Tribals In The Path To Success

"Once a shepherd went to graze his cattle in the forest. The shepherd found that a Sal tree had fallen. He uprooted the tree and found some colourful stones beneath in the soil, which he carried back to his home. At night villagers heard the roar of a tiger. Worried, they wondered what had made the tiger roar and began to think that they must have done something wrong. The villagers assembled for a meeting, where the shepherd confessed to finding the stones in the forest which he had carried back home. He was asked to return the colourful stones to the place where he found them. The shepherd obliged. Eventually, the tiger stopped roaring at night. "

These legends stands to be the belief and reverence of these people for the forests. “If you harm the forest, it will give you a warning signal. If you do not rectify your mistake, the forest will make sure you get what you deserve"

This is but one of thousands of tales that have been prevalent in the tribal areas of India for several centuries.

Whilst watching movies, tribal characters and life style are either portrayed as drunkard and abusive towards family or are shown covered in feathers doing jhingalala.

But we forget they too have a voice and story to tell.

Marching towards the 22nd century, we cannot deny the fact that the tribal of the country needs empowerment and no longer should be kept into darkness.

There are various tribes in the country whose contribution we even do not know of.

They have not kept themselves locked to the hedges or bushes in the forest or honey collection, agriculture or hunting.

We see the clear and transparent upliftment of these people in society.

From film maker to politicians to president to IPS officers they have slowly made their mark.

One such unsung hero of our country is "seed mother"

Rahibai Soma Popere from Kombhalne village of Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra had no formal education and worked on farms all her life with an extraordinary understanding of crop diversity.

The farm she established her agriculture had grown 17 different kind of crops and had enough produce to meet the dietary requirements of a family for a whole year.

She developed a series of hyacinth beans for self-help groups and families in nearby villages.

She created her own methods to harvest water on farms; turning wasteland into space that can be used productively. She even trains farmers and students on ways to select seeds, keep soil fertile and manage pests.

She is skilled in four-step paddy cultivation. She has learned to rear poultry in her yard too, hailing from such backward class she received the most deserved Padma Shri award.

A lady without educational background can encourage the society on agriculture, can we really say tribal are backward?

Similarly, Biju Toppo an anthropological and national award-winning tribal documentary filmmaker from Ranchi, Jharkhand hails from the tribal community and had been winning praise, awards and accolades for the country. This list even includes Seral Murmu who hails from Ghatsila in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

Tulsi Gowda the barefoot environmentalist known as 'Encyclopedia of Forest'hailing from Halakki indigenous tribe in Karnataka

She grew up in a poor family and never received a formal education however her vast knowledge of diverse species of plants and herbs earned her the title of 'Encyclopedia of Forest'

Since the age of 12, she has planted and nurtured thousands of trees. She also joined the forest department as a temporary volunteer, where she was recognised for her dedication to nature preservation. She was later offered a permanent job in the department. She earned the prestigious Padma Shri.

Reaching to this mile stones were not a piece of cake. They had to go through lot of struggles, the limitations of society, they fought with darkness, superstition and myths in themselves that they have inculcated from birth. The country definitely has created lot of rules and laws for the schedule tribes and casts but to understand them and utilised them in a fruitful way was challenging for the backward section of the society, but all those who have come up to this level is just because they fought against all odds, the darkness of illiteracy and with a commitment to do something great for the society and nation.

Working towards the future did not let them forget their culture , tradition or lifestyle, which is colorful and ethnic. We still listen to folklore and the sounds of their instruments "madal", "tasha", "dhol", "nagara"still lingers in the sal, mehul and segun forests.

In current situation tribal are empowered, communities, NGOs has come up as helping hand towards the entire community. Educating them, , making the women self reliable by making handicrafts and selling them. Agriculture and other sectors has joined hands for their improvements. The days is not far behind where these tribal will see the great upliftment in the society.

When we look back to the history and these legends creating a path for the future, the unsung heroes from the tribal communities will be sung for their great contribution in each field.

Tribal are empowering, they are no longer considered the feather dressed caricatures or backwards. . . they are working towards the upliftment of the society and nation. Hail to their hard work and perseverance.