In this collection of stories, set in the fecund, mineral-rich hinterland and the ever-expanding, squalid towns of Jharkhand, Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar breathes life into a set of characters who are as robustly flesh and blood as the soil from which they spring, where they live, and into which they must sometimes bleed. Troupe-master Mangal Murmu refuses to perform for the President of India and is beaten down; Suren and Gita, a love-blind couple, wait with quiet desperation outside a neonatal ward, hoping—for different reasons—that their blue baby will turn pink; Panmuni and Biram Soren move to Vadodara in the autumn of their lives, only to find that they must stop eating meat to be accepted as citizens; Baso-jhi is the life of the village of Sarjomdih but, when people begin to die for no apparent reason, a ghastly accusation from her past comes back to haunt her; and Talamai Kisku of the Santhal Pargana, migrating to West Bengal in search of work, must sleep with a policeman for fifty rupees and two cold bread pakoras.
The Adivasi Will Not Dance is a collection of 10 short
stories written by Hansda Sowendra Shekhar & published by Speaking Tiger.
The author is a medical officer with the government of Jharkhand. He is also
author of the critically acclaimed novel The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey
which was shortlisted for The Hindu Prize 2014 and the Crossword Book Award
2014. Sowvendra received the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar in June 2015.
The book is a collection of several short stories which
basically revolve around the lives of Adivasis or tribal people. Basically the
stories talk about the lives of people living in different towns of Jharkhand.
Each story talks about a different facet of their lives, the challenges &
oppression they’ve been facing since a long time, how they’re treated in
general & the stigma which follows them all around the country. Get the
book here,
I am so glad I decided to start my reading challenge where
I’m picking up a book each representing an Indian state, that’s how I got to
pick up this book. It talks about several things from an insider’s perspective.
From how Adivasi women have to indulge in flesh trade or how they’re attacked
by Muslims on one side, on the other Christians want to just convert them while
all their promises just prove to be lies & the rich Hindus just want to
take away their land or leave their gods & worship the ones they’re told.
The language, title & cover everything is to the point. This book is an
echo of innumerous screams of Adivasis which have been scuffled for decades.
Its loud yet subtle, political yet non-biased & will surely shake you to
the core as an Indian, as a human. An important read in today’s time & a must read.
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