Utnoor Gondi Standardization Conference – Part 4

The Gunjela Gondi script printed onto flags in the village of Gunjela

Close by to the Kumaram Bheen complex that we are staying in is a village called Gunjala. During a manuscript survey undertaken by the University of Hyderabad, it was here that Professor Jaider Tirumal Rao discovered four ancient books written in a previously unknown script. Luckily, there were three people in the village who were still able to decipher and this script – which has come to be known as the Gunjala script – is reputedly the ancient script of the Gondi language. You can see it above printed on to a series of flags describing different animals. 

Professor Jaider Tirumal Rao of the University of Hyderabd - the discoverer of the script

 Today happened to be the inaugural celebration for a literacy drive in the village: in six months, the planners hope, all of the village children will be able to read and write in this script. The Conference’s coincidence with this celebration also raises a number of questions about the Gondi language’s written form. While this script may have a strong claim to historical authenticity, is it possible to reintroduce it across the whole of the Gondi-speaking region from this one small village in Telengana? The script we are using in the dictionary compilation is Devanagari (the script Hindi is written in) – this was chosen mostly because most of the participants can read it – and this issue is sure to require more thought. There is a choice here between widespread comprehension and the cultural value that this script may have as a connection to the Gond past and this is surely something that will have to be stringently debated at a later stage.  

A traditional instrument played at the celebration in Gunjela

 This is the last day of the Standardization Conference and we have now finalised over 2100 words. This should be enough for the publication of a useful dictionary in February. The collector of Adilabad District even stopped by to congratulate everyone.

In the middle is the collector of Adilabad District

Utnoor Gondi Standardization Conference – Part 3

Road Trip! The conference participants go on a road trip to the Jingobhai caves

A recurring theme of these workshops is a ‘cultural outing’. Last time, when we were hosted by the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, we took a day out to visit the famous pilgrim town of Amarkantak, MP. Luckily for us, fifty kilometres away from the Kumaram Bheem complex in Utnoor – just across the border with Maharashtra – is an isolated site deep in the hills that holds special significance for the Gond people.

The entrance to the Jingobhai caves

Visiting a holy place in the forest

 The Jingobhai caves lie in the cliffs on the banks of a meandering river deep in the jungle near a village called Karimera. There is no temple there – or, at least, not a recognisable mandir – instead, the holy place is the natural forest and the rock formations. Jingo is one of the Gond gods. According to some versions of the Gond mythology, Jingo was the protector or the Gond forefathers. The other major god is Lingo, who taught the Gonds their culture and language.

Carvings and flags that represent the Gond gods

It's not all fun and games (and prayer) though, after everybody returned to the conference center we all stayed up late into the night working on the dictionary. As things stand now, we are well on our way towards our target of 800 more words, bringing the final total up to around 2200 - a great strt for the standardized dicitonary.

Utnoor Gondi Standardization Conference – Part 2

Every morning the shrine in the main hall is lit

 One of the most interesting things about this conference series is the building of a pan-Gond community. Under one name or another, the Gond people can be found across most of central India and yet it is not unusual for the participants here to say they have never met Gonds from elsewhere before. One guy from Andhra Pradesh even told me that before he went to the first conference in Delhi he had no idea there were even Gonds outside of his own State. In addition to the standardization work that is occurring here, these conferences also provide an opportunity for Gonds from all over India to meet and build relationships. 

Something that is stressed again and again by almost everyone here is the fear that the Gond people are losing touch with their own customs and community. The usual pattern for educated Gonds seems to be to enter the mainstream of Indian society and leave their societies behind. Here, at least, people who want to keep in touch with their roots can meet and make contacts.

Discussions on the lawn

In the long term, I guess, it will be this kind of networking – even as much as the finished Gondi dictionary itself – that will form the political resources that are required for the push for Gondi language recognition and rights. Alone and geographically isolated, it is difficult for people to act in meaningful way: together, there is much more scope for organisation. After these conferences finish hopefully all these guys will keep in touch and Gondi’s historic marginalization will gain some form of national voice.

Shushila Durve, Sharesingh Achala (Gond cultural activist), Professor Dr. KM Metry (Kannada University), Gedam Nagesh MP (Adilabad), Motiravan Kangale (Gond writer), Gulzar Singh Markam, President - Gondi Union Odisha, Madivi Nehru

In addition to the ongoing work of finalizing the Gondi variations in the dictionary, we also hosted a visit by some more esteemed guests. These included Adilabad MP Gedam Nagesh, who came to share his thoughts on Gond culture, and Professor KM Metry from Kannada University, an expert in Gondi language. He got a chance to sit down with Motiravan Kangale, a chronicler of Gond culture and big part of this standardization series, to discuss recent scholarly advances in the field of the Gondi script.

Professor Metry and Motiravan Kangale discuss the Gondi script

Today also gave us an opportunity to explore the complex we are holding the conference in. The Kumaram Bheem campus covers a vast area and includes a number of educational establishments and employment programmes run by the government. One of these is a silkworm farm. The worms are left to feed outside on special Mulberry trees until they spin a cocoon that is harvested and turned into silk. Wicked, eh?

A silkworm from the Kumaram Bheem complex silkworm farm

Utnoor Gondi Standardization Conference

The opening ceremony (l-r): Susheela Durve (GM President), KLN Swamy (Circle Inspector Utnoor), Sanath Kumar (District Education Officer, Utnoor), P. Bheemu (Deputy Director - Tribal Welfare Utnoor), Athram Sakku (Ex MLA, Asifabad), Meseram Durgu, Mesaram Nagorao (Rtd. SP), Sidam Bheemrao (Ex Chairman ITDA Utnoor)

 CGNet has come the Kumaram Bheem complex in Utnoor in Adilabad District, Telengana for the latest in the series of Gondi language standadization conferences we are taking part in.  So far, this is the fourth we have held. The other three were in Delhi, Hampi, Karnataka and Amarkantak, MP.

We are here to continue to build a standardized dictionary for the Gondi language wherein all the many regional variations of Gondi words are collected together in one place. The ultimate goal here is to gain official recognition for the Gondi language. Without this recognition, Gondi children cannot attend lessons at school in their own language; Gondi speaking people cannot communicate with government services and the number of people that speak Gondi will continue to decline at its current alarming rate. 

You can read more about the previous conference, held last month at the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, if you follow this link.

Kumaran Bheem

The Kumaran Bheem complex is operated by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency, a government body that works for the tribal peoples of central India (of whom the Gond people are one). Kumaram Bheem, incidentally, was tribal leader from the 19^th century who fought against the Nizams of Hyderabad for tribal rights.Inside the complex there are educational institutions for adivasis, a self-employment training centre and other institutions operated by the ITDA. 

In the main hall is a small shrine to the Gond gods Jai Jango and Jai Lingo

The conference was officially opened yesterday morning with a lamp lighting ceremony. After that there were speeches from visiting dignitaries (you can see all of those guys at the top of the page).

A work group finalizes some Gondi word entries

 When lunch was over, the participants started the important work we are all here to do. They divided into two teams: one for finalising the entries that the previous conferences had assembled and another for adding new words. (For details of how this process works exactly, again, check out the blog entries for the Amarkantak conference).

Dr. Chandhu (Adilabad), Rekha Shyam Naik (MLA, Khanapur), Ailaiah (Revenue Divisional Officer, Utnoor)

Today, this work continued. We also hosted some more VIPs including Rekha Shyam Naik, the MLA of this constituency.