YAYA : An Ethnographic Film on the Gond Tribes of Bastar - TRAILER 1080 HD

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• published: 22 Jul 2015
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“I want to understand the world from your point of view. I want to know what you know in the way you know it. I want to understand the meaning of your experience, to walk in your shoes, to feel things as you feel them, to explain things as you explain them. Will you become my teacher and help me understand?” ― James P. Spradley As the above quote rings in my mind countless times, I remember my first virtual encounter with the Gond tribes of Bastar. It was just after returning from a seminar in Raipur and my bewilderment at the artistic finesse of the souvenir I was presented with. A small brass work human figurine of the Bison Horn Maria Gond, a name which is derived from a dance performed exclusively by men, wearing a horn shaped headdress, which was earlier made by a Bison’s horn. Following this lead I began to dig deep into the ancestral heritage and sociocultural structure of this indigenous group. Though some ethnographic books and papers gave some understanding of this tribe, the majority were old accounts written by British or European Anthropologists, with major sociocultural loopholes. The current material also in films or books was limited to either few social characteristics or had the current inclinations of Bastar’s political issues. Since in Anthropology we say, to understand an individual or group one must succumb completely to their ways, I decided to carry out a holistic research and present a film that had a comprehensive view of the Gond Tribes. If you are wondering from where all the funds came in for such a detailed project, I would modestly say from some lovely angels I contacted while crowd funding for the project and from two generous people Rakesh Paliwal & Rajiv Ranjan Sir, who offered the entire camera equipment for free. My sole reason for choosing this group out of many others is its geographic and cultural vastness in South Asia, where in, it is the largest indigenous group. Further if someone attempts to carry out anthropological similarities with other aboriginal groups in Gondwana, the Gonds would probably outnumber the rest. Once I packed my bags and reached Raipur with my team( Sonu, Swaroop & Waris), my next task was to find someone whom I could depend upon for a more inner perspective of the tribe. Thus came sparkling my lady’s luck and formed a chain of connections beginning from my mentor Satish Jayaswal, Senior Writer-Journalist, Bilaspur to Indu Sahu of Chetna NGO, Raipur to ultimately my guiding light, my friends of Koya Bhoomkal Kranti Sena. For an avid fan of various ethnicities, like me, there is no bigger revolutionary than a person discovering, preserving and promoting his or her own sociocultural heritage. Before reaching the conclusion solely because of word limit, I must tell you all that my first interaction was an icebreaker between my guides and myself. To see my eagerness and gravity towards their tribe, I was first asked how I pronounce the most important word of the comprehensive Gond society. On hearing “Ghotul” from me, they were slightly taken aback, however I further explained to them that my understanding comes from the Ethnographic literature I have read about their group. After convincing them that my motive is only to present the accurate picture of their society, they generously agreed to help me and told me that the most valuable institution of the Gond life is pronounced as “Gotul”. Since we cannot dig the graves of the old Anthropologists for this blunder, we can make earnest efforts to change all records with the correct word. In the end to conclude I would quickly sum up that as the journey ended after 12 days of shooting, I had accumulated many important elements of this tribe. Just to mention a few, the film would include the dance & music known as Rela, death & birth ceremonies, calling of the ancestors spirit and 35000 year old rock paintings that connect us to the early Homo Sapiens. There is still a lot of time to finish the postproduction of the film, after which it would be first screened at Kanker, from where it all began. As they say save the best for the last, the film has been titled as “YaYa” which means Mother in the Gondi Language. Due to their strong belief and affection for Mother Nature & Female Form plus my personal belief in Naturalism, I could not come up with a better name. Thus “YaYa” also honors the only omnipresent power, Nature. On this note I would end the story of my journey here, though a whole book remains to be shared. Ending this in the way the Gonds do – JAYSEVA! (LONG LIVE SERVICE TO HUMANITY, TO NATURE) - Saumya Sharma (Ethnographic Filmmaker)