When I was approached to write about ‘sustainable habitats’, I was instantly reminded of the delicate, symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, and the tribal groups living in the dense forests of India can be considered an ideal example. On the plateaus of the Sahyadri ranges, live the tribal groups or adivasis, within their small settlements called ‘Pada’. Their community has long since been considered illiterate and poor, surviving around infertile lands in a sorrow state. However, moving away from the normative lens of religion, caste and privilege, they exhibit prosperity within their festive celebrations, folk songs and music. In all these joyous practices, nature weaves a significant thread in their lives. Their unique lifestyle is at times portrayed in literature, art and motion pictures, and I’d like to focus on one particular film today which caught my attention.
The movie Jait Re Jait, a 1977 Filmfare award winning Marathi language film, directed by Dr. Jabbar Patel, is based on a book by G. N. Dandekar. Its story revolves around the Thakar tribal caste, where Nagya, the protagonist (played by Dr. Mohan Agashe), is a drummer, obsessed with being ‘punyavant’ or pure. He meets Chindhi, (played by the evergreen actress late Ms. Smita Patil) who has abandoned her ineffectual husband. Nagya and Chindhi fall in love and the story unravels their struggle to find union. The movie delivers the message, that if you want to achieve your goals, you should be willing to take efforts, even if it means paying the ultimate price! (No spoilers here!)
Jait Re Jait movie poster (source: www.imdb.com)]
Additionally, more crucial to the theme, the film depicts the beliefs of the people who worship a bare mountain peak, called ‘Lingana’, as their god. So entwined is this god or force of nature in their lives, that it finds mention as the flora and fauna, the day and night, in every alternate phrase of the tribe’s folk songs. Interestingly, highlighting their close relationship with nature, the people of the tribe also count their days and identify seasons by referring to the colours of leaves and trees. In their folksongs, the Thakar tribe address themselves as the ‘birds of this jungle’.
Here is a stanza from one of the songs in the movie:
“आम्ही ठाकर ठाकर ह्या रानाची पाखरं
या झांबर्या गर्दीत मांडुन इवले घर…”
“We are Thakars, Thakars, the birds of this jungle,
We’ve established our tiny houses between these serried trees…”
The plot of the movie is interesting. It starts out with Nagya using his father’s dhol or drum, which he finds difficult to use. He demands a new, smaller dhol from his father instead, to make things easier for him. Reality is, as is usually the case, very different. Nagya’s father explains that making a dhol from scratch takes one and a half year, and is quite a challenging task. When you depend on nature, you move along with it, and cannot speed things up, unsustainably. Nonetheless, because Nagya is so obdurate, father and son finally proceed to make a dhol. They cut a suitable tree trunk and locate an ancient rock-cut water body at Lingana hillock, since the wood has to be submerged in water for a whole year. Simultaneously, the skin of an animal has to be dried and prepared. Only then can the dhol finally be assembled.
This whole process of making the dhol is intriguing and interesting. It not only shows the amount of patience the tribal members have, but also how wholly dependent they are on nature for meeting their needs and requirements. The patience, intricacies and excitement depicted in this relationship reveals how the people seek joy in nature and in the smaller things of life.
Another striking moment from the film for me, was when Nagya’s father warns him not to utter any bad word during the ‘Sugiche Divas’, or days of harvest, considered to be the happiest days for the tribe. The time of harvest is considered by them as their only festival, where any kind of negativity should be eliminated.
What caught my attention was the unique calendar used by the people of Thakarwadi (the tribal settlement). The calendar closely follows the patterns of nature, similar to the traditional calendar system of the Hindus. Full moon and new moon days are significant.
The movie does a good job of bringing out the tribe’s lifestyle and communion with nature. Throughout the movie, the background and foreground score depends largely on folk songs. There is a mention of plants, animals, the sun and moon, days and nights, in all these songs, composed poetically and with great music to go with it.
“आल्या बरसाती घेऊन, मेघ मल्हाराची धून, या झिंगल्या झाडांना बांधले पैंजन…
चांदन्या गोंदून, चांदन्या गोंदून…धरलिया चादर…”
“The music of ‘Raga Malhara’ has invited the monsoon showers. The wind makes the trees swing, they sound as though ghungaroos (anklets) are tied to them.
The raindrops sparkling in the moonlight emit light as if the roofs (and Mother Earth) are covered with a blanket of stars!”
The message conveyed by the Thakar community and their relationship with nature indicates how finding oneself equals to finding god.
“चैत्र गेला, वैशाखाचं ऊन गेलं,
पाऊस पाणी सरलं, सरली हंगामाची घाई…”
“Chaitra (the first month of the Hindu calendar) has passed, the harsh summer of the month of Vaisakha has been survived,
Monsoon showers have ended, so has the bustle of the farming season…”
The message conveyed by the Thakar community and their relationship with nature indicates how finding oneself equals to finding god. That is the journey of life. The tribal community has found god in nature. Material desires such as wealth and fame take one further away from this higher purpose. Finding god is a reward in itself, and to the people of the tribe, god lives solely in nature. To survive and thrive, we must co-exist with nature, our god.
This symbiotic relationship with nature is what caught my attention, and the words “sustainable habitats” promptly reminded me of this film. Many such stories of natural heritage mingled with our culture exist in India, they are only waiting to be explored, and gazed at with a fresher lens. I hope the snippets of this movie push you to watching it too, and I hope you like it, just as I did.
On the theme of being one with nature and with god, I am reminded of the words of Lord Byron,
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is a society, where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.”
The views, information, or opinions expressed above are solely those of the author(s) involved and do not necessarily represent those held by India Lost & Found and its creative community.
Hi, I’m Rahul Shewale…
I’m an architecture student, studying in my final year. Needless to say, India’s rich architectural heritage has always fascinated me. In pursuit of my interest and academics, I’m currently working with ILF – and I’ve mapped the beautiful district of Raigad already! I’m blessed with numerous interests such as philately, numismatics, gardening, and most importantly, travelling.
