“Our boys and girls get an opportunity to set their eyes upon each other during the dance of the Dandari. They also get to interact a little before they can mutually agree to take the matter to the next step. […] As per our customs and traditions the youngsters enjoy liberty in many aspects. It is rare that a selection made during the Dandari-Ghusadi [dance festival] phase gets cancelled.” – Patel of Bandeyer Atram Sone Rao (Telangana), quoted in “Adivasis dance their way to a girl’s heart” (The Hindu, 29 October 2016)
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/Adivasis-dance-their-way-to-a-girl’s-heart/article16085049.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=22436
In Padutola village, Chhattisgarh, the Gund tribals still carry out the age-old customs and practices that make their culture unique. […] Scheduled Tribes of India comprise of 15% of the total population, varying anywhere between 0.04% (Goa) to 94% (Mizoram) of the state population. The Constitution of India recognizes 645 distinct tribes under the Scheduled … Read more
“Amartya Kumar Sen, who turned ninety this month, was treated just the other day to a pre-birthday joke by the grace of social media. The Nobel Laureate was said to have died. […] Sen is a hundred things but is, in my thinking, above everything else, a great witness to some grotesque things human beings … Read more
The tribal population in India is 84.51 million, which constitutes 8.14% of tribal population. There are about 449 tribes and sub tribes in different parts of India. Half of India’s tribal people live in the forests and forest fringes and their economy is linked with the forests. Tamil Nadu has 7.21 lakh tribal populations as … Read more
It may be argued that what is more representative of his outlook is the stupendously radical idea that if the Muslim prays, he should pray that not that the Hindu should become a Muslim but rather a better Hindu; that if the Hindu prays, he should pray not that the Muslim should return to the … Read more
We met adivasis who had been persecuted by the Naxalites, and other adivasis who had been tormented by the Salwa Judum vigilantes [i.e. “a strange, not to say bizarre, example of bipartisan co-operation“]. The situation of the community was poignantly captured by one tribal, who said […] “placed between the Maoists and the vigilantes, we … Read more