The Ramayan and other Oral Narratives of the Kunknas

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The Adivasi communities of India have a rich variety of oral literature in a range of languages. Adivasi compositions have conventionally been regarded as components of oral history and anthropological studies. The Ramayan and other Oral Narratives of the Kunknas brings in English translation, the Ramayan and Tales of the Kunkna Adivasis of Dang in south Gujarat. The volume offers a glimse into the richness of tribal imagination and the deep connections of the mainstream and tribal literary traditions.

Dahyabhai Vadhu belongs to the Kunkna community. He was Editor of the Kunkna series of the Dhol magazine published by Bhasha Research Centre. Dahyabhai was awarded the Katha Award for Oral Literature in 1998.

Avaneesh Bhatt has held five solo-shows of his photographs and written three literary books. Presently, he teaches at Smt M.M.P. Shah Women's College of Arts, Mumbai. He can be contacted at avaneesh@hotmail.com.

When I was a child, my father used to tell me Kunkna tales at bedtime and in the morning my mother's songs would awaken me. She used to sing while doing her daily chores. I helped her in the kitchen so that I could get to hear her songs. My childhood was not spent merely in listening to tales and songs. My personality was conditioned by the events that took place around me.

My family was like any other Kunkna family. We were happy with the minimal means of life. The earth was our bed and the sky above served as a covering. We had a mattress made of date-palm leaves and a couple of bed sheets. I used to cover myself with my mother's sarees until I was in the seventh standard. In our kitchen, we had mud pots and a few utensils made of aluminum. Those were not the days of steel vessels. Few Kunkna families owned brass plates. Tea was not popular but liquor was widely consumed in our community.

In the beginning, we were only three persons in the family-my father, my mother and myself. Even then, my mother prepared two kinds of rotlas. Paddy was used for mine and father's rotlas; while, mother ate rotlas made of paddy-husk flour mixed with corn. Some women went to work in the fields of prosperous people and brought paddy-chaff in return. They mixed rice and jowar in it and prepared rotlas. We ate rotlas with rice broth or soup prepared of wild corn.

There were days of starvation when even this was not available.

During such days all the women went in search of karinda. Karinda is a bitter bulb found in our area. Women dug out the roots and boiled them. The boiled bulbs were cut and tied in a cloth. These little bags were dipped in the flowing river for an entire night so that its bitterness would be washed away. The next day, the small pieces of bulbs were eaten with hot and sour chilly chutney. Many Kunkna families lived on karinda roots throughout the year. However, we never thought of this condition as poverty. We learnt the term 'poverty' very late in life. My sensitivity sharpened because of many incidents that occurred in my childhood.

My mother and my aunts planted seeds in the backyard of our home. Brinjals and chillies were cultivated there. They sold these vegetables in the market. One basket of brinjals would fetch three to four rupees. The woman who returned home first from the market would feed all the children of the family. Sometimes, one woman had to suckle three to four children at a time. The memory of those days makes me sad even today.

My mother treated our cow as a member of our family. Her name was Kaval. Once, when Kaval had a miscarriage, my mother wept like a child. She embraced our cow and cried for a very long time. Kaval also had tears in her eyes-one mother shared her grief with another. On one occasion, I caught a little lark and brought it home. My mother saw it and exclaimed, 'Look, how happy we are! We are all living happily together but imagine if somebody kidnaps you? How you would suffer! And what would happen to me then? Have you ever given a thought to this? My son, go and put the lark back in its nest. This is a mother's loved fledgling.' Tears filled her eyes when she spoke.

Mother once told me that I was very weak when I was young. She would take me to bhagats to improve my health. Sometimes she had to walk forty to fifty kilometers carrying me in her arms-all for my sake. Even then, once, out of anger, I called her 'a servant to cook rotlas' and did not speak to her for fifteen days.

'I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any... I would have our young men and women... to learn as much of English and other world languages as they like, and then expect them to give the benefits of their learning to India and to the world.... But I would not have a single Indian to forget, neglect or be ashamed of his mother tongue, or to feel that he or she cannot think or express the best thoughts in his or own vernacular.'

(Mahatma Gandhi on English Learning, Young India 01:06:1921)

Traditionally, India is viewed as a pluralistic society that is supportive of all languages-big or small. The Indian Constitution is committed to the language rights of all, including the right to mother tongue education. However, the education system has encouraged more the growth of dominant languages, and in practice, most of the smaller languages are not included. This has resulted in marginalization of diverse linguistic communities and enhanced the threat perceptions to their languages. If recent UNESCO reports are to be believed then we seem to have all kinds of language situations ranging from potentially endangered to those on the verge of extinction.

But the exact picture can only be given if serious research is undertaken to survey the socio-linguistic settings in all states and native speakers are involved as partners to report from within. To safeguard these languages we also need to formulate clear cut plans for the empowerment of these languages and their speakers. This would involve linking languages with literacy, education, technology and economic opportunities. Fortunately, an institutional arrangement has been put in place to develop all Indian languages, regardless of their status as official languages or their inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Bharatiya Bhasha Sansthan or Central Institute of Indian Languages was set up with its main objective being 'to assist in and coordinate the development of Indian languages, to bring about the essential unity of Indian languages through scientific study and inter-linguistic research and to promote the mutual enrichment of the languages and thus contribute towards emotional integration of the people of this country.' While spelling out its role as the nodal agency that will coordinate the endeavors of all language institutions, it was expected to function on several fronts including undertaking work that will 'promote the development of languages of Scheduled Tribes'. The Central Institute of Indian Languages has contributed immensely in this direction and its work on documentation, description and development of minor languages has given it the identity of an institution that values diversity even as it works to promote multilingualism with strong roots in mother tongue.

The Bhili mother tongues are an illustration of this commitment to treating all languages as equal. For years, the Central Institute of Indian Languages undertook experimental work with the Wagdi speaking tribes in Rajasthan and in the process they produced bilingual primers, trained teachers, held orientation camps for administrators dealing with education of these tribes and undertook testing and evaluation work to demonstrate the worthiness of their pursuit of putting mother tongues as partners of official languages. The work was extended to include the Varli tribes in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, where both Dungar Varli and Davar Varli were linked to Marathi and Gujarati respectively, and for years the states were involved to take up their cause. The fact that both the states did not adopt the materials and methods as part of their long term policy only illustrates how complex these issues are and how strong is the resistance to innovative ideas.

It is in these circumstances that the Central Institute of Indian Languages looks for partners who value our mission; and Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, founded by Ganesh Devy, in Vadodara, is one such trusted partner helping us to keep our vision intact. In their case, they have themselves taken the initiative to turn things around by producing materials that will be valued by the readers. The present collection of books that includes three epics in the original-Gujrano Arelo, Rathod Varta and Ramsitmani Varta-and three publications in English translation-Bharath: An Epic of the Dungri Bhils, Rathod Varta: A Heroic Narrative of the Dungri Bhils and The Ramayan and other Oral Narratives of the Kunknas is ample evidence of that spirit which is working for the empowerment of the smaller mother tongues. It is my hypothesis that this work has been positive and has given the Bhil identity a positive value.

As the Census figures illustrate, the group of Bhili mother tongues (seventeen mother tongues are listed in 2001 with more than 10,000 speakers for each) has shown a sudden spurt in its growth from 26% (1971 to 1981) to 29%(1981-1991) to a dramatic 71% (1991-2001).

Earlier, the terms 'Kunkna' and 'Konkana' were used for the Hindu community living in the Konkana region. The word Kunkna has been derived from the Persian word 'canarim,' meaning 'sea shore'. The Arab merchants used the term 'canarim' for the people staying in the coastal region. The Portuguese continued using the same term and stabilized its meaning.

Historical documents say that the Konkana region was a fully developed province. The northern border was Nagasarika (now Navasari) ending at river Purna. Puri (now Thane) was its capital. Even today, the Konkana population begins from the south of river Purna. According to the Vikram Calendar, between 1216 and 1220, a battle took place between the great Kunkna king, Mallikarjuna and the troop of Amrabhatta (Ambada), the chief knight of Kumarapala, the king of Gujarat. The battle took place between the region which is now known as Chikhali and river Kaveri. During the battle, Mallikarjuna fell from his elephant and got killed. The victory of Kumarapala was not merely a change of administration, it brought about a major alteration in society and language of the region.

The people of the northern Konkana region worshipped Mallikarjuna. Until his battle with Amrabhatta, he remained unconquerable due to the support of his subjects. He was killed only because he fell from the elephant. However, his people became victims of Kumarpala's wrath for their devotion to Mallikarjuna.

After Kumarapala's victory, they escaped and found shelter in the forests. Even today they live in forests.

The language spoken by the Kunkna people is called Kunkna. This community resides in two states of our country: Gujarat and Maharashtra. In both these states, the dominating languages have influenced the Kunkna language, for it is the regional language that is used for education and commerce. The people of the community use Kunkna for daily communication but when they communicate with those outside the community, they use either Marathi or Gujarati. Moreover, the Kunkna language does not have words for the new instruments of the modern age. Obviously, English words are also used to refer to them. Sometimes, people who do not know Kunkna use a mix of Kunkna, Gujarati and Hindi, producing a vastly different version of the original language.

Thus, there is no standard form of the Kunkna language. The language of Dang district is called 'Dangi'. However, 'Dangi' is also used by those who are not 'Kunknas', therefore 'Dangi' has become a mix of various languages. In Vaghai, Gadhavi and Jamatapada areas of Dang, a purer form of Kunkna is used. But in Pipaladahad, Chinchali and Morajhira regions, the language is more influenced by Ghati Marathi. Similarly, the language of Saputara and Malegaon is heavily influenced by Marathi. All the regions on the borders of Maharashtra use the Kunkna version of language that is dominated by Marathi.

The language spoken in Valsad district can be divided into three regional belts. The developed parts of Chikhali, Vansada and Dharampur speak Kunkna deeply influenced by Gujarati. More than half the words in the language spoken here belong to Gujarati. However, the hilly regions here have retained the original Kunkna. Kunkna spoken here has an equal influence of Gujarati and Marathi but the regions on the borders of Gujarat and Maharashtra seem to have borrowed more from Marathi.

Kunkna is a distinct language. Similarly, its oral tradition is very special. The people of the community celebrate several festivals and their oral literature is associated with these festivals and occasions.

I have presented here the story of Ramayan along with the tales popular in the Kunkna community.

In almost all regions of India, since ancient times, a variety of stories are popular in which Ram is the protagonist. Such stories are known even in Adivasi cultures. The oldest of these stories is found in Jaina literature. Valmiki, the great ascetic, compiled stories popular in the regions on the bank of river Narmada and rendered them into Sanskrit under the title Ramayan: The Journey of Ram's Enlightenment. This particular narrative, compiled by Valmiki, which has influenced most of the versions, is among the most popular. One must note, however, that every story or tale cannot be called Ramayan. For instance, stories in the oral tradition are meant for listening, not for reading; they are performed before an audience. The audience keeps changing at every performance and is desirous of hearing references to their beliefs and customs in the stories. Because of this, the performer introduces changes at every recitation, alluding to the cultural practices in currency at that particular place and time.

The Kunkna version of the Ramayan is not an indigenous story; on the contrary, it is imported from other regions of India. The performer of the Kunkna story re-imagines it in the settings familiar to the Kunkna people and thus satisfies listeners who recognise the customs and locales mentioned by the narrator. Consequently, people associate many sites and monuments of their region with the incidents of the stories and are proud of believing that the characters of the stories had actually visited those places. Numerous regional versions of the Ramayan stories, available in the collection of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, are puzzling to scholars as they are so amorphous.