Lessons in Lore

Eunice de Souzas column- Coming into their own (PM May 17, 2012) about Folklore and
tribal literature, did two things. First, the piece on the Bharath narratives of the Dungri Bhil tribe
brought back memories of Pandavani of Chhattisgarh, in the signature robust voice of the
formidable Teejan Bai. Her Tambura doubled up as a Gada, as she paced the stage, her swagger
changing with the cadence of the verse. As a child in the glorious days of Doordarshan, the
performance telecasts cleverly scheduled over the weekend drew me to the wondrous adventures
this boisterously colourful woman narrated. It tweaked my interest in folklore, which I found,
extended vastly beyond Panchtantra and Hitopadesha. Secondly, the column brought home the
unfortunate fact that the PlayStation generation, growing up on a staple diet of cable-TV
banality and bubble-gum literature, may be missing out on the culturally rich and perennially
relevant treasures of tribal literature and folklore. In a time when all things Indian must be
endorsed by the Western world to be appreciated by Indians themselves, the columnist raises a
valid issue of a lack of strategized marketing of such work to appeal to the evolving taste of
readers and viewers. The task of popularizing such important work must be undertaken by
academic institutions and government-funded agencies, and also by individuals within their
families and communities, because after all, what began as an oral tradition can still be
propagated the same way. Thank you, Ms. de Souza, for the nostalgia and the wake-up call.

Dr Shabnam Sharan