Storytelling

“Having grown up within the largely oral Khasi community in Meghalaya, whose creative expressions mainly comprised song and “iathoh khana” (storytelling), it puzzled me that, in none of the canonical creative writing textbooks, had I come across a discussion on the influences of oral storytelling on craft.” – Janice Pariat in “Decolonising creative writing: It’s about not conforming to techniques of the western canon” (Scroll.in, 4 July 2021)
https://scroll.in/article/999215/decolonising-creative-writing-its-about-not-conforming-to-techniques-of-the-western-canon
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=3382

Audio | Manasamangal song cycle of the snake goddess, Manasa: A tribal goddess appropriated into the Hindu pantheon – West Bengal & Bangladesh

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To listen, find “Manasamangal” on the Travelling Archive website, then click the play button (“Listen to a song from this session”) Visit the Travelling Archive website for a larger map and to view more images. The four recordings in this session come from an ongoing project on Manasamangal or the Song Cycle of the Snake Goddess, Manasa, which we have … Read more

Examples of innate intelligence, even “innovation at its best”: Meetings with a Warli village blacksmith, the tailor, the cattle-rearer, the hunter-gatherer, the farmer, the fisherman, and an expert who treats poison bites – Maharashtra

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Read the full article and view a series of photographs here >> Did my car slow down on its own near a house made of karvi sticks? Or did the muscle memory of my legs press on the brake ever so lightly? Whatever be the case, I had halted at the house of Anusuyabai, my host in … Read more

“What unites Indians is a love for songs”: Adivasi music – Rajasthan and Gujarat

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Source: “What unites Indians is a love for songs” by Ganesh [G.N.] Devy (The Telegraph, 1 November 2019)URL: https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-musical-legacy-of-kabir-mira-nanak-tukaram-akka-mahadevi-what-unites-indians-is-a-love-for-songs/cid/1716091Date Visited: 14 July 2022

Music album and video by Santal village children and youths (DVD, CD): “Children see world around them differently” – West Bengal & Odisha

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The photos were taken by the students themselves. Now, we have produced two music albums (one video and another audio). All the photos and video clippings that are used in the album are also taken by the students and teachers of RSV School. The children started capturing their lives as soon as they learnt to … Read more

Mahasweta Devi – a writer-activist’s literary tribute to the civilizational graces of the adivasis

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CELEBRATING WOMEN a symposium on women who made a difference Excerpt from “The adivasi Mahashweta” [Mahasweta] by https:y in 540, August 2004 | Read the full article here >> DO I know Mahashweta Devi ? Perhaps, I do. Perhaps not. […] In the mid-90s, I decided to give up academic life and enter the world of the adivasis. … Read more