Conclusion

The novel The Primal Land is a poignant portrayal of the changing life of the Bondas. Soma Muduli, the guardian of the tribe, turns senile and inactive when the above discussed changes gather momentum and roll down the age-old characteristics of tribal life.

Youngsters like Somra and Mangla are not able to digest the injustice meted out to them. Finally, Somra breaks loose and kills Soma Muduli, and he himself is killed by the police gun. But the author shows all is not lost. Before the past and present lying dead, there is heard the voice of Somra’s new born child, signifying the birth of the future Bonda. But at the same time, the author makes a profound existential statement: “Kings die; their subjects die; but Man lives on. His struggle continues” (Ray 2001:298).

The above statement is not only true of Man in general, but still true of the Bondas in particular. As stated by Jitendra,

Though the BDA has been in existence for over 40 years, developmental activities have hardly touched their [the Bondas’] deprived lives. There is only one Primary Health Centre (PHC) in the upper hills, which is headed by an AYUSH doctor. Cases of malaria and diarrhoea are very common in this area, says P K Parida, chief medical officer of the PHC.

(Jitendra 2018, np)

The article ‘The Isolated Life of the Bondas’, in The Hindu BusinessLine, updated on 10 May 2019 (Bhaduri 2019) is also a testimony to the fact that nothing much has changed between 1993 when Pratibha Ray originally published this novel and 2019 when this article was published. Another article in The Hindu assessing the situation in Malkangiri in 2020, the year when the Covid wreaked destruction, confirms that “despite years of government intervention, there has not been much visible development among Bondas” (Barik 2020). It further throws light: “Of the 32 habitations, 16 villages do not have all weather roads, and hamlets can be accessed only by rough footpaths” (Barik 2020).

Despite their love for their homeland and despite the belief that the Bondas should not leave their homeland because those who do will not be born again in their native land, due to lack of employment opportunities in their land, due to inability to sell their produce in the market, and due to lack of online facilities for education, the adults and children (as young as in class eight and nine, dropping their education) went to other states to work on labour contracts (Barik 2020). An article, that appeared as late as 2022, titled ‘Fight against Covid-19: Odisha’s Bonda Tribe shows the way’ in the Telegraph Online points out that the Bondas still adhere to “1000-year-old traditions” and till recently were averse to “modern medicines” (Mohanty 2022, online), but have now come forward to receive Covid vaccinations. The reason for the aversions as discussed earlier in the chapter is that they believe that the diseases are caused by the gods’ anger and the gods have to be propitiated with ritual worship to rid themselves of the diseases. Even now, Dr. Debabrata discloses that, to make them volunteer for vaccination, along with persuasion, the health professionals had to lie to the Bondas that they will not receive the facility of the government’s free rice if they do not take the vaccination (Mohanty 2022, online).

All the above articles on the present status of the Bondas and the novel The Primal Land make clear that the developmental projects should bring about a real change and progress in the lives of the deprived people. Also, they should be the beneficiaries, and not the middlemen or politicians who manipulate and swindle money for their own benefit. The Primal Land shows that though communal feuds and rivalry are common among the Bondas, as a community, still they are united and almost always fight against the outsiders to preserve their culture and traditions. If religion in its essence preaches love and unity, then the Bonda religion is no less than any of the mainstream religions.

At the same time, like any other religion, it also changes when there is a voluntary or an enforced acceptance of contradictions between the religious codes and their practice.

Notes

1 Elwin is of the opinion that the word Mahapru is “of purely Sanskrit derivation and means ‘great master’. In Sanskrit it may be used of any mighty lord, human or divine. Its use throughout Orissa is probably due to the fact that Chaitanya, the founder of the Bengal school of Vaishnavite Hinduism, was known as the Mahaprabhu. After he settled in Puri, where he was later identified with Jagannath himself and called a living, peripatetic Jagannath, the title was also attached to the latter deity” (Elwin 1950:197).

2 https://www.pagecentertraining.psu.edu/public-relations-ethics/ethical-decision-making/.

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Source: Behera Maguni C. (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Readings on Tribe and Religions in India: Emerging Negotiations. Routledge,2024. — 502 p.. 2024

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