The Mystique of Jharkhand - Mahua and the Tribals

"Meanwhile, Dhalbhumgarh has changed, as has all of Chhota Nagpur as the plateau was called in the past. Jharkhand is only part of the region symbolised by Dhalbhumgarh in Aranyer Din Raatri. The dense shaal forests have disappeared, thanks to the timber mafia, and the rude intrusion of 'urbanisation' has changed the lives of forest dwellers -- the Santhals, the Mundas, the Bhumij, the Lodhas and the Sabars -- forever. You won't find Dulis dancing to the throbbing beat of madol or tribals happily high on mahua singing Tusu songs. When we were growing up in Jamshedpur, we would often go for school picnics to nearby jungles beyond Subarnarekha or Domohoni, where Subarnarekha embraces Karkai, redolent with the smell of shaal, mahua
and tendu. Those forests have been plundered by dikus with the help of tribal collaborators. The animals are gone, too. All this happened many years ago; the loot is being talked of now. In the name of 'development' and 'empowerment', we have destroyed the culture of the forest; the days and nights of carefree existence of an entire people now belong to the distant past."

By Kanchan Gupta, The Pioneer, April 3rd, 2011

I chanced upon this video and these lines while I was doing research on Mahua in the Internet. Those who do not belong to Jharkhand can be excused for not knowing what Mahua is. Well,  Mahua is a tree. But for me, for us, the people of Jharkhand, the Mahua is a symbol of childhood spent in Jharkhand - The Land of Trees. For the Tribals it is a tree which defines their culture. The video link provided above is an enchanting look into the lives of tribals of Jharkhand by Shankar Sarkar, who, no-doubt shares my childhood nostalgia of forests laden with bright yellow flowers. Yes, the flowers of Mahua are used to make liqour and the video is all about the process of making liqour out of Mahua. While I do not endorse taking liqour beyond moderate amounts, I do highly endorse the intoxication produced in the brain at the sight of mahua trees exploding with flowers.

As the passage quoted above by Kanchan Gupta, ruefully observes; the Mahua trees are vanishing with the onslaught of urbanization. The tree is not just valued by its timber or the products it generates for our consumption and utility. Far more valuable perhaps, is the living connection it has with man and culture, something which the tribals understood and revered more than us, the so called educated-lot. I don't quite know what is the background music being played for the video but I can definitely make out that it is a piece of western classical music, which strangely captures the carnivalesque mood of the tribals - their sense of joy and abandon. 

I have a friend who is a Tribal, who shared with me a fascinating account of how Tribals create rhythm by studying the various sounds of nature in the mountains and forests of Jharkhand. It explained to me the primal fascination I have with the rhythm of tribal songs and dances; they connect us to the earth, to bhumi. Have you ever been privileged with the opportunity of listening to the drum beats emanating across paddy fields when the sun is setting and smoke swirls from the huts? They have a quality of cosmic dreams !

They (tribals) were never interested in the "market", the "banks" and the "apartments". Endowed with the wisdom of the earth, the tribals are interested in Jal, Jangal and Jameen. But we, the civilizers are despoiling their culture, forcing them into a market mechanism with our haughtiness...............of knowing what is the true, the good and the beautiful ! I see this happening every day as I visit villages and interact with the tribals. The companies are after their mines and their forests.................resources for which these tribals have been guardians for thousand of years. 

It's easy to get romantic about these things but being a social entrepreneur I have witnessed, impartially, life on both sides of the equation. Words like sustainability and social entrepreneurship have become trendy. Conferences are being hosted on these topics, in lavish five star hotels: fellowships are granted, awards are pawned out, but to me, all of this has a hollow ring to it. We are still prisoners of a mindset we call "development".  We perhaps fail to grasp that till we don't live a life close to nature, we cannot comprehend what is the true, the good and the beautiful. It's untouchable, unimaginable and beyond description; the vision of life, borne out of a living connection to the rivers, trees and forests. Because of my proximity to the tribals in Jharkhand, this vision still pulsates like drumbeats .....................and creates a rhythm for the work we do in NEEV. Can we re-create the mystique of the Mahua !!