After the breakup of
Babblers a substantial chunk came under Laughingthrush. Streaked Laughing
thrushes (Garrulax lineatus) are
common in Himalayan foothills and are easy to observe, foraging the undergrowth
mostly along the jungles, more so, as they are not unduly concerned about human
presence and go on with their chore with absolute ease, so much so you start to
get this lurking feeling ‘geez am I not intruding into someone’s privacy
here!!’
Warli:
the painter tribes
When we imagine tribes
in popular culture one reference that predominates is Warli painting. These
paintings interestingly were done by Waarli women as part of festivities on the
wall and floor. During festivals (specifically Gauri festival) women keep
fasts, and through the day indulge in these paintings as part of devotion, its
generally ritual bound and not for worship. Though seemingly simple these
exquisite paintings are sophisticated. The drawing includes mostly lines that
join to create triangles and squares (in depicting the divine the triangles
don’t intersect unlike for humans). “The woman painters have an exceptional
sense of fantasy and magic. In recent years they were given handmade paper and
asked to paint as they desired. The results were paintings of strange
significance. A tiny wrinkled lady created landscapes of uprising trees,
painted in varied tones of white on an earth colour background…There was in the
paintings primeval tree, knowing each tree was alive, creating a luminous light
filled world of splendid trees, hundred bran
ched with outstretched leaves…In
another painting, the old Warli woman had painted a canvas of forest trees in
shrill tones of red against a background of muted earth tones. The trees filled
the canvas, elongated forms creating the loneliness and the secret spaces of
forests. The fine vibrant leaves of the trees arose towards the sun, forming a fragile
tracery –delicate and tender. Two of the trees were drawn with heavy hanging
fruit, accentuating the fragility of the surrounding trees. The number of
humans and animals and birds had increased; men carried burdens, but they were
still free to gaze with wonder at the rising trees. The uprising immensity of
the trees and the smallness and insignificance of man and animal created the
mood of the painter. In a corner, out of proportion to men and animal, waited a
brooding brilliant red spider, the symbol of unspeakable one -Thakramal Chatri- the great malignant
spider, who in tribal legend straddles across the path under a dark sky waiting
for man, a symbol of evil and of the primordial terrors that lurk in the
primeval forest as in the subconscious of man.” That was none other than Pupul
Jayakar (in The Earth Drum). Pupul
Jayakar was an institution, quite an incredible lady. Another Warli painting
describes “the environment has been mutilated. Trees have been cut, houses
built, labour has entered the lives of people. Men pull carts, old men appear
bent, holding sticks. In the emptiness of the centre where the trees have been
cut, is a great malignant spider’s web. Civilization has destroyed the forests
and the inner life of tribal man”. 
(Pupul Jayakar doesn’t need an introduction;
she is one person I really admired, absolutely brilliant. What an amazing lady,
her writings are also meticulous and detailed. She was an institution builder
in the mould of Salim Ali, Rukmani Devi Arundale, KCS Panikker, Vikram Sarabhai,
SS Bhatnagar, JRD Tata, MS Swaminathan, Varghese Kurian, Ela Bhatt and many more)
ched with outstretched leaves…In
another painting, the old Warli woman had painted a canvas of forest trees in
shrill tones of red against a background of muted earth tones. The trees filled
the canvas, elongated forms creating the loneliness and the secret spaces of
forests. The fine vibrant leaves of the trees arose towards the sun, forming a fragile
tracery –delicate and tender. Two of the trees were drawn with heavy hanging
fruit, accentuating the fragility of the surrounding trees. The number of
humans and animals and birds had increased; men carried burdens, but they were
still free to gaze with wonder at the rising trees. The uprising immensity of
the trees and the smallness and insignificance of man and animal created the
mood of the painter. In a corner, out of proportion to men and animal, waited a
brooding brilliant red spider, the symbol of unspeakable one -Thakramal Chatri- the great malignant
spider, who in tribal legend straddles across the path under a dark sky waiting
for man, a symbol of evil and of the primordial terrors that lurk in the
primeval forest as in the subconscious of man.” That was none other than Pupul
Jayakar (in The Earth Drum). Pupul
Jayakar was an institution, quite an incredible lady. Another Warli painting
describes “the environment has been mutilated. Trees have been cut, houses
built, labour has entered the lives of people. Men pull carts, old men appear
bent, holding sticks. In the emptiness of the centre where the trees have been
cut, is a great malignant spider’s web. Civilization has destroyed the forests
and the inner life of tribal man”. (Pupul Jayakar doesn’t need an introduction;
she is one person I really admired, absolutely brilliant. What an amazing lady,
her writings are also meticulous and detailed. She was an institution builder
in the mould of Salim Ali, Rukmani Devi Arundale, KCS Panikker, Vikram Sarabhai,
SS Bhatnagar, JRD Tata, MS Swaminathan, Varghese Kurian, Ela Bhatt and many more)
I must add here that this level of deep
sensitivity seems to be lacking in recent Warli paintings that I noticed, it
gives impression of factory produce driven by market gradients. With demand for
Warli painting increasing and commercial consideration predominating what was
once turf of Warli women has now been appropriated by men, and very unfortunately
women now mostly play a subsidiary role. The government when encouraging
artforms should be aware of these factors and must favour original creators of these arts, rather than market driven
patriarchy.
What further add to the
interest of Warli art is that a Warli artist must conceptualize the final image
in her mind and once the process start there cannot be any mistake or retracing,
so each stroke is well thought of, a control over space and composition. This is because Warli painting was originally
not meant to be enclosed within a frame but used the wall as a stretching
canvas. I was watching Wanshya Bhujad, a Warli painter (who is polio afflicted
and teaches in a school. Another picture herein is of Sandip Bhoir, showcasing
his art in his hut). The lines he drew were magical; it was not only elegant
but was part of a narration that the image wanted to convey. It may interest us
to know that Warli painting tradition traces its origin from the prehistoric
painting that can be seen at Bimbetika (visit http://depalan.blogspot.in/2007/05/journey-to-bimbetka-prehistoric.html). One of the most popular dances
of Warlis is Tarpa dance, which find
mention in many of their painting. Tarpa
is wind instrument made out of Gourd. I was at Tribal museum in Silvassa. Look
at this exquisite placing of Tarpa on
wall with Waarli art. If anyone across the world wants to showcase tribal art
this is a definitive reference. It is one of the most attractive displays I
have seen in recent times. On an afternoon walk we bumped into Ganpath who was
busy making Tarpa, it is quite an
exact construction that needs lots of concentration to produce the requisite
tenor from rudimentary materials. He demonstrated his skill with the instrument
for us. 
The main deity of Warli
is Vagyadevta, an image of tiger, as
they once lived in the fear of these wild animals. Other gods includes Kansari (food god), Gauturi (cattle god), Dhartheri
(earth god) –all these being sister deities. The list of gods is rather long
but I was fascinated with one Bombya
taral –a deity with machine gun!! This is a protector god and previously
had bow and arrow. The inclusion of these latest can also be seen in painting
like for instance vehicles, aircrafts so on 
(the picture herein is cricket
playing, that I found drawn on the school wall). They include what is observed,
so are not really tied to any particular vision or traditional constraints and
so are vibrant in that sense, must add without losing any aesthetic sense or
basic matrix of the craft. I guess
stricter views exist in social systems that are hierarchal, and rigidity is
expression of interest groups, it generally is detrimental. Lack of sensible
innovations makes it an anachronism, devoid of vibrancy; also the intent
clearly lacks empathy. Though preservation is important but it shouldn’t be to
stultify but to evolve. 
Muslair Dongar Devta is
another of god that inhabits the hills -a rather pointed mountain you will not
miss while you travel from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, is representation of this deity,
also referred to as Mahalakshmi. Interesting
view here is that all the reference to hindu gods are seen as claim of proto
Hinduism. The theory is that Waarli gods are precursor to hindu gods, indeed it
could have been appropriated. It was clarified to me that what is kept in Warli
huts as Ram aur Lakshman ka roop was
actually existent much before, so could be other way round! So if Aryans came
around 10,000BC, the Ramayana is surely much older, which must have been the
tribal folklore. It is very much conceivable
that what is described as Hinduism is amalgamation of these smaller myths and
tales, some got prominence while others remain local. Lord Ram from this standpoint can be
conceived as a Warli hunter.
Warli inhabit the
region between Maharashtra and Gujarat, and Dadra Nagar Haveli, but the
heaviest concentration is in northern Thane. Like most tribal groups there is
no hierarchy between the clans. The term Warli (or Varli) seems to be derived
from varal –a small patch of
cultivated land and means an uplander (Wilson 1876). Others connect it to Varalat, the sixth of ancient Konkans.
There is no definite view. I was talking to one of the tribe members and he
asserts that warl is ash that is
obtained by burning flour, cowdung and dry leaves mixture which is used as
fertilizer, therefore Warli. The same base is used on the paper for Warli
painting.
The language they speak
is Warli -an Indo-Aryan language that resembles Marathi, they are quite
conversant in Marathi and Gujarati. Their primary and traditional occupation is
agriculture, and fond of music and dance that is deeply rooted in folk tales. Warlis
have a history of political involvement and mobilization, having launched a successful
movement for abolition of serfdom as early as in 1940s.
My stay was arranged at
a tribal school dormitory in Aine, Dahanu, run by Grammangal trust, interestingly the school is not Patshala but Muktshala. I like that!
Post
script: The Tribal Museum at Silvassa is rather small and
has exhibits with write-ups. There is a mention to Kathodi tribes as “samaj vyavastha me sabse nichla sthan” (bottom
rung of social system ladder). Since when have anthropologist’s taken social
prejudices for facts? I lodged my protest at the visitor’s book (I rarely do
these since I get panicked about spellings so on and so restrict to a word or
two, but this time I was infuriated). I don’t know how likes of Andre Beteille
distinguish between facts and prejudice during ‘field research’, I guess going by
MN Srinivas’s worldview it will have to be dominant nonsense. So much so for cuteypie
referred to as objectivity by sociologist!!
From
my scribble pad…
Drop by drop, word by word
In
the distance, the thunder claps and frantic birds.
The
platter of rain has wiped the languor
of
the tree in a hurry.
Dislodged
from its haven the beetle struggles and drowns.
Hapless
mantis is relentlessly pounded.
Dainty
pansy fought invain.
Drop
by drop the puddle trickles to smother
unwarned
ants and other dwellers.
From
my window the rain is a prose
falling
delicately on my lap
word
by word.
Outside
it’s a battle.
