Review by Sutanuka Ghosh Roy
Author: Ketaki Datta
Page: 134
ISBN: 978-93-5548-046-0 (Paperback)
Edition: (2021)
Price: ₹ 150 INR
Published by Sahitya Akademi
Reviewed by: Dr. Sutanuka Ghosh Roy.
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Sutanuka Ghosh Roy |
Even after seventy-five years of Indian
Independence, the Totos remain in the margin. Their stories remain largely
unheard. They regale themselves by weaving their own stories and die unsung.
This effort of Datta to make the world know of the tales of the Toto tribe is
no doubt a commendable one. She has also added a few photographs clicked during
her visit to Totopara. The oral stories of the tribes are a vast repository of
knowledge and they are to be treasured. The privileged literate populace is
equipped with all the amenities to cash in on, but these tribal the so-called
weaker sections of the society are yet to find a foothold in the mainstream
society. Largely ignorant of their rights they lack the basic amenities of
life. However, they are proud of their culture which is reflected in their oral
stories---myths, legends, and folktales. Datta writes “oral stories reflect
their ways of living”. The book mentions the contribution of Dhaniram Toto, a
prolific writer, and poet, a winner of the Adivasi Manab Kalyan Samiti Award
who has helped Datta immensely to cull the tales she had been keen on including
in this volume.
Dhaniram is instrumental in getting the
Toto language “carve a niche in the list of recognized languages of the tribes
of India. These oral stories which are documented in this volume thus have a
rich legacy of the culture of an endangered tribe too”. The book comprises Toto
Folk Tales, in the translated version as well in the Toto language. There are
fifteen tribal folktales in this volume. In the Toto folklore, there is an
abundance of wild animals, like monkeys, tigers, boars, etc. The animals are
either stupid or clever what is important is their behavior as narrated by the
narrator largely reflects the attitudes of the tribal populace by and large.
The tale of The Monkey and the Wild Fowl for
example is a pointer to their behavioural pattern though narrated through the
wild-animal representatives. Datta rightfully draws our attention to the fact
that “the power-structure in tribes can also be understood from these tales as
well as their varying emotion-intelligence graphs. However, cutting across all
inequalities, there is homogeneity in these stories, pointing to the origin of
man!”
The Totos believe in the spirit, their tales are fraught with imaginary elements laced with a fairy-tale-like appeal just like any other folktale from any other part of the world. These tales speak of the suppressed desires of the tribal folk who try to ape the civil society through their wish-fulfillment in their stories like Pumpkin-shaped Mauriya, Mauriya in the Land of Ghosts, Mauriya in the Snare of the Queen of Dices. The Totos love to live in a world of fantasy, they love and respect their culture and these stories are a cementing factor—they bind them as a unit. An interesting element of these oral stories is that they can be retold by a new narrator. The oral transmission gets pepped up each time hence these tales offer a fresh perspective and can never be boring. However oral transmission has its shortcomings too. Hence it is important to document them properly. Datta has completed a mammoth task by compiling and editing these near-lost tales. The volume thus adds to the oeuvre of oral stories of the world.
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