GLOBETROTTERS JULY CHALLENGE: CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
The Musical Santhals — Artists Par Excellence by Birth
Life Intertwined with Ethnic Instruments
A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people- Mahatma Gandhi
It was no less than a celebration when I met my school buddies at a reunion a few July-s back in Kolkata to head towards Santiniketan.
‘Santi’ in Bengali means ‘peace’ and ‘niketan’ means ‘home/abode’; so Santiniketan means the abode of peace, a place close to my heart.
The town of Santiniketan, West Bengal, is around 150 km from Kolkata and it is synonymous with Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European and first lyricist to win a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.
Referred to as the Bard of Bengal, Tagore was a polymath — a poet, playwright, essayist, philosopher, social reformer, composer, writer, and painter, rolled in one.
An excerpt from one of his magical creations:
She is our own, the darling of our hearts,
Santiniketan. In the shadows of her trees we meet in the freedom of her open sky. Our dreams are rocked in her arms. Her face is a fresh wonder of love every time we see her, for she is our own, the darling of our hearts.
— Rabindranath Tagore
I was enthralled…thinking how the Santhals with their simple fundamentals of life make both ends meet in this maddening world of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’!
I was excited…visiting the land of Tagore and red soil where the air breathes art, music, and culture along with my friends in a journey long pending in my ‘to visit’ wishlist.
I was exuberant...planning to shake my legs with the Santhals, one of the largest homogeneous tribal communities of India and creatively cool par excellence by birth.
Monsoon is one of the most beautiful seasons to explore Indian natural beauty. Amidst intermittent showers, the country roads, traversing through green fields, lush green rural landscape, waterbodies full to the brim, railway crossings, hustling roadside eateries, led to Santiniketan after around a 4-hour long joyride.
There were many places to visit in my itinerary for the next day but I ensured that at least one hour before the sunset, I with my friends should be in Sonajhuri, a tiny hamlet nearby amidst dense forest, home to Santhali tribe.
I thankfully managed! Divine intervention…
Untouched by industrialization, the descendants of pre-Dravidian race, Santhals are happy with their simple lives. For a living, they engage in physical labor. All their ceremonies centre around the community.
Originally they were hunter-gatherers. Satisfied with limited needs and wants and without much worrying about the future, Santhals simply love to sing and dance and are fond of their rice wine. They play a host of unique musical instruments, predominantly made of bamboo.
Preserving their language, culture and traditions, Santhals migrated to regions of East India and still prefer to maintain a socio-cultural distance from the people of the mainland.
Known to be simple, peace-loving, and honest, Santhals’ unique traditions, customs, and cultural influences can amaze everyone, leading one to a much better understanding of life in its entirety.
Tagore felt a deep connect with poverty-stricken and repressed Santhals and even interpreted their lives through poetry.
However, efforts have been made to improve the socio-economic condition of Santhals.
Santhals’ artistic creativity is in sync with nature. I was lucky enough to see them on a monsoon celebration day.
The dance of the female dancers wearing sarees with arms interlinking in pairs started in two rows while the boys with drums taking strides came forward. A few boys played drums, flute, cymbals and all were singing together swaying heads and bodies and rhythmic footwork.
After a while, women sang songs and in reply, men replied to them by singing only. The tribal percussion instruments, Tamak and Tumdak were played in perfect rhythm.
The entire environ turned addictively musical. I along with my friends danced to the hilt with the dancers till the musical Santhals returned when the darkness set in.
I witnessed a gorgeous sunset amidst Sonajhuri forest. I was way too tired, all sweaty, and very thirsty but the rhythm in me, hadn’t sunk, never ever.
The Kopai river nearby flowed by.
To catch a glimpse of the Santhali dance and get a hang of it, please have a look at this YouTube link and get soaked in the rhythm of drums. Who knows you may even self-teach yourself to the foot-tapping moves in no time like the way I did!
A B-I-G Thank You to JoAnn Ryan and Crystal A. Walker for considering my narrative and a lovely July challenge. It was fun attempting it!
A shout out for Sandy Maximus for her intriguing story.
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Sending warmth, gratitude, and harmony to all of you! Stay arty and colorful, my friends!
