Games & leisure time

“Everything I knew, poetry, music, games, it was all in Santali. This school gave me a sense of community and I hope my students get to feel the same. […] When I teach my students, I try to stress that we need to remember that the central ideas about Santali culture is dance, music and poetry.” – Santal teacher Pada Murmu interviewed by Nandini Nair (OPEN Magazine, 13 January 2017)
https://openthemagazine.com/features/dispatch/santali-talking-time/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=21581

The last frontier of Firkal martial art of Chotanagpur area – Jharkhand

by

Unique: ‘Firkal’ performanceNo mention has been made of it in ancient treatises, history books, traveller’s account or even in archaelogical records. | Read more >> Older than Kalaripayattu, and even those martial art forms that trace its origins to China and Japan, Firkal is still very much a living martial art-based dance form, performed mainly … Read more

Video | “Dhuri Daka” (Rice made of Dust): Song 7 from Santali video album “Ale Ato” (Our Village) – West Bengal

by

7 Dhuri Daka (Rice made of Dust) [Starting from 5:46] ThemeA boy tells a girl:Oh Muni, you may have forgotten the days when we played together under the banyan tree. Playfully we cooked dust as if it were rice and tree-leaves as if they were curry. How we used to catch fish together in the muddy … Read more

Video | “Bagi kedalang” (We no longer do the same): Song 3 from Santali video album “Ale Ato” (Our Village) – West Bengal

by

3 Bagi kedalang (We no longer do the same) [Starting from 8:38] Theme Two school-boys sing: We have left our herding days but we cannot leave playing our flute. We have left hunting rats and birds in the jungle but we cannot leave drinking rice beer. Two school-girls sing: We have left the habit of collecting … Read more

Raising the levels of literacy among the tribal children: Easier teaching methods introduced by volunteers – Andhra Pradesh

by

To read the full article and view more images, click here >> About 9.58 % of the population of Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh are tribals who live in remote hilly areas. The region is predominantly populated by the Savara, Kondadora, and Jatapu tribes, and the average literacy rate is only 59 %. The low … Read more

“You are making us proud”: Prakash Rameshwar Munda, a cricketer succeeding in a state whose creation was primarily to benefit indigenous communities – Jharkhand

by

N. Sudarshan | To read the full article, click here >> The cries are directed at Prakash Rameshwar Munda, the first cricketer of tribal origin to make it to the Jharkhand Ranji squad. […] The 24-year-old’s, by his own admission, is no rags-to-riches story. Hailing from a middle-class family in Ranchi, he was introduced to sports by his weight-lifter … Read more