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

Video | Kalamandir (Jamshedpur) founded in 1997: Preservation, conservation and dissemination of art and cultural heritage – Jharkhand

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Published on Aug 8, 2015 The initial videos of Kalamandir, describing its objectives, main and interest in preservation, conservation and dissemination of art and cultural heritage. Kalamandir has traveled a long way since 1997. This is just to remember all our old acquaintance and friends and our team efforts. Source: Kalamandir – The Celluloid Chapter … Read more

Building tribal students’ self-confidence: Karate training for self-protection

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The State police have awarded V. Krishnankutty, Sub-inspector of Police, Agali, Attappady, a “commendation certificate for excellent service rendered” for giving karate training to hundreds of tribal students. […] He has been giving regular karate training for more than a year to tribal girls and boys from various schools of Attappady who stay in the … Read more

The story behind “Sohrai”: The harvest festival that keeps scattered Santal communities connected – Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Bangladesh and Nepal

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By Boro Baski The Santals of northern and middle Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Bangladesh and Nepal celebrates their biggest cultural festival ‘Sohrae’ from 25th Pouṣ of Bangla Calendar. In earlier times, this festival used to be celebrated during Kalipuja in the month of Aświn-Kartik (i.e. from the middle of September to the middle of November). It … Read more

Video | “Santali language and the music are the two important life lines for the existence of the Santal tribe in the modern world”: Gai Gupi Kada Gupi (The story behind the song) by Boro Baski

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By Boro Baski The first ten years of my childhood were the golden time of my life. Those were my herding days where I used to tend the cows and goats in the fields, in the nearby jungle and by the river side with the girls and boys of my village. Those were the days, … Read more

A living martial art-based dance form: The practice of Firkal in a remote Bhumij tribal village of Chotanagpur – Jharkhand

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Firkal is an unusual name for a dance form. Many scholars of Indian dance as well as social anthropologists have not heard of it, far less seen it being performed. […] Older than Kalaripayattu, and even those martial art forms that trace its origins to China and Japan, Firkal is still very much a living … Read more