Topics & issues

Interview on the award winning documentary “Have You Seen The Arana?”: A sojourn that takes you through the crests, troughs and flats of Wayanad – Kerala

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Though Ningal Aranaye Kando has a bleak premise, filmmaker Sunanda Bhat injects it with the lightness of everyday occurrences, simple slice-of-life moments and hope for the future, finds Catherine Rhea Roy. […] It is a woman’s disquiet over the disappearance of medicinal plants from the forest, a farmer’s commitment to traditional methods of farming and … Read more

A “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group” determined to overcome slavery and coercion: The Sahariya, a community of former hunter gatherers – Rajasthan

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Sahariya adivasis in Baran in south Rajasthan have waged a quiet war against generations of slavery to local landlords. Pushed off agricultural land and struggling to sustain themselves on deteriorating forests, hundreds of Sahariya families here remained indebted as “hali” — among 31 forms of bonded debt prohibited by Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 … Read more

Video & eBook | Reviving the Huka Banam: Fiddle of choice for the Santal communities – West Bengal

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The Huka Banam has been a Santal tradition, particularly among the community in Purulia and Bankura. Since the last two decades or so however, the tradition has gradually become extinct. Only a handful of old timers are still familiar with or continue to play the instrument, with possibly a few younger exceptions. This workshop was … Read more

Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India: Art revival Projects by Eastern Zonal Cultural Center (EZCC) – Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal and The Union Territory of The Andaman and Nicobar Islands

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The Eastern Zonal Cultural Center (EZCC) covering the states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Orissa, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal and The Union Territory of The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is one of the seven such Zonal Cultural Centers set up by the Government of India with a view to culturally integrate the states and Union … Read more

Is “brick house” the only sign of development? – West Bengal

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Dr. Boro Baski; translated from Bengali to English by Asha BaskiOriginally published in Anandabazar Patrika (India’s most widely read Bengali daily) I was born in a Santal village in Birbhun District. In my childhood I saw how my mother cleaned the courtyard every morning with cow-dung mixed with black charcoal and water, and how she … Read more