Life in a Maria Village

Kaleidoscopic images, which typify life in a village in Bastar, bring forth the flavour, warmth, simplicity and aspirations of the Marias.

Prologue

I t was love at first sight—the pristine beauty silhouetted by the mighty Kanger Park, the undulating terrain and the stone tiled mud houses—I was hooked! I was in a Maria village. These impressions of time spent in the Kukripani hamlet of Darbha block of Bastar district are forever etched in my mind. The hamlet is situated about 35 km from the headquarters and far away from the din and bustle and complexities of our lives. On an idyllic Sunday, I had set off on one of my regular explorative expeditions in and around Bastar when I stumbled upon this hamlet and subsequently decided to do a part of my Village Stay and Study here.

The First Day Always the Hardest

My first day in Kukripani was hectic. I went around the hamlet, familiarizing myself with the unknown faces while searching for a chord to build a rapport (which is not so easy). Finally, I called it a day and threw myself on the makeshift bed in Sannu Poreyami, my benevolent host’s, house. I do not know why he asked me to stay at his house in the first place; my Koya Mata (the Maria dialect) vocabulary was limited to “Nawa peder Pradyut” (My name is Pradyut) and “Nawa lona Assam ta mende” (My home is in Assam); even my Halbi, the lingua franca of Bastar, was pathetic.

I recall my first Village Stay six years ago in Khunti, Jharkhand. I had stayed over at a village called Chukru. It was tough and my mind was in a tizzy with a dozen existentialist questions: What I am doing? Why? Is this my cup of tea? Today, after so many years of working in the field, I am facing the same problems but with a small difference. The experience of the last six years has instilled confidence in me and I have a pragmatic attitude to new hardships. However, some questions still haunt me: What is the way ahead of this quagmire called poverty? What are my approach and strategy?