Tip | “A need deeply felt by Adivasis”: Respect for native languages and knowledge systems linked to the land and forest

In Rayagada in Odisha, Kondh parents distinguish between dangar patha (mountain learning) and kagaj patha (paper learning). Asked which they prefer, many parents answer ‘both’. This expresses a need deeply felt by Adivasis: literacy, with fluency in the regional language or English, is important; but so is respect for native languages and knowledge systems linked … Read more

“Kocharethi calls upon us to ethically engage with it, to question our complicity” – First novel by an Adivasi in Kerala

Source: “Cultures in transformation”, Review by Pramod K. Nayar, The Hindu, 3 April 2011URL: https://www.thehindu.com/books/Cultures-in-transformation/article14669586.eceDate visited: 9 May 2020 A winner of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Narayan died on August 16, 2022, at the age of 81 Writings of protest Though Narayan wrote several novels and almost a hundred short stories, his most famous work … Read more

Absence of a dowry-system, divorce by mutual consent, and widow-re-marriage: On the high status of women in Badaga communities (Nilgiri) – Tamil Nadu

The Badagas are a unique community living mainly in the Nilgiris District in Tamil nadu in South India. They are also the single largest community of the Nilgiris. Though classified backward, a significant factor is the high status of their women says Indu K Malla, a Badaga writer of distinction, in her article ” The myth … Read more

Audio | Storytelling and Adivasi songs by school kids in the Gudalur valley in the Nilgiri mountains – Tamil Nadu

Friday, April 4th, 2014 [excerpts] Hello friends! Today the kids from 7th standard are telling you about their villages,we hope you have fun reading their comments! I like that in my village there are many flowers. I have many friends in the village and I play with them. I don’t like any other village, I like only … Read more

Gojri one of the richest languages in terms of modern and traditional literature – Jammu and Kashmir

Gojri belongs to the central group of the Indo-Aryan language family and is closely related to Mewati, a language spoken in north eastern Rajasthan. Gojri is spoken in northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and the former state of Jammu and Kashmir (Azad Kashmir and Indian Administered Kashmir). Most of the Gujars who settled in the plains … Read more