women in Bisipada village was a breath taking experience. The women who hardly could step there feet outside the houses were seen sitting in a meeting, working in different sector, they were seen running small shops in the village. As I start interacting with them on the revolution that has occurred and the change they have felt after getting the freedom of stepping out of the village. I was astonished of the kind of remarks I heard form them, the involvement themselves in SHG groups, the running of small business, the participation in the village meeting and many more activities has brought a sign of empowerment in the women of Bisipada. The more I start enquiring the more they were open to me, I could not believe my eyes this were the women of rural village of Odisha ' who are always tagged as shy and less empower'.

 

I would certainly not agree to all those sociological or anthropological text on women as less empowered. Here is the remark cited by a women in the village 'we are more informed and feel financially independent. Our decisions are also considered in the family now, earlier we were under too many restrictions to go out of the family. At present we are fearless to go to any meeting at the Government office, the family members as well as husband are supportive for the SHG’ said a 30 year old married women. The myth of pointing women as less empowered and weaker section of the society are vanishing now. A feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft says 'Let us bring up women, not to aspire to advantages which the Constitution denies them, but to know and appreciate those which it guarantees them . . . Men are destined to live on the stage of the world. A public education suits them: it early places before their eyes all the scenes of life: only the proportions are different. The paternal home is better for the education of women; they have less need to learn to deal with the interests of others, than to accustom themselves to a calm and secluded life' (Vindication of rights of women). The women should rather be termed as the 'back bone of the society'

 

 

 

The roar of wounded displaced person...

The morning was quite, birds were chirping on the trees

Sun was bright, stream water trying to break the paths to hose the dry roots

Women getting ready to go for the daily forest produce collections,

Men ready for the months harvests,

With the sound of bulldozer the birds stopped chirping

The roof, the walls, the windows of the mud houses got dismantled

The trees got uprooted, the streams got dried

The sobs of children, women & the old

Screams to leave the remains of the dead buried underneath

The wounds so painful, the scars so deep

The morning was quite, birds were chirping on the trees

There used to be a beautiful village here…

 

Love for Niyamraja...

The unending love for Niyam raja, the affection for their forest and all natural things that was surrounding them was nothing but so pure, so natural and divine. My heart pondered with thoughts, how self reliant they are staying far away from urban life!! The feeling of coexistence was felt the very moment. The green natural fragrance of dense forest, the godly still mountain, the domestic animals were pouring blessing on them. They are so content of their life, they do not need the materialistic life of having TV, motor vehicle, electricity, shopping mall.... For them the sun light is the only source of light, the chirping of birds and sound of stream are the only source of music, the forest only source of livelihood. Deep voice keep murmuring inside my ear 'see our god,  Niyamgiri, nature is our religion'
 The word 'we want nothing, but our own niyam raja' was constantly tearing my heart apart, the green landscape and the cool breeze was the witness of their love, the Dongria Khond of Niyamgiri..



 

Bisipada lanes..

Bisipada diary

The dirt of village roads, the green landscapes

The paddy fields, running water of the small streams

The Festive food offered with love ‘jhia lo kahiede’

The joy of wedding ceremony

The touch of wrinkle hands

The scream of kids ‘didi tume bahut bahala’  and twinkle smile

The teary hopeful eyes of return

The days in Bisipada village finally ends with a hopeful goodbye

The lonely lanes and memories with people will bring me back again…

Sought for land

Koraput tribals are badly affected by the development projects, many have lost there lands experiencing the impoverishment of landlesness. The tribal youth are longing for their lost land by singing the song on land...

IDPs and the adminstrative challenges...

http://www.globaleducationmagazine.com/administrative-challenges-idps-odisha-experience-subernarekha-irrigation-project-india/

The current article has tries to draw attention on the pros and cons in the resettlement and rehabilitation policy implementation in Odisha The author, elucidating from her own experience working with internally displaced people, on irrigation project in Odisha, has tried to speculate the flaws in the resettlement and rehabilitation implementation