‘Roots’

Dadra and Nagar Haveli, a tiny tribal territory on the western coastline of India, for years has offered a vibrant mix of people, culture, and festivals. But recently, due to factors like over-development, migrants moving in from neighboring states, and tribes moving out to urban areas for a better life have pushed this territory to undergo changes. These changes have resulted in the dilution of a rich indigenous culture that persisted in the territory for decades. ‘Roots’ is a photographic tribute to these indigenous groups and an attempt to document and preserve their unique cultural heritage to be celebrated by generations to come.

The residents of this state who once proudly represented and celebrated this culture are now more disconnected from it than ever. Through this project, I aim to revive a lost identity that this state so strongly embraced in the past. The photographs featured in this collection document the lives of the three main tribal groups, Warlis, Konkanas, and Dhodias. Traveling across the rural parts of my state enabled me to capture moments that not only reflect their day-to-day lives but also explore their deep connection with this land and unique ways of worship. This series stays open for future additions that focus on other aspects like birth, death, and marriages.

Looking at years of exploitation during the Portuguese rule and the recent political ignorance, one would expect the tribes to have a gloomy outlook towards individuals from the urban parts of the territory. But, much to my surprise, I was heartily welcomed into their homes, communal events, and sacred sites. A project that started solely as a documentation process gradually developed into a personal journey of reconnecting with a culture that was so prevalent during my childhood. 

Back-to-nature

The author, Hussain, R. (1986) in the book ‘Dadra and Nagar Haveli: A study in tribal resurgence’ states, these tribes believe that their destiny was ruined by a monkey. They say God was in the process of creating this world. Men, who were the first to be built, hunted in the jungles. Life went on peacefully until they suddenly chanced on a new creature who looked like a man but was indeed a beast. So they slaughtered it. God was shocked and angered when he discovered that his newest creation, the monkey, had gone from the face of the Earth, leaving no sign of itself. He soon found remnants of the unfortunate monkey, some chewed-up bones, and hairy bits of the tail. God immediately cursed the tribe when he discovered what had happened. Before, there had been just one tribe. He would divide it and thus weaken it.

Those who chewed the bones were named the ‘Konkanas,’ the criminals. Ones who feasted on the tail were named the ‘Warlis,’ the dishonest. Others were named the ‘Dhodias,’ which in their language means the innocent. Except that the innocent had been the ones who had eaten the best parts of the monkey. That is how the world began for the Dhodia tribe, and they learned early in their lives that what matters is not so much avoiding doing evil but not getting caught doing it.

To this day, the Dhodias are the wisest and the shrewdest of the territory’s early settlers. They are hard-working individuals who like to think they are better off than the rest. The Konkanas, next in the tribal social structure, are less wasteful than the Warlis. The Warlis are the most laid-back of the bunch. For them, “who knows what the future holds?” and “why to dwell over yesterday?” is the philosophy.

Villages in Dadra and Nagar Haveli are quite different from the typical villages in India. Clusters of 10-15 houses form a pada (hamlet), and a group of 5-10 padas makes up a village. A tribal house is often built using materials found in the nearby forest. The roof is composed of bamboo or tree branches and is covered with leaves, hay, or country tiles. The walls are often composed of mud, shrubs, bamboo sticks, and more recently, bricks and cement. Every house has a ghanti(a grinding stone) and a musad for dehusking the grains. There are relatively few doors, and every house has a little patch of open space in front or behind it. The houses have no windows, except for a few near the ceiling that allows light and air to enter. Cow dung is commonly used to coat the floor. The outside walls of the huts are sometimes painted with chalk paintings of jungle subjects. They imply the presence of a well-developed sense of aesthetics and art. Their belongings have minimal monetary value but are primarily practical. A few cooking and eating utensils, a couple of boxes for their valuables, one or two large pots for storing grain, and equipment such as a plow, a shovel, an ax, and musical instruments.

Usually, men wear a small Dhoti (a loincloth) and a shirt. A woman’s dress consists of a blouse and a short saree. All tribal women are fond of sparkling ornaments, which are primarily of silver, copper, or brass. Glass beads are apparently the most popular jewelry that shames even diamonds. The women of all three tribes adore jewelry. It’s common for Warliwomen to wear earrings and necklaces as well as bracelets on their hands, rings on their fingers, and ankle bracelets. A necklace of coins is the women’s most distinctive accessory.

June and July are the months when the tribals believe “God goes to sleep” and “men must work.” Bhiku, a local priest and a farmer says, “We are jungle people who can only function in the wild; city life is not for us. The jungle and our fields are the two things closest to our hearts.” The majority of the tribal population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. However, their methods of cultivation are primitive to this day. 

Dancing under the moonlight

Every year, the dance season begins on the completion of the paddy sowing season. The tribes smear their face and body with the muddy slurry from the paddy field and end the long period of abstinence from meat and flesh.

On an auspicious night, underneath the shimmering moon, dark shadows fall against the paddy fields. These silhouettes dance in a circle, hand in hand, around the village’s tiny roads, jumping forward and back to the music emerging from a breathy instrument called the tarpa. This traditional dance is named after the wind instrument and is performed by both men and women. The tarpa is made of two bamboo pipes covered in palm leaves and attached to a dried bottle gourd with honeybee wax. Warlis and Konkanas dance to the tunes of tarpa to ring in a bountiful harvest, festivals, and marriages.

Tarpa nach is celebrated as the king of folk dances and is the primary entertainment at social gatherings. Passed on from generation to generation, this dance is rarely taught and often observed. It is free-flowing and minimally choreographed yet coordinated and synchronized. It is an expression of happiness and fulfillment. For the music, they rely on the tarpakar (the tarpa player), who stands in the middle of a clearing with the performers surrounding him, and the udvya(the leader) to indicate a change in formation or variety in the footwork. 

Intertwined dancers swing as one in a human chain, not constrained by the need to arrange a specific choreography or convey a tale. Instead, the dance mimics their surroundings in both noticeable and subtle ways. For example, in one version, players stand in an arc with their right foot in front and move forwards, backward, and sideways, imitating paddy crops swaying in the breeze.

Long before language, the only method to convey happiness, grief, and desire was through gesticulation. Tarpa nach is unique in that it does not use lyrics. Instead, the dance’s liveliness is created only by the harsh pitch of the instrument and the rapid movement of the performers. Traditionally performed on moonlit evenings, the dance induces a trance in both the audience and the performers, casting a spell of harmony and energetic ecstasy.

Soul-to-soul

Tribals of this territory, like tribals all around the world, are superstitious. There was a time when man was treated like a puppet, at the mercy of spirits. A man heading out for an important job would turn the other way if he encountered a lady carrying an empty clay pot on his route. Because else, his task would never be completed. Even today, any tribal woman holding an empty pot will avoid crossing the path of any guy approaching from the other way. She will stop at the edge of the road until the man has disappeared from her sight. A cuckoo bird’s singing, on the other hand, was the best note to start an important activity on. Life and death, success and failure, were all the work of spirits, good and evil, in this tribal land of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Magic and witchcraft are important parts of their culture. They have ‘Bhagats’ (priests) and ‘Bhuvas’ (exorcists) who counsel and perform exorcism rites. Almost all tribals believe in God, although their understanding of God is vague. Many Gods appear to have been taken from Hindu mythology. They worship two kinds of Gods, the family God ‘Kuldevta’ and the common Gods ‘Gamdev,’ each worshiped for different reasons.

Bhiku explains why God and faith are so important for his people. He says, “I have observed that recently many people have chosen to follow a different faith. But, I’m sure they’ll have to convert back at some point since their troubles can only be handled by the gods of the faith into which they were born. When there were no hospitals, we kept faith in mother nature to cure a family ailment. We were depended on her to provide rain to our fields. For years, our ancestors have taught us to worship the Gods and blindly put all responsibility for our betterment on them. This strong belief has persisted until the present day, which is why our gamdev and kuldev play such an essential role in our daily life.”

The tribes of this territory practically celebrate all the Hindu festivals, with a few variations. As for the rest of the Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important festivals for them. Each tribe celebrates Diwali in its own unique way. Warlis and Kokanas refer to it as ‘Barash.’ Veer Dev puja, an act of worship performed around a week before Barash, is integral to the Diwali celebration. Pilgrims from various villages assemble at a sacred site in Khanvel (a small village in Dadra and Nagar Haveli) to perform a series of rituals to receive Veer Dev’s blessings. They ‘awaken the God’ by playing the tarpaand crying out Veer Dev’s various names. The blessings are thought to be obtained when Veer Dev enters the pilgrim’s body in the form of energy that induces conscious seizures. This is their process of becoming one with their gods. 

On the night of Barash, pilgrims from neighboring hamlets gather at the foot of a sacred mountain, bearing cloth-wrapped bundles of freshly-cut paddy grains. They offer a quiet prayer as the bhagat purifies them and the soil with water and milk. A skirl of tarpa splits the silence at around midnight, and with that, the mauli (pilgrims) start running towards the mountain’s peak with utmost devotion and don’t stop until they reach the top. “It’s all barefoot. We don’t need a clear trail. Thorns, rocks, or snakes, nothing stops us. If you check our path the next morning, you won’t find anything. It will be like nothing had happened. That is the strength we get from gamdevi,” says Bhiku.

Dedicated pilgrims stay awake all night to pray, sing, and dance in a show of commitment. As the night blues rise into a vibrant glow by the sunrise, the bhagats begin the teras pooja. Rice bundles are opened, and shendur (red powder used during religious ceremonies) and holy stones are placed on top of the heap of the rice. The bhagats hold the rice in their hands to speak with the Gamdevi while the rest of the pilgrims chant prayers. Every year, they make a wish for a better crop and a healthier community.

In the end, the paddy grains are distributed back to the devotes to take home. Small animals, typically goats, and roosters, are sacrificed as part of the ceremony. They believe that Devi is delighted by them when they offer an animal. Sacrification takes place at a specific spot, which is usually on the village’s outskirts. It signifies that all negative omens have left their village, and Devi will shower them with good health, abundant harvests, and good fortune.

Methodology

One of the aims of this series was to bridge the gap between the purists of documentary photography and the general viewers, providing a common ground for a bigger audience by making images that are visually appealing as well as present the true story. 

This project was shot over a period of 4 months, capturing various activities as they happen in the villages. Exploring different locations during the pre-production phase helped me find communities with the least urban influence. My ideas for this photo series were discussed with the local school teachers, priests, and patels (head of a hamlet), who helped me establish good relations and understanding with the residents of various villages. 

Building a close association with the locals through conversations and communal meetings and conducting interviews helped me better ideate images that closely represented their authentic lifestyle. I conveyed the motivation behind this project and what it represents, making them more comfortable during the production process. All the images were shot using basic photography equipment; a mirrorless camera and an external flash. This enabled me to be nimble during occasions like the Veer Dev puja and Barash puja, where multiple activities occur simultaneously. Although an external flash was used, the lighting in the photos remains close to natural.