Outside Contacts and their Impacts on Bonda Culture
The Bondas have come into contact with their neighbours, modern forces like education, government agencies, and new ideas. These outside contacts have influenced their culture to varied degrees.
A brief account is presented here.17.7.1 Dombs
The Bondas are suspicious of outsiders including the plainsmen. They have a runukbore, a protective wall, running along the pathway to the village to prevent anyone from entering their area. They do not go to the plains except on a haat (weekly market) day to exchange their produce for salt, turmeric, and dried fish. But civilisation does not leave them in peace. The Dombs, in the name of helping them by bringing them news about what is happening below the mountains, cunningly make the Bondas accept them as maitarbais and enter their country. “Wily as a fox” (Ray 2001:82), they twist words, increase and intensify the animosity between the Lower Bondas and Upper Bondas, picture them as violent and threatening to the officials, lie to the higher officials regarding their needs, increase their power over the Bondas, and finally bring most of the Bonda land under their control. They swindle the Bondas’ money while helping them to buy cattle and land and arranging for bank loans. It is they who help bring other tribes and castes into the Bonda country following whom the government officials “ventured into the Bonda country” (Ray 2001:91), and that is the beginning of the change in the life and lifestyle of the Bondas.
17.7.2 Project Leaders
The first project leader Sitanath Sahu who takes charge of the Bonda Development Project under the Bonda Development Authority tries in earnest to raise the Bondas’ living standard by imparting improved methods of agriculture, introducing commercial plants like
orange and pineapple, and more importantly, persuading them to get an education, without in any way hurting their sentiments and traditions.
He arranges for bank loans, supplies the necessary materials for farming, and offers them jobs in the project office, paying them salary. He attempts to make them take responsibility for their own development. But unfortunately, the introduction of money changes the Bondas for the worse. The Bonda men become more and more lazy and leave off tilling their land as things are available for free and their women have started earning (Ray 2001:177). There is also a change in the women’s attitude towards Bonda men. Sombari and Mangli, two of the three women who first begin to work in the project office, tell Sitanath, “we find the dhangras too wild and drunken; we don’t like them. We are working now and so we would like to marry working dhangras, not these lazy good-for-nothing boys” (Ray 2001:177)! Adibari too accuses the Andhrahal and Barbel dhangras as “murdering dhangras” (Ray 2001:177) and “wild dhangras” (Ray 2001:178). As the Bonda men like Mangla Dhangramjhi begin to get educated and work as peons or clerks, they also break the tradition of marrying women from within the Upper Bonda community, from villages other than their village, but marry women from outside, from the Lower Bonda, whom they despised earlier. Traditionally, getting married is a must for a Bonda man or woman, but because of the changes, there are also more and more single men and women in the Bonda community. Mangli Toki remains single as she feels she does not completely fit into the Bonda community after working in the project office.But the great change that is effected is the Bonda women forsaking their traditional ringa and wearing a sari, like the Dombunis and others from the plains, to earn a living to save their families from starvation. The author declares: “she [Adibari] abandoned herself, her shame and her future, to the gulang people... The young snake has been stripped of is [sic] scales; the covering that had protected and preserved the tribal identity through countless millennia was gone” (Ray 2001:175).
Once they begin to wear a sari, the three women do not feel at ease with the other selanis. They no longer visit the selani dingo daily as they used to do. The communal living slowly gets frayed at the edges.The tear becomes larger and more visible, when Adibari who wants to marry Soma Sisa, Katu the Andhrahal Naik’s son, falls prey to the gulang babu constable’s physical desire and gets pregnant by him. As gullible as any Bonda, she believes that he, who is already married to someone else, would accept publicly his fatherhood. But he belies her hope. As he would not pay the compensation for this, Adibari, now, will not be able to find another husband from within her community. He asks her to abort the foetus and promises to put her up in Jeypore and take care of her though he will not be able to marry her. Trusting his words, to her anguish and much against her will, she commits the horrendous crime of killing the life within her and abandoning it in the forest. The author reflects on the Bonda’s belief: “The yong gives birth to her child, but it is not natural for her to cause its death” (Ray 2001:195). Further, to her dismay, he deserts her in the city to fend for herself.
The elder Bondas are shocked at finding the dead infant. “This was the first time such a thing had happened in the Bonda country. Another natural law had been broken” (Ray 2001:194). They conclude that a man-eating tiger has carried Adibari away. They feel that “sin and guilt had entered the Bonda mountain when Adibari shed her ringa for a sari” (Ray 2001:195). But unlike before, the dhangras from the 32 villages do not gather to go hunting the man-eating tiger. This is another ethical code or tradition broken in the Bonda country. No report is made to the police either.
The changes from outside can also be observed in the jail returned, Assam returned, and educated Bondas. They no longer wear the traditional ghusi; instead, they wear shirts, pyjamas, trousers, or lungis. Instead of dhungia (locally made tobacco cigar), they learn to smoke cigarettes and hashish and to drink tea.
They bring mirrors which the Bondunis believe bring bad luck. They also begin to use umbrellas and torches. But still they cannot let go of their age-old beliefs. Most believe that the wind god is confined in the fan as a captive and the dimming of the light in the torch is due to the evil spell or evil eye cast by someone.The officials following Sitanath exploit the Bondas abominably. They pacify the questioning Bonda men by offering cigarettes, tea, and drinks. When the women learn to count and ask about the unwarranted reduction in their salary, they are removed from the jobs. Shiva Biswal, the second Project Leader, does not possess the warmth of Sitanath. He always carries a gun with him. Already introduced to the fear of guns by the police, this further alienates the people from the leader and terrifies them. The courageous and independent Bondas lose their courage before the guns. When roads are being laid, the Lower Bondas are offered the jobs and the Upper Bondas are denied jobs in their own country. After some struggle and representation, they are employed as coolies in the road laying project. The remos who so far have bowed before no one except the Patkhanda Mahapru now have turned into beggars before the government.
The third Project leader Bijoy Bal introduces the training of the carpet weaving to the Bondunis. He also knows the trick of the trade on how to project himself and let his fame carry far and wide. Pratibha Ray reveals how the Bondunis are being shamelessly shown off: “Bonduni backs were much in evidence at the Carpet Weaving Centre, but no stomachs! Photographs taken from the rear revealed a row of bare Bonduni backs and hips” (Ray 2001:265). A select few are paid high wages and flaunted as the tribe’s showpieces whenever a VIP visits. Annually, on 26 January, there is an exhibition organised in Bhubaneswar on the tribes of Orissa. Everything about them, from their food, hut, produce of the forest, dresses, gods they worship, and the sacrifices they perform are displayed as models, paintings, and photographs.
The crowds throng the exhibition to watch the Bondas as if they were curious creatures from another planet. On this day, selanis like Sombari are asked to shed their saris, wear ringas, and dance before the people to entertain them. Though the government wants to protect the Bonda traditions, “there were a thousand hands conspiring in the destruction of those traditions: those of officials, politicians, social workers and journalists” (Ray 2001:179).17.7.3 Other Outsiders
Foreigners come to Bonda country to take pictures of the Bondas and record their songs and dance. The Bondas feel afraid and lost, to protest. Tourists, social workers like Sevak Das, and researchers now easily enter the Bonda country where any outsider was afraid to enter earlier. The Bondas too have changed. They have been tutored well by the Dombs to stretch their arms for money. The author writes,
The Bonda had unhesitatingly opened his home to the visitors: anyone was free to inspect his utensils, his weapons and tools, his Bonduni’s ringa and beads. But the moment someone produced a camera to take a photograph, even a child would stretch out his arms for payment!.
(Ray 2001:191)
So, it is not only the gulang babus who make a profit out of Bonda culture, but the Bondas themselves are now ready to sell their culture.
17.7.4 Education
Between 1966 and 1977, the government builds eight primary schools in the Bonda country and appoints teachers, but the schools do not function as the teachers do not come to the schools. The schools function only on records. Sitanath attempts to convince the Bondas of the importance of education by equating education with Akshara-Bhagban (god of learning). He says that all the problems of the Bondas will be solved if they worship Akshara Bhagban. The children go to school for the midday meals, if not for anything else. But later on, the government-appointed teachers like Khara Babu (who runs a grocery store in the plains), instead of teaching, “stayed in their homes in the plains and gave away certificates against gifts of chickens, goats, and rice” (Ray 2001:233).
Pratibha Ray spins the legend of Eklavya on its head. She wryly remarks:Distance had not prevented the learner from learning or the teacher from teaching!
Was it surprising then, that Bonda children were getting educated on the mountain while their teachers remained below?
(Ray 2001:218)
The simple hopes of Somra are dashed while he is in high school. To his pain, he is taught the difference between an Arya (a literate, civilised, and refined person) and an Anarya (an illiterate, primitive, and barbaric tribal) like him. He is treated with contempt, and laughed at for his ignorance. The teachers and city students alike hate him for receiving everything for free from the government. Tribals like him are exploited by the teachers:
From morning to night, the students were engaged in guru seva - offering their devoted services to their teachers. Soiled utensils were washed, dirty clothes laundered. The tribal students were made to clean the lavatories.
(Ray 2001:231)
Again, the author refers to the story of Eklavya and shows how mythology and belief can be misused in the hands of so-called gurus to shift the blame on to the tribals.
His [Somra’s] teachers told him stories of past generations of pupils whose devotion to their gurus had become legendary. Some had given up their lives for their teachers; others, like Eklavya, had sacrificed their limbs to discharge their debts to teachers. But their education had not suffered. If the tribal students of today were unable to learn, whose fault was it?
(Ray 2001:234)
Somra wants to learn as per his capacity and works hard to secure the marks he deserves. But the teachers never teach anything meaningful to the tribals, and when Somra is infuriated at this discrimination, they pacify him saying that he should practise archery and preserve his tribal tradition. His traditions have become the laughing stock in the city school, which angers him further. Bondas like him feel that they do not belong either to their village or the city. When Somra returns home, he does not feel like a Bonda. “...he was unable to laugh, to dance, drink, shout in rage or walk about semi-naked” (Ray 2001:235). Ray points out that “education has deprived them of home and identity” (Ray 2001:224). Other than this, the author also briefly but impactfully discusses the violent protests against reservation based on caste category and the innocent lives of the students caught in the crossfire. Somra hopes for a day when the tribals would earn their rights and not snatch them away from someone else, and hopes for a day when they will no longer come under “protected list” (Ray 2001:237).
17.7.5 New Gods
Once money, politics, and gun power begin to rule the Bonda country, the Bondas lose their innate courage. Thereafter, their whole jargon changes. The Bondas begin to associate the Sarkar with god. Adibari, Sombari, and Mangli Toki are happy “that the Sarkar Mahapru had begun to bestow its blessings on them” (Ray 2001:176) when they are being paid wages for the work they do in the project office. Bagha Bindu too exclaims, “How generous the sarkarmahapru was!” (Ray 2001:184) when Chhotli, his second wife, would be paid wages for working both in the project office as well as on the land. Initially, the Bondas believe that Sitanath is capable of giving whatever they want, but when he is transferred, they realise that “there were still more powerful personages in the Sarkar. Higher gods” (Ray 2001:203). In contrast, when Somra feels the hatred and contempt of the teachers and his fellow students from the city, he thinks, “the Sarkar mahapru was being excessively kind to Soma and his brethren, for reasons that he could not fully understand” (Ray 2001:236). However, Ray bluntly pinpoints that “Kindness bred inequality and inequality generated fire” (Ray 2001:236).
Similarly, the political leaders are referred to as the new divine beings from the city, and the election, the bhut parab, is paralleled with a festival. Despite Sitanath telling them that it is not a festival, the Bondas believe that “The new gods from the city brought their own festivals to the mountain” (Ray 2001:206). Like any other festival, this too is accompanied by feasting, dancing, and drinking, which the Bondas do not realise is to placate them and win their votes so that the politicians can have more power over them. But, later, at one point, the roles of the god and the devotee are reversed. They are amazed that the political leader, who bowed to them for votes, once he wins the election, expects the Bondas to show their devotion to him. When the contractors along with the officials loot the money allotted for laying roads into the Bonda mountains by laying poor ones that are washed away again and again, the author has a bitter laugh over it. She says that like the other Bonda gods, the roads have also become invisible. She seemingly questions: “If the Bonda’s mountains, fields and jungles could attain godhood, why not his roads” (Ray 2001:242)?
The head of the region who is supposed to visit the Bonda mountains to inspect the drought affected area and know at first hand the facts about the starvation deaths is satirically paralleled to Patkhanda Mahapru who periodically is believed to go on tours “to observe the welfare of His subjects” (Ray 2001:280). When the Paramount Ruler asks whether any Bonda has died of hunger, Soma Muduli answers, “ You should know if you are the Paramount Ruler!... Our Patkhanda Mahapru knows everything” (Ray 2001:285)! He goes on to say that no one dies of hunger, but only dies when his time on this earth is over. This gullibility and ignorance, the impression that has been created about them that they are barbaric, along with the rebelliousness of the youngsters lets the outsiders in power overpower them with cunning and force. The plainsmen in the haat cheat the Bondas by not giving them their dues when they go to sell things. But the project office and the officials cheat the Bondas even more. “The Babus took everything” (Ray 2001:230) - the best of their fruits, timber, and other things. Whatever belonged to them has passed into the hands of the aliens, including “the gods themselves. And finally their freedom” (Ray 2001:230), the author says in culmination.
Mangla and other dhangras are provoked by the dishonouring of their women by some men from the plains. When they go to complain, they are further humiliated, and hence they flare up and shake the collar of the contractor who does it. They are severely beaten with sticks and rifle butts by the police for this. Everyone keeps quiet, against the original nature of the Bondas, at the face of this injustice. “The pansati never met in protest; there were no calls for revenge. The Bondas had been tamed” (Ray 2001:277).
When Somra is arrested on a false accusation of murdering Chhotli, the pansati sits helpless. The Bondas are afraid of the police. “The rifles of the gulang babus were the new Bonda deity” (Ray 2001:290). The author scathingly attacks: “Once the Bondas had been free in a slave country; now they were slaves in a free country. This was the measure of the tribe’s progress” (Ray 2001:290). Somra’s father is advised to take Somra on bail by paying money. His dreams for his son are shattered. His grief and disillusionment find vent in the following words:
Were the gods asleep? Had Patkhanda Mahapru gone abroad on one of his travels?
Wasn’t the Sarkar one of the Bonda’s gods too? Like any other god it demanded sacrifice.
Money. That was what everyone demanded: the Bonda, the Domb, the Sarkar, the gods, the spirits... Money turned sin into virtue, made the guilty innocent.
(Ray 201:294)
The following lines capture in a nutshell the plight of the changing Bonda life:
But now a new power had arisen. Anyone who visited the Bonda country behaved as its king. The pansati, the naik and the disari - the foundations on which Bonda society rested - were powerless. Patkhanda Mahapru Himself had retreated before the gods of the gulang babus.
(Ray 2001:245)
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