Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Finding a lost voice by Joseph John

Finding a lost voice by Joseph John

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Feb 7, 2010   modified Modified on Feb 7, 2010

Three years ago, Donel Ajai Courtney came to Bastar for the first time as a tourist after his mother told him about the tribal heartland in Chhattisgarh. Now this 33-year-old lawyer in the United States runs a ‘Dhurwa patasala’, a unique school that aims to protect and revive the tribal Dhurwa dialect and the community’s fading culture and traditions.

Every Sunday afternoon, more than 35 children and a few elders of the Dhurwa community assemble at a house in Manjhipal, a remote village in Bastar, for a three-hour session to learn the Dhurwa dialect, sing traditional tribal songs and play sports and games.

About 45 km from Bastar’s district headquarters of Jagdalpur is Manjhipal, one of the worst malaria-prone areas of the region that’s surrounded by the Kanger Valley National Park. It takes a five km drive through the forests to reach the village, which has a tiny population of 160, with 146 of them belonging to the tribal Dhurwa community.

Except for four people, no one in Manjhipal knows the Dhurwa dialect; everyone speaks Halbi, the language of the Halaba tribe. Halbi is one of the tribal languages belonging to the Indo-Aryan family spoken in Bastar. So while Halbi become the dominant language in Bastar, the Dhurwa tribal dialect steadily faced extinction.

It’s in the backdrop of this that Courtney, who was belongs to Oregon in the US, read more about Bastar’s Dhurwa community and realised that circumstances sometimes threaten linguistic and ethnic identities. So Courtney made regular visits to Bastar, hoping to contribute towards reviving and preserving the Dhurwa dialect and the eco-friendly culture and traditions of the tribe.

During these visits, he met S. Rajneesh, a second-generation Keralite in Bastar who speaks tribal languages such as Gondi and Halbi. Rajneesh worked with a tourism firm in Bastar and had visited Manjhipal with plans of setting up a jungle resort in the village. That plan didn’t take off but after he met Courtney, the two discussed the Dhurwa tribes and decided to work on reviving the dying tribal dialect.

“My mother Neelima is a Maharashtrian from Pune but she was in Chhattisgarh for few years as my grandfather was posted in Raipur. She migrated to the US when she was 18. Her stories of Bastar and its tribal culture got me to come here. The ‘patasala’ is a humble beginning,” says Courtney.

“The ultimate goal is to make it a community movement. We can fund it for some time and develop it by getting some more children from villages near Manjhipal,” he says.

Rajneesh is equally enthusiastic over the response from Dhurwa community members in Manjhipal and surrounding areas. “There is no age bar. Anyone interested in learning the Dhurwa language and culture is welcome. The number of people attending the class is growing slowly but steadily,” he says.

The patasala has four teachers—Baijanti Nag, Hirdai Nag, Sonaru Nag and Dasmu Nag. After one hour of language lessons, Rajneesh teaches children kabadi, bara dandi, kho-kho and other traditional sports and games. Later, the children assemble again for song and dance classes that continue till the dinner is ready before sun set. Courtney, Rajneesh and the teachers joins the children for dinner—rice, dal, and two vegetable curries.

As dusk sets in, Courtney wears a long sleeve jacket to protect him from mosquito bites. “I am not a rich man. I have to go back to the US to work and save some money to keep the project going”.


The Indian Express, 7 February, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/finding-a-lost-voice/576556/0
 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close