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Lokaratna
The e-journal of the Folklore Foundation, India
Vol. X, 2017 Lokaratna ISSN No.2347-6427
Folklore Foundation
www.folklorefoundation.org
[email protected]
Folklore Foundation, India, Lokaratna Vol. X, 2017 ISSN No. 2347-6427
Lokaratna, Vol. X, 2017
Lokaratna is the e-journal of the Folklore Foundation, India. The purpose of the
journal is to explore the rich cultural tradition of Odisha for a wider readership.
Any scholar across the globe interested to contribute on any aspect of folklore is
welcome. This volume represents the articles on culture, folklore, education, and
language pedagogy.
Cover Image: Traditional Saura Painting
Folklore Foundation Office Bearers
President: Sri Sukant Mishra

Managing Trustee and Director: Dr M K Mishra
Trustee: Sri Sapan K Prusty
Trustee: Sri Durga Prasanna Layak
Lokaratna is the official journal of the Folklore Foundation, India and it is a peer-
reviewed academic journal in English.
The objectives of the journal are:

 To invite writers and scholars to contribute their valuable research papers on
any aspects of Indian Folklore. They should be based on the theory and
methodology of folklore research and on empirical studies with substantial
field work.
 To publish seminal articles written by senior scholars on Indian Folklore,
making them available from the original sources.
 To present lives of folklorists, outlining their substantial contribution to
Folklore
 To publish book reviews, field work reports, descriptions of research
projects and announcements for seminars and workshops.
 To present interviews with eminent folklorists in India and abroad.
 Any new idea that would enrich this folklore research journal is welcome.
www.folklorefoundation.org / [email protected]
We also review newly published books, to get your book reviewed write to:
[email protected] /[email protected]
Editor in Chief: Dr Mahendra K Mishra

Executive Editor: Prof. Anand Mahanand, EFLU, Hyderabad
Advisory Board
 Molly Kaushal, Director, Janapada Sampada,(IGNCA)New Delhi
 Nirupama Moduel, Director,( Intangible Heritage,)INTACH
 Irina Samarina, Russian Akademi of Letters, Moscow
 Chandrabhanu Pattanayak, Senior Academician
Editorial Board
 Dr Subhendu Mund, Eminent poet and Critic of Indian Literature,
Bhubaneswar
 Dr Harekrushna Meher, Retired Professor of Sanksrit, Odisha,
 Mary Provost, Activist, Indigenous Rights, Canada
 Prof. Ranjan K. Panda, IIT Bombay
 Dr Amitendu Bhattacharya, Asst. Professor, BITS Pilani (Goa)
 Subhasis Nanda, PhD scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad
From The Desk of Editor-in-Chief
Lokaratna completed its ten years. Hundreds of professional and scholars across
the globe have contributed to this e journal in the disciplines of humanities,
social science, linguistics,folklore, tribal studies,social history and cultural
studies.
Mean while an Advisory Board for the journal has been set up and the Editorial
Board has also been expanded. Permanent web site for folklore foundation has also
been hosted. The site is: www.folklorefooundation.org. All the past issues of
Lokaratna have been uploaded in the web site of Folklore Foundation. The web
master Mr. Shibaram Mishra has taken much time and energy to make this web site
compatible to the web site of any other global institute. He has voluntarily agreed
to maintain the web site from time to time to update the readers on folklore
studies.
In the mean time the field members of Folklore Foundation have completed the
Odisha Volume of People’s Linguistic Survey of India. About 200 people of
Odisha from different ethnic groups across the state have completed the
volume which contains 40 spoken languages, Odia and Santali as scheduled
languages. Rest of the languages is non- scheduled.
The Sambalpuri/Koshali language from Western Odisha and Ho language from
north Odisha have been recommended by the state government to be included in
the VIIIth schedule of the Constitution of India. Till now 38 spoken but non-
scheduled languages have been enlisted for recognition with the government of
India.
Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi under its Centre for Oral and Tribal Literature in the
Sahitya Akademy under the leadership of Padmashree Anvita Abbi, has released
books on oral tradition and Unwritten languages. On 5th April, 2017 Kapila
Vatsayan released two books. One titled Kalahandi ki Vachik Mahakavya ( Oral
Epics of Kalahandi ) in Hindi and another- the compilation the articles of a
Seminar on Unwritten Languages held in the literature festival of 2015 in the
Sahitya Akademi- titled “Unwritten Languages.”
I visited International Mother Language Institute,(IMLI) Bangladesh on 21st
February 2017 and took part in the international seminar on language
documentation and multilingual education. The role of Bangladesh in nurturing the
mother tongues, especially minority languages is crucial. It is to be remembered
that, Banladesh is a country emerged from the struggle for mother tongue. In
context, not with in the country itself, the role of IMLI in fostering the minority
and endangered languages in Asian countries is highly commendable. I
congratulate Prof Zinnat Imtiaz Ali, Director General, IMLI for his untiring
efforts to serve for the cause of minority languages.
Language and culture survives, even after the environmental change occurs in
human civilization. Stories and songs , proverbs and ritual myths are still alive
containing the narratives of 3000 years old civilization. The cultural continuity
of human memory retains the oral , performative and visual form even after the
material loss is occurred , but the memory and imagination still survive in the
memory. The best examples of this are the culture hero Rama, Krishna and Shiva.
These three gods are still alive in the public memory when their geographical
territories are still uncertain.
The Xth volume of Lokaratna is released to day. This contains the history of ten
years of voluntary labour, and to celebrate that the modern technology has
facilitated to connect from one end of the globe to the other. Many people use to
say that the purity of folk culture will be corrupted by the intrusion of modern
technology. Looking this from other point of view, it is safely said that the
use of technology for promotion of folklore and culture , and also documenting
the original form in performance could be the best way to restore the history of
time in the context of people’s performance of knowledge in their community. The

written cannot capture the thought, but the visuals can capture the expression and
its details while performance. Thus either it is performance by the people or
research by the scholars, technology has played a major role in sustaining and
disseminating the past for future.
I am thankful to all the writers and the reviewers of this volume who have
sincerely contributed to this journal.
We are committed to take more thematic work through Folklore Foundation. In
future, I hope all those who have contributed to this volume will support the
cause by sensitising the new writers as well as the established for a cultural
inheritance.
I thank Prof Anand Mahanand, EFLU for his tireless work and support and
management of the journal. I also congratulate the new members of editorial board
and the advisory board to be with us for a sincere cause.
Mahendra Kumar Mishra
From the Desk of Executive Editor
“We can still maintain our oral narratives in the digital age”
One of the features of folk traditions is their vibrancy. They are lively and prevail
in the forms of dance forms, songs, games and chants. This feature makes them
unique and distinct from literacy. When we put oral performances into writing, the
vibrancy is lost. Writing cannot capture the vibrancy and performative aspects of
an oral narrative. But this element should be retained. We cannot effort to lose it.
Vibrancy should remain even though these forms are transformed to other modes.
Writing cannot capture this but; digital mode can help us in retaining the
performative element of an oral narrative.
There have been concerns in some quarters that writing is losing its ground with
the emergence of digital technology. Oral forms precede writing. With the
emergence and consequent dominance of writing, Orality was given less privilege.
Writing dominated the scene but Orality too existed. With the emergence and
spread of digital technology, oral forms are coming back with vibrancy again. The
question is whether technology is enough to retain our folk oral forms. Can
communities retain their folk forms in this modern and digital age. Lot of it
depends on the mindset and determination of the people. We can be modern, yet
retain our folk forms. We can use modern technology at the service of our
traditions. Tradition can accommodate interrogation, invention and innovations.
Traditions should not be thrown out. If we lose our past, there will be nothing left
for the future. In this volume we have articles that not only describe unique folk
forms but also interrogate the traditional notions and traditional scholarship. There
are discussions also on the status of oral narratives in the face of technology. Jayita
Sengupta’s article “Memory, Orality, Literacy and Translation” foregrounds some
of the issues related to translation of oral narratives into written form. Umesh
Patra, Ashish Mohaptra in their articles on Chaiti Ghoda and Pala respectively
trace the history of the two folk forms and highlight the unique aspects of these
folk forms. They also emphasize how these dance forms give evidence of
pluralistic nature of Odishan society. Kapil Sagrolikar’s article “Ramayana to Lok
Ramayana” deals with invention in the traditions of classical narratives. He
analyses what kinds of changes have taken place in the Ramayana when it is
converted from classical to local form. Mamata Dash and Pankaja Sethi in their
respective articles highlight the role of women in the making of folk arts and crafts.
T. Akshya Kumar and Liza Swain in their article “ Tribal Customary Marriage
Practices among the Major Tribes of Southern odisha: An Ethnographic
Approach” discusses the indigenous marriage practices of the tribes such as the
Saora, Bonda, Kondh and Koya. Though they focus on the unique traditional
practices of these tribes, they highlight that these have been affected by
modernization processes. Priya Soma Sekhar and Siddharth M in their article “Folk
Tradition in Chettikulangara with a special reference to the Ritual Art Form of
Chettikulangara Kuthiyattam” describe varied traditions, beliefs, customs, rituals
etc. The above articles are related to issues concerning cultural practices in India.
This issue also has articles discussing cultural practices of other countries such as
Russia, Nepal and Pakistan. Rashmi Kumari Jha’s article “Irony in Context: A
Study of Popular Russian Expressions in Soviet Era” studies songs, stories and
other forms and discusses how they have contributed to literature. Suman Bantawa
in his article “Kirat Myths in Some Indian Nepali poems” explores the myths in
literature particularly in Nepali and Indian poetry.
In the section of Linguistics and Language Pedagogy, Nivedita has contributed

her seminal paper on Multilinguality she proposes a culturally sensitive pedagogy
for the teaching of English in India. Zubair Torwali in his article “Challenges to
the Linguistic Diversity of North Pakistan” enumerates issues that act as threats to
linguistic diversity of North Pakistan.As a Linguistic Right Activists Torwali
foresee the possibilities of linguistic diversities to foster cultural democracy in
Pakistan.
Folklore has been performing the role of educating people since time
immemorial. Education of learners in the multilingual contexts has been a major
subject of discussion for scholars in India and abroad. Keeping this tradition alive,
Lokaratna has been accommodating articles related to pedagogy. The next section
of the issue therefore has articles pertaining to pedagogy. Koteswar Rao Malla’s
article “Developing English Language Skills in Multilingual Classroom” throws
light on how English language skills can be enhanced by situating English in the
local contexts. Kandukuri Mariyadas’ article “ Enhancing LSRW Skills: An
Experimental Study of High School Students in Guntur District of Andhra
Pradesh” discusses how using role play and collaborative language learning
method helped in enhancing LSRW skills of high school students. Rukulu Kezo in
her article “ A Discourse on the Need to Embedded Emotional Intelligence (EI) as
an Essential Component in Teacher Education Programmes” argues for the
inclusion of EI in teacher training syllabus. According to her, this will enable
teachers help learners to grow emotionally rich and mature. Narke Pankaj Ashok
in his article “ Morpheme Acquisition Order of Indian ESL Learners: A
Comparative Study” stresses on morpheme acquisition as part of ESL learning . He
also seeks to find out whether SL language learners acquire language in the same
way as first language learners do. Amit Kumar in his article “ Collaborative
Reflective Practices: A Self- Reflective Journey” explains how teachers can reflect
on their teaching practices when they are engaged in collaborative teaching
practices. Deepa Dass treat the ecology and peace through the sacred narratives
and wish that learning on this aspect can improve the moral and ethics in
education.
In this issue of Lokaratna Khazana, the treasure tove of folklore carries three
stories from Abolkara stories retold by Anand Mahanand. Abolkara stories are
very popular among the rural people of Odisha. They have been getting into
oblivion. Hence it is an attempt here to revive them by translating them and putting
them together. We also have a small bunch of Baul songs of Shah Abdul Karim
translated by Amitendu Bhattacharya. These two forms are precious pieces of
literature and solace for the soul for their aesthetic and spiritual values. We hope
readers will love and appreciate them. We are happy to recollect with a sense of
achievement that the present issue is the tenth issue of Lokaratna. Lokaratna has
reached its tenth volume from a humble beginning to its present stage. It was
started with the innovative and creative imagination of Dr Mahendra K. Mishra
during 2008 as the journal of folklore foundation Supported by National
Folklore Support Centre ,Chennai and then World Oral Literature Project,
Cambridge University. Now it has full-grown as an academic journal with
international recognition with its advisory and editorial boards. We thank all the
contributors for their generous contribution of articles and the members of the
advisory and editorial boards for their help and support. We also thank our Web
Master Shibaram Mishra for such wonderful art and design in the web site
www.folklorefoundation.org . We are happy to offer you our esteemed readers the
tenth issue of Lokaratna!!!
Prof Anand Mahanand
Executive Editor, Lokaratna
Contents
Author page
Oral Tradition, Culture and Folklore
1 Memory, Orality, Literacy and Translation Jayita 16
Sengupta
2 Tracing the History and Evolution of Pala Umesh Patra 37
3 Ramayana to Lok Ramayana: an Act of Contemporizing Kapil 53

Sacred Texts through Lok(cal) Practice Sagrolikar
4 Complementary Nature of ‘Oral’ and ‘Written’ Literature: Banekar 63

Application of Ruth Finnegan’s Idea on Maharashtrian Tushar
Folk Art
5 Chaiti Ghoda Nacha:A Glorious Chapter of Odishan Folk Ashis 73
Culture Mahapatra
6 Feminization of Folk Art: A Case Study of Patta Painting Mamata 80
of Odisha Dash
7 Gantha ra Katha Pankaja Sethi 96

The Quilting Tradition from Ganjam, South Odisha
8 Tribal Customary Marriage Practices Among the Major T Akshyaya 117

Tribes of South Odisha- An Ethnographic Approach Kumar
Liza Swain
9 Folk Tradition in Chettikulangara, with Special Reference Priya Soman 136
to the Ritual Art form of Chettikulanagara Kuthiyottam Sidhharta,M
10 Irony in Context: A Study of Popular Russian Rashmi 144

Expressions in Soviet Era Kumari Jha
11 Kirat Myths in Some Indian Nepali Poems Suman 151

Bantawa
Linguistics And Language Pedagogy
1 Culturally Sensitive Pedagogical Model for the Nivedita 162

Multilingual Context of English Language Teaching in Vijay
India Vedidur
2 Challenges to the linguistic diversity of North Pakistan Zubair 182

Torwali
3 Developing English Language Skills in Multilingual Koteswara 195
Classroom Rao Mala
4 Enhancing LSRW Skills: An Experimental Study of High Kandukuri 200

School Students in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh Mariadas
5 A Discourse on the Need to Embed Emotional Rukulo Kzo 208

Intelligence (EI) as an Essential Component in Teacher
Education Programmes
6 Morpheme Acquisition Order of Indian ESL Learners: A Narke 224
Comparative Study Pankaj Ashok
7 Collaborative Reflective Practices: A Self-Reflective Amit Kumar 248

Journey. From Planning to Implementation
8 Participatory Action Research (PAR): Noel Anurag 268

A Strategy to Work with the Marginalized Prasanth
9 Linguistic expressions and Functional utilities in AKM 278

Diplomacy with reference to Treaties and Memoranda of Mohiuddin
Understanding (MOUs) Kayes and
Hemanga
DAtta
10 Eco Peace: Reconstructing Pedagogy and Teaching Deepa Dass 310

in Literature
Book Reviews
1 Future Past ( Science Fiction ) by Mr Subrat Sahoo Shibaram 322

Mishra
2 Multilingual Education in India; The Case for English Jayant K 327

Das
Interviews
1 Being a Bilingual: Issues and Perspectives Subhasis 332

An Interview with Prof. G. Rajagopal Nanda and
Amit Kumar
2 In Conversation with Dulal Da Mahendra K 341

Mishra
The creative mind : Illustations by child artist Omkar Omkar 345
Mishra
Lokaratna Khazana : treasure trove of folklore Anand 351

Mahanand
and
Amitendu
Bhattacharya
Contributors 369
Call for Papers for Lokaratna XI (2018)
We Invite papers in the areas of folklore, literature, language,

culture and pedagogy for the next issue XI (2018) of
Lokaratna tentatively scheduled for publication in January
2018. The articles should be
 Original, unpublished and should not have been
submitted for consideration to any other journal or
publisher.
 To be written following APA (6th edition) or MLA( 7th
edition) style of documentation.
 Should have an abstract of about 200 words and five key
words.
 Such articles should reach either of the following by 31st
October 2017.
Send your entries to:
Dr Mahendra K. Mishra, Editor-in-Chief:

[email protected]
Professor Anand Mahanand, Executive Editor:
[email protected]
Oral Tradition,
Culture and Literature
Memory, Orality, Literacy and Translation*

Jayita Sengupta
Abstract: Just as the written text or recit can be subjected to numerous

interpretations from the point of view of the Reader Response theorists, oral
narratives too when translated into recit, and other forms of narration are subject to
perception and interpretation. Memory and imagination play very important roles
in the act of translation. Translation also could be pictorial, through virtual
ethnography and technology mediated communication. In all cases, literacy about
the oral tradition and mediums of translation is a very important factor to be
negotiated with. This research article would take up the challenges of different
kinds of translation of oral narratives and relate it to the issue of literacy.
Keywords: memory, orality, translation, literacy, myth, narrative,
technology
Orality, Myth, Memory, History and Narrative, all these share bonhomie
with each other. While memory and Orality allow for myth making, in
contemporary theory, the line of demarcation between history and myth are
blurred. Narrativization of stories, beliefs, traditions, songs, customs, codes and
words of wisdom by words of mouth, travel down the ages, from one generation to
another. “Shruti” and “Smriti” are two birds on the same branch, says
KapilaVatsyayan (2011). If “Shruti” is primary, “Smriti”, which leads to the
written words, is secondary. “Shruti” creates the “dhwani”, which may be passed
on in verbatim or reconstructed using the spice of the imagination (rasa) by the
second signifier, to others leading to a “kathasaritsagar” of tales interlinked to the
original and receptive to ideas down the line. Folk in the Indian context is “loka”,
and the “loka” and “shastra” (folk and the elite) contrast is contrary to the Western
contrast between the high and the low traditions. India does not believe that non-
literary cultures are “knowledge blanks”, which need to be filled in with the
modern knowledge of different disciplines and dominant cultures. Indranath
Choudhury quotes Coomarswamy, in his article, “The Bugbear of Literacy”
(1979), where he speaks not against literacy but instead that elementary or
functional literacy cannot be considered the sole criterion for evaluating the total
human potential. So, sometimes folklores, songs and pearls of wisdom are
documented and made into recit, sometimes orality in these days of technology are
archived, using computers and other modern technologies. Preservation of any
archival material however entails some degree of literacy about the subject matter,
along with technical skills and equipment.This paper will explore the relationship
between “Shruti” and “Smriti” and relate the same to the ideas of literacy and
narrative explorations.
The first section of this paper will discuss how memory facilitates orality,
and myth-making, and relate the same to history and narrative, through two stories,
namely, “Manik-Makao”1and “Wild-Flower”2. It will attempt to interpret how
these stories use folklore and myth for its analysis of the psychodynamics of the
literate society in the first case and to the protagonist herself in the second case.
The second section of the paper will deal with the aspect of translation and how it
is related to “re-memorying”of the tradition or myth through the processes of
cultural syncreticism in art, and how literacy plays a significant role in it. The third
section will discuss the role of memory, space and time in non-Gregorian calendars
and their relationship with oral cultures. In conclusion, there will be an endeavour
to re-define orality in the age of technology and information.
Folklore as Love Myth: “Manik-Makao” and the dialectics of the

“Literate” and “Literacy”
Folkloristics or the study of the folklore would often reveal that there is a
close relationship between the myth and lore of the common folk. Both use
narrativization through orality. While the core of the story remains the same, there
is space for the storyteller for interpretation and adding on to the story, in folklore.
Once the lore takes on a symbolical meaning and passes into the cultural semiotics
of a society and is part of the people’s tradition, codes and beliefs, it becomes a
myth. Such is the case of “Manik-Makao”, a traditional love story passed down the
generations, among the tribes of the Meghalaya and Assam hills. The most
interesting part of the recit based on the myth is that it illustrates so well the
Barthian theory of semiology, so the story as signified has multiple signifiers, re-
presenting the love myth in multifarious ways. The story also exemplifies A.K.
Ramanujan’s idea of Indian myth, where he says that to assume a notion of linear
development between the written and oral, or classical or folk would be fallacious.
Rather it is the history of texts that is made up of written and oral forms contained
within cycles of transmission that move up and down through time resulting in
manifold possible re-compositions within a “simultaneous order”(1989:187-216).
The love myth, taken up for close study here, is about the young queen
Makao’s illicit relationship with Manik, the young flautist who lives in the fringes
of the kingdom. The queen’s husband, the king is on a long diplomatic tour, and
the lonely queen is impelled by Manik’s flute to take nocturnal journeys across the
mountain pathways,forests and streams to meet him. Though Manik refuses to
accept her the first night, he cannot resist her passion for him the second time she
visits him. When the king is back from his tour he finds his queen as a mother of a
child. Infuriated by his cuckoldry, he orders every man in his kingdom to come to
his court with a banana. If the child snatches the banana from a man tempting him
with it, he would know who the father of the child was, and how to deal with this
betrayal. Manik is unaware of this order, but he is summoned to the court. And the
inevitable takes place as the child jumps from Makao’s arms to him. A death
sentence is declared, but Manik could choose how he wished to die. He chooses to
be burnt alive, and playing on his flute for a while, he implants the bamboo flute in
the wet mud and enters the inferno waiting for him. As the original story unfolds,
the queen too enters the fire imperceptibly and the two lovers are united in death.
When the fire burns down, people to their surprise find a lake in the spot and the
bamboo flute is transformed into a bamboo cluster drooping over its waters.
This love myth in therecit by Ramkumar Mukherjee is taken up for
discussion in a fictitious three day seminar in the North-Eastern Hill States
University. The first written text based on the folklore which has survived through
space and time through orality is by Rabon Singh Karsuka in 1899. H.W. Stein had
adapted the folklore into a play titled “Ka Mahadeo” (“Mahadeo” meaning the
queen), some eighty years later. The play involved an interpretative strategy for the
queen’s illicit relationship by stating that the king was away for a long two years’
tour, soon after his marriage, and he never cared to stay in contact with the queen
in this long period of separation. These details were not mentioned in the oral myth
and it is possible that in those pre-literate days, staying in touch with home, while
travelling was not possible. However, the play also raised questions about the
king’s virility, thus justifying Makao’s passion for Manik, who was young and
talented, and who could father a child in one night’s union which the king had
failed to do so in their five months of conjugality. Apart from this narrative,
Mukherjee’s recit in the second part of the story also records two more versions of
the myth. JespilSiyem who visited the hills with Father Longdore wrote a long
narrative poem based on the myth in six thousand, three hundred thirty-six stanzas
in 2004. This was followed by a novella by Donboc. T. Lalu in 2005. The core
message of the love myth remaining intact, these narratives fleshed out the story
with different interpretative strategies and the signifier’s imagination and ideas. So,
the point of origin of the story from the first signified to the first signifier
conveying the concept-image or sign that is love, through orality goes through
multiple signifieds and signifiers. The signified takes on the role of the signifier
while passing on the story. When the story becomes a written word, it becomes
more polyglossic as the narratives could be a story or a long poem or a play or a
novella. Along with the multiplicity of signifiers and signifieds, the sign in its
process of diverse significations or myth making leads to a Bakhtinian carnival of
ideas and different forms of literacy. What began as a word of mouth, or as part of
a folk tradition becomes a narrative exploration. It leads to diverse debates on the
theme of such illicit love relating the same to gender discourse in that seminar. As
a subject of academic discourse the myth becomes the “elitist’s text”, which takes
away the “shringarras” from the oral tradition. As a narrative exploration, the story
leads to multitudinous ruminations in the oral tradition and the written word. In
agreement with what Barthes states in “Myth Today” (1972), Bernard Stiegler too
while theorizing Truth as “orthothetic”, writes how a single text, (in this case the
myth) “varies and drifts indefinitely in the dissemination of which all
contextualization consists” and is “caught up in a process of irreducible difference
to such an extent that the here-and-now, space and time, are themselves
irreducible, and there the reader also discovers textual being itself, as a texture of
accounts from that reader’s past already-there, accounts that have been lived as
inherited and that must be endlessly, (re-) interpreted”. (2009: 58). Moreover, the
dialectics through orality differ from the dialectics of the oral story in the written
word. The latter involves the relationship between translation of the text from the
oral speech to written speech, and thus involving the context of literacy.
While Barthes might state that “everything can be a myth”, Walter J. Ong
(2002) revolutionizes the idea of orality as a text perceived by the literates. The
oral tradition is like weaving of tales, by the so called “pre-literates”, but the
written word destroys that chain. This holds good for both the Western and Indian
societies and leads us to problematize the relationship between orality in the
written text, and the tension that exists between both of them. To abide by
whatIndranath Choudhury contends, these seemingly simple conflicting zones lead
to a web of complex issues. The oral and therecit traditions serve as “instruments
of communication between different levels of society.” (1972)Going back to
Vatsayan’sobservation, they are like two birds on the same branch, illustrating the
Barthian idea of Speech.
History, Memory, myth and psychodynamics:“Wild Flower”
This is a story of a warrior tribe, called the Mandi or the Garos spread across
Madhupur, Tangail and Mymensigh of Bangladesh up to Meghalaya in India in the
wake of 1971 War of Liberation and the formation of Bangladesh. The tribe had
joined the Indian troops in the Liberation war of 1971, and with the formation of a
new nation, they and their contribution for the cause of the Bengalis in Bangladesh
was forgotten and erased in the grand narratives of history.
This story is a painful dialectics of the silent history, essentially subversive
in its attempt to render the “the unspoken words which remain unspoken”.It writes
about the psychodynamics of the sufferers: the Mandis who followed the
Shangsharek faith, later Christianized and betrayed by history and the mainstream
literates who write and teach history. Myth in this story is a memory of the tribal
rites of the Shangsharekculture erased by the war yet preserved in Molita vis-à-vis
Salnima’s mind. Salnima lives in memory. She was christened as Molitaby her
parents and her tribal identity as Salnima was abrogated for the second time with
the war and newly formed Bangladesh. Besides this, the war also stole from the
tribe their Rong forest and their habitat. While Salnima vis-à-vis Molita, continues
with the daily activities of walking, living, arising, etc her mind is freezed in time.
So, her waking is sleeping, as her waking is a mindless waking or workingas a
hair-dresser and a compelled sex-worker in Shing Salon or prior to that as a maid

in a Bengali Christian household in Dhaka. So, while cooking a carrot halwa, as a
maid, she is lost in her memory of her grandfather’s words to her:
‘Salnima! For some reason, I have a lot of hope in you. You’re not just any
other girl; you are Salnima, the mother of the sun god Saljong. The god Saljong
told me this in a dream … I will teach you all the stories and songs of our gods, of
our old Shangsharek faith . ..” (263-4)
The old man pleads a promise from his granddaughter that she should after
his death offer the ampengni potato to the god Saljong during the Wang-gala
harvest festival. Salnima’s mind is lost in a maze of such memories. She lives in
another reality of another time. When the smell of burnthalwa pulls the mistress of
the house, from her VCR luxury to the kitchen, and the boiling hot water is poured
on Salnima’s body, the metal-ladle heated in the gas pressed again and again under
her arm pits, adolescent breasts and her loins, she remains immersed in her sleep,
and falls unconscious on the floor. Her mind perceives the tribal mahari, with
Jobang Ambeng stooping over her immobile body with the herbal root of the
dolagipa tree held between his teeth. The voice of her grandfather echoes in her
ears,“Do not fear Salnima , Jobang Ambeng himself will look after you.” (265)
Again when a client, Faizal, a marijuana addict comes to her for gratifying his
passion, he is transformed into her lover Mridangain her eyes and she yields
herself to him with yearning and passion in her ‘sleep in waking’. Despite the
contraceptive precautions, that a prostitute is made to take, she conceives and her
child is aborted. Her repeated resurrection as ‘Salnima’ in Molita leads her to
travails of fate again and again. Blood becomes the sign of the sacred union of
Mandi men and women before marriage, the union between Salnima and Mridanga
in the black abyss of the overturned Ranikong cliff. The abyss was created after the
Buddhist goddess Bhuga Rani jumped off the cliff to return to Bhutan, her birth
place when their land became tainted with Christian influence. When the
mystically sorrowful sravan months returned in Birishiri, with the memory of the
goddess’s return to her birth place through that tunnel, the past became “still” in
that overturned cliff. And that is where Salnima has had her first tryst with
Mridanga , the handsomest young man in Kalmakanda. Blood becomes the sign of
delusive love aborted, when Salnima mistakes Faizal for Mridanga, and blood
becomes the kudima or the sacred first union between lovers each time she
becomes the victim of men’s passion. So kudima is a “prolonged pathway to
sleep”, taking her back to her past. So, when the mistress of the parlour, Mrs Shing
Shanghai hits her on the face with her steel heels, for going wrong with her
scissors, and blood spills from her nose and mouth, she is “engrossed in an eternal
kudima”. Sometimes she herself is confused whether she is ‘Molita’ or ‘Salnima’.
The narrative structure of the story is such that there is a story within a story. The
linear progress of history from 1971 to 1975 is challenged by Salnima’s memory of
her tribal identity and culture, erased by forced Christianization and the 1971 war.
The satirical twist comes in the conclusion of the story, with an old and mad
beggar, frequenting the tourist spot, with a placard with red lettering hung round
his neck: “Help Freedom Fighter Prabeer Chiran. He played a valiant role in the
Liberation War of 1971 …”. He ambles around dumbly in the originally Rong
forest area, where the tribe lived and which was converted into a tourist spot, after
the war. The professors of the Dhaka University, who were supporters of the
Liberation war, knit their eyebrows and wondered, “Tribal people are free from
three major repressions of civilized society: insanity, rape or sexual crimes and
thievery. Then why is this man mad? Has the dehumanization process of society
and the state reached such a critical level?” (p.271). The story with extreme ironic
subtlety unravels to a discerning and sensitive reader, that the man is none other
than Salnima’s father, who was the head of the tribe, and had led his tribe to the
Liberation War. If the daughter suffers from a dual personality, where her identity
as Salnima is forcefully abrogated and replaced by her Christianization and history,
and she prefers to sleep in her waking reality, the shock and betrayal of history has
struck her father dumb. The narrative empathizing with the Achik Mande, the
people of the mountains, laments rhetorically, “Yes, how long was it? Achik
Mande, the people of the mountains, as powerful as wild eagles, before they
became as cowardly as the people of the plains … .”(256) or “How long ago was
that? When the stones moved around, when they spoke like human beings? When
the good wind like the pink petals of the macchajaseng blossom shook the
mountains, the past continuously weaved its pulsating events … .” (263).
The narrative complexity moving back and forth from the past which takes
the shape of myth, lost forever except in Salnima’s memory weaves itself , and is
more of a living present than the reality of the present in Salnima’s consciousness.
The story as recit, criticizes the grand sweep of history through the illiterate and
ignorant comments of the “so called literate” people from the Dhaka University. At
the same time, it empowers the narrative of Salnima’s consciousness with pre-
literate knowledge. Her consciousness defies the present, silently through the
semiotics of silent speech which the written word tries to record. To agree with
Ong on Literacy and orality, the story, criticizes the literate, just as it uses literacy
to codify orality, myth and memory in the written word. (Ong 14-15). If the earlier
recit based on a folklore becomes a cultural myth and is subject to ruminations and
deconstruction by literacy, in this case the myth itself remains as a piece of living
memory where the sufferers of history are entrapped psychologically and the so-
called literates fail to understand the depths of their loss, disorientation and pain.
Literacy serves two purposes here: firstly, the narrative as a written text codifies
the myth which speaks of the moment of disjuncture and erasure, within the literate
narrative; secondly, it comments on literacy and explores the dynamics of a
revolutionary poetics of the unspoken words which remain unspoken by Salnima

and his father but spoken through the dialectics of the narrative in the recit by the
writer. Orality, in the second case only survives through the recit.
Cultural Memory, Literacy and Translation
This section is going to discuss briefly the problematics of literary
translation, with reference to the two stories discussed in this essay. It is also going
to touch upon the translation of cultural ideas and narrative explorations of the
same.
Shabnam Nadiya in translating Audity Falguni’s“Wild Flower”, has retained
the tribal songs in the original, and explained their narrative in a parenthesis. Any
attempt at translating these verses would be a daunting task, for the rhythm,
resonance, would be lost and not be in proportion with aesthetics of the mood and
texture of the original story. My translation of Ramkumar Mukherjee’s story from
his novella, Kathar Katha (Word of Mouth), is actually the first story in the chain
of connected myths reconstructed by the writer, each independent, yet in some way
linked to another. As a translator, my challenge was to render the rhythm of the
myth so embedded not merely in the hearts and minds of the people of the hills but
one which flows in the breeze and is known by the trees, the streams, the
mountains, the night sky, moon and the red-cock, who all did see it happen. The
myth begins with the red-cock getting ready for his first wake up call to Nature,
spotting the young queen slipping out of her lover’s home, in the hazy dawn to
walk back to her palace. The second part of the story has a satirical twist, so
evident in Ramkumar Mukherjee’s style of writing, where, he makes a dig at the so
called literate and educated. My task was to recreate this subtle satirical humour
with the punch line, where Lao Tse’s grandson’s grandson in conversation with the
writer tells him, “A lover never made a good scholar, or a scholar a good lover!”
So much is for the discussion on the two narratives in translation.
Other forms of translation of cultures apart from the literary ones, could lead
to various classifications, such as:
 Indian classical music traditions and anonymous bandishes,
Ramcharitkathas, folk songs, among musical orality
 Patachitras of Orissa and Bengal
 The Baluchori Sarees of Bengal
 The sacred Thangkas of Tibet
 The shawls of the North-East
 The Rajasthani story-box
 The Rajasthani Carpets narrativizing the folklore
 Madhubani art
 Narrativizing through dastangoi, kobirlorai, dance mudras , yatras
and performative arts
 The oral history of tribes in Naga houses, cultural specificity in
adivasi houses, in different ways, depending on space (region)
 Orality through mime, dance, through rites, rituals and festivals, eg.,
Cham, Chorten, shamanistic rituals (in Tibet, Sikkim belt) , cultural festivals in
various regions, where syncreticism is an obvious reality, through travelling
cultures as texts and intertextuality through orality and natural processes of
assimilation and change.
 Kathasaritsagar, Betal tales, Puranas, Hatim Tai, Arabian Nights , -
the process of weaving and stitching motifs in an ever expanding blanket (kantha/
katha) of tales.
 The graphic narratives of myths or folklore.
It is not possible to discuss all of these translations of cultures through
narrative explorations, within the space of one essay, as each could be separate
areas of research. However, I would attempt to discuss briefly a few. The

patachitras of Orissa and Bengal, the tribal art on the walls of the mud houses in
different part of India, the traditional thangka scrolls, the engravings of folk fables
on the rocks of the ancient temples in South India, the temple architecture as visual
representations of a cultural memory and dialectical history require literacy for
translating them into a historical and/or designer narratives through pictorial
representation. While the designer narratives could be subject to multifarious
translations and interpretations creating a carnival of point of views and a body of
dialectical new historicism, they embody the message (s) of a time envisioned and
the attempt to trap it or codify the semiotic in the written word. With the change of
times, and that of a dying art, the folk tales in Rajasthan sung to the
accompaniment of folk instruments of the place, find re-presentation through
carpets which make way for a rich tourist industry. The Baluchori sarees in Bengal
too use designer motifs from Hindu epics and myths. Similarly, the motifs in the
shawls in Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram codify designer narratives, which need
to be decoded to understand the life and living of the tribes in those places and
their animistic faith.
The various traditional festivals following the local calendars like the
Tibetan calendar or the Vikram Samvat calendar codify the “mythos” or the
“mithas”, directly contradicting the “itihaas” or the Gregorian calendar. That is
also a case of the symbolic codifying the semiotic processes of orality through the
festivals, like sarul in Jharkhand, cham, chorten, Bhamchu in Sikkim, and so on.
Each of these festivals through dance, song, use of mask, rituals and customs relate
to man’s belief in primal forces in Nature and the attempt by the “pre-literate”
culture to understand and interpret the same, through mythical archetypes of gods
and goddesses. They speak of orality in time rapture, breaking the narcissistic
Historical gaze. These narratives confront us with several questions which Stiegler
raises in Technics and Time, 2 ( 16)
What is history of gazes, what are their stages, what is the first mirror? …
These questions must be confronted in the name of the image itself, as the
constituting of the imago across those reflections comprising the techniques of
imagery: paintings, songs, narratives, writings, photographs, cinematography,
videography, television, numeric and analogo-numeric images – and to guide the
modalities of identification and dissociation of these gazes “subject”. ..”
Mapping time cycles through oral cultural traditions
Time for official purposes is Gregorian, but time for connecting to one’s
roots is indigenous. So, in India, the calendar which is related to rites, rituals,
festivals and myths is the Vikram Samvat, generally built around the lunar
calendar. The grand narratives of history would be documented in the Gregorian
Time, but the mythos or “mithas” would contribute to the dialectical Time.
Agyeya’s Samvatsar lectures, “Smriti aur Kaal” and “Smriti aur Desh” in
Smriticchanda take up the category of time and space, and “together they subvert
the monolithic centre of power represented by imperial epistemologies.” (Jain
2006: 40). The measurement of time depends on various cultural traditions.
Agyeya questions the singularity and certainty of Time in Gregorian paradigm, and
argues for the simultaneity of multiple frameworks, in a similar manner Indranath
Choudhury in his essay “Where Mirrors are Windows” (1989) argues for manifold
possible narrative re-compositions within a “simultaneous order”. Further Agyeya
compares the Gregorian calendar with that of the Vikram Samvat. If we follow the
Vikram Samvat, India was on the threshold of the twenty first century in 1942 and
there is a difference of fifty-seven years between these calendars. The imposition
of the Gregorian calendar has necessitated the dividing lines between the pre-
historical and the historical, the puranaand itihasa. Jasbir Jain in her very
perceptive and ground breaking essay on Agyeya, points out,
If we shift our history by fifty-seven years which VikramSamvat provides
us, our perspective would shift; and the time-lag theory would go for a toss.
The fact s which cramp our thinking are the idea of linearity, of an all-powerful
notion of universality, epistemological frameworks and the concept of progress,
each one of them being overloaded by political power. The challenge to this
comes from diversity, cyclic time and difference. It also comes from being
located in a different, more immediate perspective and through the presence
of our cultural memories. (Ibid 41)
While discussing the second essay “Smriti aur Desh” (“Memory and
Space”), Jain also points out the aspect of “time reversals”, where we do not live in
time, rather ‘time lives in us’. This problematizes the definition of Time, (which
Joyce calls “Ein’s time” or relative time), and its connection with narrative and
language of representation. If memory defines personal identity and language itself
becomes the circumference of memory, to agree with Jain here, it contains within it
the Wittgensteinian belief ‘that the limits of one’s language are the limits of one’s
world.’ (Ibid 42)It also echoes George Steiner’s contention in “The Language
Animal”, which constructs the relationship between language, memory and
knowledge. What Wittgenstein and Steiner are trying to argue comes very close to
Agyeya’s conception of time with reference to India. Memory is a chain of
signifiers and signifieds in a continuous flow of creative cycles providing us with
the “cognizance of time, history, literature and even the nature of reality”. This
brings us to consider space-time relationship. The myth of Vyasa narrating the
Mahabharata and Ganesha penning it down could serve as a fine example of time
in spatial dimension(s) of futuristic memory, in the instant of “present”. It
undercuts any linear perception and attributes to “simultaneity of perception”, or

“cosmic perception”, or what in Steiglerian terms would be “cinematographic
perception” of Time. To come back to what this has to do with orality and cultural
space among various others, we could take up the phenomenological philosophical
content in the Kalachakra festivals with their syncretic variations and added on
flavours of imagination of the individual artist. One such example of a thangka is
the one on the wall of the Tibetan Library in Namgyal Institute of Tibetology,
Sikkim or to be found in Tibetan Buddhist homes. This thangka could possibly
serve to answer the rhetorical questions and illustrate the answers which Jain posits
in her essay, we have been discussing so far: “. .. What phenomenological
processes are at work in order to apprehend time? … What form do we have for
space? … The awareness of expanding space can be experienced, but how do we
articulate or express it?” (44)
This is a protective thangka depicting the ‘Wheel of Life’, which is to ward

of an evil eye and to usher in prosperity. The central figure of the thangka depicts a
fierce manifestation of Manjusri (who could be compared to Matangi in Hindu
mythology and comes somewhat close to Diana in her masculinity in Greek
mythology) or the masculine-feminine principle of human consciousness) as the
universal tortoise in its ventral position. The god with a feminine name is
surrounded by the flames of protection, and within the flames at the central point
one finds the numerical signs of the nine influencing deities or “Nine Mewas”.
Surrounding these dieties are the four cosmic manifestations of wood (tree as the
sign), fire (the flames at the tortoise’s head), Iron (sword as the sign), water (the
blue at the base), earth (the four squares at the corners) and the twelve animal
manifestations of the twelve offering goddesses representing both the twelve
months and the twelve-year cycle. These offering deities are surrounded by the
sign of the eight Trigram deities, who are surrounded by their four favourable and
four unfavourable signs. The talisman of the Kalachakra deity is at the upper left
corner, immediately below the sun, and the talisman of Padmasambhava, at the left
corner, right below the moon. From left to right are the icons of Avalokiteshvara,
Manjusri, and Vajrapani. The long signs at the right and left sides of the tortoise
are the promissory signatures of the malignant deities of the six worlds, renouncing
their evil powers. At the side, the arches of the tortoise’s circumference are the
signs of the seven days of a week, and Rahu is signified as the two wheel talismans
of Nag-rtis, or the astrology of Directness.
Each of the icons, the designitself, have definite measurements, and intricate
geometrical calculations. At the same time, they juxtapose the myth of the turning
wheel with that of the cyclical Time and its manifold perceptions through
phenomenological representation of the Tantric Buddhist philosophy. The tortoise
holds within it the ruthless nature of Time and space in cosmic dimensions through
the art of concrete symbols or signs. They render a cultural narrative through
painting, which follows the oral tradition of the mythical belief of the tortoise and
the cosmic image, rendering a simultaneity of perception (s) of otherness(s) of
reality.
Conclusion
Redefining Orality in the age of Technology and its limitations along
with desirability
Bernard Stiegler problematizes the issue of memory, its preservation in the
age of technology in his essay, “The Orthographic Age” (2009), in a manner which
does not allow us for a straight forward solution to technology’s desirability or

non-desirability. If we consider the preservation of Indian classical music through
electronically produced sounds, there is definitely an apparent discrepancy
between the real “shruti” and the artificial one. The keyboard can never make up
for the sound of stringed instruments like the sitar, veena, sarode, violin or folk
instruments like pahari sarangi, madaal, susira. Keyboard fails to evoke the
essence of the music produced through the instruments made from the ingredients
in Nature, say wood for the tumba, gourd for the sitar, the horse’s tail for the bow
of the violin, deer skin for the damphu, etc.
The idea of “nada” (sound of the Bramha from the sacral chakra), related to
“dhwani” (audible to others) suffers the loss of intensity and the connection
between music, meditation and spirituality too is lost. Each of the Indian ragas in
Indian classical music have different semitones (shrutis of the note), which can
never be documented in a notation. The intricacies of mood and aesthetic contours
would be absolutely flattened rendering a flawed “shruti”. Indian classical music
cannot be passed on in any other form than orality. The relationship between the
Guru and shishya in the Indian context is a sacred one. It is not a sense of
camaraderie in the western sensibility, rather it is one based on love and regard, in
the intensity where the teacher is not just a “human resource”, but the beloved, so
beautifully expressed by Amir Khusro in his kawaali song dedicated to his Guru
NizamuddinAulia in “Cchhap tilak sab cchini re/ Mos-e nainamilaike …” . Here
“shruti” and “smriti” merge together in Sufi love to create “dhwani”, where the
signifier and the signified however share an intellectual and romantic union
opening space(s) for cherished creativity in resplendent colours of aesthetic
(sacred) imaginary. Such is also the relationship between the oral traditions of
mantra whispered into the ear of the disciple in Shamanistic traditions, Buddhist,
Sufi and Hindu spiritual traditions. What is sacred requires a semiotic communion,
between the signifier and the signified or the Guru and the Shisya, along with the
oral communication from mouth to ear. Preservation, creativity and expansion
work simultaneously here as explained earlier in the essay. One of the best
examples of this phenomenon in western classical music is the scene in Amadeus,
where Mozart in his death bed at one point of time communicates semiotically the
notes which Salieri jots down in notations. So, for the accurate recit, there has to
be accurate “dhwani” created in the mind of the receiver. Say, just as Vyas did not
probably always speak but connected mentally with Ganeshato receive and render
images, sounds and colours of a future vision to betranscribed and translated into a
recit.
However, scientific techniques for purposes of archiving are necessary for
the preservation of myths and history. There is a chance of their getting lost and
distorted through time in the process of globalization, simulation and what is
accepted as popular culture in the name of fusion brands of music, food, clothes,
beliefs etc. Both tradition and individual talent which T.S. Eliot writes about and
Tagore insists on, as the ideals of literacy and education, allow for preservation
without a deadlock. Cultural exclusivism leads to its death in the long run; the flow
of creativity through patches of otherness needs a synchronization to re-define
aesthetics of the new text. In that case, we are prompted to question the desirability
of artificial intelligence. Clinical memory is a fixity, it remains as a record of a
certain time and history, not as a dead repository but as a route to a past and
orality. Also, the graphic dimension of folk and oral narratives through
technological revolution open up a new space for creativity which matches with
the flow of time, and the requirements of the receptivity of the x and y generations.
To explain further the role of artificial intelligence and orality, ‘Mass Effect’, a
very popular sci fi game could be cited. In this game through certain simple
mathematical calculations and use of reasoning faculty, the story could have
numerous endings. Also, the fact remains that these virtual world fictions are
actually made by involving kids who are passionate computer explorers, across the
globe, to create patches of their versions of the turn of the story. These are
ultimately knit together by the games company in US to produce the final version,
which as I referred to earlier could also have multiple endings. These games
undoubtedly entrap the kid and adult alike from the real world to a make-believe
virtual world. They could be questioned based on desirability, its limitations and
harmful effects. However, it is time to ponder and question ourselves, whether in
grandmother’s tales, the objective was any different? In such cases, to the best of
my belief, literacy using artificial intelligence intelligently for preservation and its
reception in the contemporary society, probes new dimensions of creativity with
the material of the oral traditions as its “index”. This could be an exciting and
promising field of narrative exploration and translation of fantasy.
*This paper was presented at a Sahitya Akademi Seminar in the Department
of Nepali, Sikkim University, in 2016.
Notes (literary texts)
1. In Ramkumar Mukherjee’s Dove or a Man. transl. by Jayita Sengupta. New
Delhi: LiFi Publications, 2016.
2. In Short stories by Women from Bangladesh, Edited by Firdous Azim and

Niaz Zaman, Saqi Books, 2005. pp. 253-273
References
 Barthes, Roland, “Myth Today”. Mythologies. Trans. Jonathan Cape.
New York: Noonday Press, 1972, pp.109-121.
 Choudhury, Indranath. “Myth, Orality and Folklore in World

Literature with special reference to Tagore”.
http://www.indranathchoudhuri.com/Old%20Articles/13.pdf. Last
accessed on on 30.09.2016.
 Jasbir Jain. “Resisting the Empire”. Beyond Postcolonialism: dreams
and realities of a nation. Jaipur: Rawat, 2006, pp19-47.
 Ong, Walter. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word.
London & New York, Routledge, 1982.
 Ramanujan, A.K. “Where Mirrors are Windows”: Towards an
Anthology of Reflections. History of Religions, Vol. 28, No 3,
Chicago University Press, February, 1989.
 Stiegler, Bernard. Technics and Time, 2. California: Stanford
University Press, 2009.
 Vatsayayan, Kapila. “Pluralism and Diversity in South Asia” , a
presentation at SACEPS World Conference, on South Asia:
Democracy, Sustainable Deveopment and Peace, New Delhi, 2011.
Tracing the History and Evolution of Pala

Umesh Patra
Abstract
Pala is a unique folk theatre of Odisha. It is a syncretic art form which
assimilates dance, drama, music, and oratory. It is also viewed as a communion of
Hindu and Muslim faiths, and at the same time as an assimilation of various Hindu
sects. In this paper, I endeavor to give a seemingly coherent shape to the bits and
pieces I have gathered from my interviews of eminent Pala singers, study of extant
books on Pala, the Odia translation of Kabikarna’s Sholapala, observation of
recorded Pala videos and, of course, the enjoyment of live Pala performances. In
my quixotic attempt to trace its history, I do not fathom to chaff facts from fiction
partly due to due to my conviction that in the distant horizon of past, facts and
fiction commingle. I also offer an analysis of the present incarnation of Pala and
its gradual evolution. This paper also analyzes the practical impediments Pala
singers are facing today in their battle for survival.
Key Words: Pala, Pali, Satya-pir, Sutradhar, Vidushaka
1 Introduction
Every year during the festival of Sarala Puja, a makeshift platform is
erected in the precincts of Sarala temple in sector-6 in Rourkela. A performance
begins at around nine o’clock in the night and continues till dawn for consecutively
four nights. Many nights I have spent in the enjoyment of these nocturnal
performances called Pala with singing, dancing, oratory and raucous buffoonery.
They have left an indelible impression on me and compelled me to engage in a
formal research. Like most cultural artifacts, Pala too has contending and
overlapping theories of origin and evolution. In Assam, Bengal and Odisha, the
term Pala has more or less the same signified as a musical folk theatre. There have
been debates whether Odia Pala is a folk or a classical art; it’s born in Hindu
culture or as a communion of Hindu and Islamic faiths; it’s a religious affair or a
secular theatre. However, it is undisputed that
Odia Pala is the vehicle of the lived experience of Odia life which is a
confluence of both Aryan and Dravidian cultures. Like the Odia deity Jagannath,
Odia recipe Dalma, Pala too is a syncretic art, a convergence of many faiths and
traditions.
2 Origin of Pala
2.1 Pala = Pao + Lao/ Paa + Allah
Mohammed Yamin (2009), in his book Impact of Islam on Orissan Culture,
maintains that Pala “derived its origin from Hindu-Muslim unity” (p. vi). Pala has
been considered as a form of syncretic worship of a hybrid deity called Satya-pir. It
is also believed that Pala is a manifestation of Din-i-Illahi, a religion propounded
by Akbar which assimilates the merits of various religions. Often a tale is heard
that in a religious congregation, the Hindus offered the prasad (consecrated food)
to the Muslims saying Pao (get it). The Muslims said Lao (bring it). The frequent
utterance of Pao and Lao led to the coinage of the word Pala. It is also believed
that Pala is a portmanteau word made of Paa (receive) and Allah.
2.2 Pala = Pathya + Lasya
As Pathya means literature and Lasya connotes dance, drama and music,
Pala is conceived to be named so as it is a combination of all these elements. Pala
Gayaka (singer) quotes from a variegated source of literature ranging from
Sanskrit, Odia, Bengali, Hindi, Telegu, English and others. The Pala performers
link metaphors from gastronomy to astronomy for a comic and elaborate rendition
of their tales. At the same time they narrate by means of enactment, music and
stylized dance.
2.3 From Panchali
Panchali is made of two words: Pancha (five) + ali (congregation). Pala
often begins with this versed dedicated to five deities:
Gane Narayane Rudre Ambike Bhaskare Tatha
Each deity had a cult of worshippers which vied for supremacy against each
other. They were called Gouna (worshippers of Ganesh), Vaishnava (worshippers
of Narayana or Vishnnu), Roudra (from Rudra), Shakta (from Shakti or Ambika),
and Soura (worshippers of the Sun god). As Pala assimilates the worship of all
these five deities, it might have been derived from the word ‘Panchali’.
2.4 From Parjyaya

Initially Pala was conducted like episodes where one Gayaka would leave a
riddle to test the next singer. Solving it would prove the acumen of the next
Gayaka who, at the end of his turn, would ask another riddle for his competitor.
Pala continued episodically for days together and the one adjudged the best would
be awarded by the patron. The Sanskrit word ‘Parjyaya’ which means episode is
therefore taken to be source word of Pala.
2.5 From Pali
Dhiren Dash (1984) maintains that “The word Pala has been derived from
the word Pali” (p. 52). The term “Pali” came to connote a language since the 6 th
and 7th century A.D. prior to which it used to mean the original Buddhist texts and
therefore was distinguished from the Buddhist commentaries, called the Attakatha.
Dash (1984), therefore, finds a cousin of the Odia Pala in the Kathakali dance of
Kerala which is the enactment of Attakatha.
“Pali” is defined as “Palyate iti pali”—that which saves or sustains is Pali.

As the Buddhist doctrines sought to sustain the ethical values among citizens, their
language was termed Pali (Dash, 1984. p. 77). Pali was also regarded as the ancient
language of Kalinga or Odisha. Buddhist monks used to spread their doctrine by
means of singing, dancing and elaborating on the esoteric slokas (verses) among
the masses in the very language of the masses. Such was the earliest form of Pala.
It continued till the invasion of Kalinga by Ashok. When Ashok embraced
Buddhism, he eschewed from revelry and demanded moderation in all aspects in
his kingdom. It had a lasting impact upon Pala and it became narration-centric.
Later when Kharavela ascended the throne, the kingdom was bustling with theatre,
music and dance. Pala regained its lost theatrical grandeur, yet the scholarship of
the Gayaka remained the most significant component.
Gradually tantric practices entered Buddhism and led to its decline. Various
deities of erstwhile Sanatan traditions gained prominence again and entered into
Buddhist tantric practices. In 4th century AD, assimilation was attempted of five
deities. Satyanarayana became a representative of the union of these five sects. His
glory was narrated in Sanskrit and was explained to the masses in Prakrit. The
singers sang these religious sagas with entertaining anecdotes in plain vernacular.
With gradual rise of Odia as an independent language, Pala was performed
in Odia. With the Muslim occupation of Odisha an adjustment was required again.
Therefore Satyanarayana became Satya-pir. Kabikarna wrote sixteen Palas
narrating the glory of Satya-pir in a mixed language of Odia, Bengali and Parsi.
Henceforth, Pala became a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity.
2.6 A Manifestation of Gathagan
Niranjan Panda (1986) traces the origin of Pala further back and considers it
as a predecessor of Nataka. He claims that Pala owes its origin to Gathagaan
(singing narratives) tradition in the Vedic period. Gathas were sung on the
occasions such as the coronation of kings, Swayamvara of princesses, name-giving

ceremonies of children and the like. The literature in the Vedic period is replete
with instances of such singing traditions. Laba and Kusha, sing the entire
Ramayana in Rama’s court. The child Nachiketa sings the Vedas at the door of
Yamraj.
Later the singing of these tales became confined to the royal court where
erudite scholars would employ rhetorical devices like pun, irony, metaphor, double
entendres, extempore poetry, allegories. The royal public would derive pleasure by
working out these riddle-like verses. The Gatha singers also had the freedom to
quote other poets to vindicate their arguments and to make the performance
interesting. They also provided witty answers to questions posed by courtiers. The
kings and patrons would tolerate their sarcasm and savor their performances. Of
special interest was the rivalry between two teams of singers.
This tradition was not so popular among the masses which derived simple
pleasures by watching enactment of the lives of saints in form of Natakas.
Gradually, Gathagaan might have come to the streets from the royal courts being
inspired by the popularity of Natakas. Pala, Panda (1986) claims, is the result of
the entrance of the Gathagaan tradition among the masses. The musical elements
in Gatha later gave rise to Leela and Suanga performance in Odisha. In a Nataka,
the preamble is set by the discussion between Nata and Nati. Similarly in Pala, the
Gayaka would converse with the Palias regarding the tale to be narrated. He or she
would also invoke the blessings of God and seek their prosperity.
3 Satya-pir and Pala

Satyanarayana or Satya-pir is the presiding deity of Pala. Satyanarayana is a
Hindu deity mentioned in the Skandha Purana in Reva Khanda in four chapters.
Here I briefly mention the account of Satyanarayana as narrated in the book

Odisara Pala (Panda & Dash, 1986. p. 18-22).
In the first chapter of Skandha Purana, it is depicted that Satyanarayana, in
guise of an old Brahmin, teaches the rituals of his worship to a poor Brahmin in
Kashi. As the Brahmin performs the rituals, he is blessed by Satyanarayana and
becomes prosperous. According to the second chapter, the aforementioned
Brahmin offers the prasad (consecrated food) of the worship to a poor wood-cutter
and advises him to worship the deity himself. The wood-cutter does as told and
becomes prosperous. The third chapter narrates the tale of a childless Sadhava
(maritime trader) who vows to worship Satyanarayana if he gets a child.
Subsequently, his wife begets a daughter and reminds him of his vow. The
Sadhava delays the worship and wishes to perform it when his daughter gets
married. When he fails to perform it for the second time, his family encounters a
series of hardships eventually resolved as the Sadhava worships the deity. In this
story too, Satyanarayana appears as an old Brahmin. In the fourth chapter, an
arrogant king ignores the worship of Satyanarayana and suffers the loss of his
kingdom and children. He worships Satyanarayana after the latter bids him, in the
guise of an old Brahmin. As he does so, he regains his lost wealth.
The story of Satyanarayana falls under the common rubric of Puranas which
promulgate the cult of one god or the other and thrive on the fear and faith of
believers. The cult of goddess Santoshi worshipped on Fridays, Goddess
Khudurukuni worshipped by maidens in rural Odisha in the month of August, Lord
Shani worshipped on Tuesday are but a few of the countless examples of such
cults. The story of Satya-pir is also modeled in this structure.
When Odisha was captured by the Muslims, the fear of persecution led to
the creation of Satya-pir, a hybrid deity born out of the synthesis of Hindu
Satyanarayana and Musilim Pir. This new god needed a birth story. Here is one of
the stories of the birth of Satya-pir.
Peerjada, the King of Macau had a daughter named Sahjadi. The girl once
went to a pond to bathe with her friends and was enchanted by an extra-ordinary
lotus flower. Her friends brought the flower to the princess who conceived a child
just by smelling it. The king came to know of her pregnancy and was determined
to sentence her to death, but changed his mind by the advice of his minister. The
princess was imprisoned. In the prison, Satya-pir took birth and told her that he is
born to save the world, and vanished. There were rumors that the princess gave
birth to a child and ate it. Subsequently, the king left his daughter in the forest to be
eaten by predators. Satya-pir asked Viswakarma to create a Palace in the jungle for
his mother. After some days, two tigers created turbulence in the kingdom of
Peerjada. The king arrived to confront the two. The tigers ran to the jungle near the
residence of the princess. The king saw the palace and assumed that the princess
has earned the wealth by immoral means. He attempted to kill the princess but
Satya-pir appeared and sought to kill the king himself. However, he relented at the
behest of his mother. He asked the king to arrange for the worship of Satya-pir for
the wellbeing of the world.
The tale of Satya-pir tale was proliferated thus. Various stories were written
related to the birth and miracles of Satya-pir. The most prominent of those are the
Sholapalas (sixteen Palas) by Kabikarna. As the poet calls these tales Palas, it’s
logical to assume that Pala existed as an established genre before the composition
of Sholapala. Like the hybrid god, the language of the composition was a mixture
of Odia, Bengali and Parsi. Some instances are:
Ami sehi devata alekha nirakara
Swarga martya rasatale karani amara
Jagannath rupe ami Odisha re aar
Hindu Musalman sabu kari ekakar…

Dariyate darubrahma rupeta bhasena
Padma fula rupa haia satyanarayana (Qtd in Panda & Das, 1986. p. 25)
I am that deity beyond description and shape

My abode is the Swarga, Martya and Rasatala
I reside in Odisha in form of Jagannath and
I unite both Hindu and Muslim
I floated in the ocean in form of the sacred log
I am Satyanarayana in form of a Lotus (my translation)
Kabikarna’s Palas were permeated with the belief in the equality of both
faiths. Jagannath was a constant trope for the unification of various faiths in
Odisha. Prabhat Mukherjee (1981) says, “every religious movement, which
flooded in Orissa at a certain period of history, established its sway in the temple-
precincts of Jagannath; and when the flood subsided, it had left water-marks within
the temple-precincts” (p. 1). No wonder that Satya-pir has often been compared to
Jagannath as well. Another line from the Sholapala runs like this:
Alekher mahima ke bolte pari,
Turk take Khoda kole, Hindu bole Hari (Arun Panda, 2013)
-How to relate the glory of Alekh?

Turk calls him Khoda and Hindu calls Hari. (my translation)
The worship of Satya-pir usually ended with singing of songs accompanied
by Mridangam and cymbals. This has led many to believe that what we call Pala
today is just the gradual metamorphosis of Satyanarayana worship. Niranjan Panda
(1986) cogently argues that Satyanarayana has been worshipped in various parts of
the country. Yet, nowhere else an art form has emerged with such a subtle
confluence of literary and theatrical traditions. Secondly, while Satyanarana

worship is strictly a religious affair concerned with encomium of the deity, Pala
discusses various gods and goddesses. Thirdly, the narrative in Pala is not confined
to religious mythologies alone, but dwells chiefly on the larger panorama of human
life. He asserts that Pala and Satyanarayana worship are two different traditions.
He considers Pala to be an original Odia art form which assimilated the worship of
Satyanarayana as its presiding deity, but existed much before it. After the British
occupied Odisha, the fear or Muslims disappeared and thus Satya-pir receded to
the background. He just remained the presiding deity of the Pala, but gave way to
major Hindu myths for the content.
4 Pala: A Critique
In Bengal Palagaan is a generic term “covering a wide range of oral
narrative, music and theatrical traditions” (Lal, 2004. p. 330). In Assam, Pala-
Bhaona is an assemblage of Jatra, Oja-pali and Ankia bhaona traditions in Assam.
It begins with a prayer to Lord Ganesha followed by the advent of Viveka, a unique
character of Assamese Pala usually essayed by a young girl. Viveka announces the
entry and exit of principal characters on stage, converses with both the audience
and characters, and performs stylized dance. Pala-Bhaona uses costume, stage
design and a greenroom. It uses a variety of traditional and modern musical
instruments such as khola, tala, harmonium, tabla, flute, thamak, ektara, cassio and
others. The actors wait for their turn in the green room and appear on the stage
with the cue from Viveka. As the entire dialogue is in verse form, it can also be
called a Giti Natya (verse play) (Goswami, 2009).
By Pala, I refer to the Thia Pala (Standing Pala) performed is Odisha by
usually five to sex performers. When two Pala teams engage in a war of wit, it is
called Badi Pala (Competing Pala). There is also a variant called Baithaki Pala
(Sitting Pala) which is just the recitation of the Odia translation of Sholapala
depicting the glory of Lord Satya-pir occasionally accompanied by cymbals and
Mridangam. There is no element of dramatization involved here.
In “Thia Pala” (called simply “Pala”), we see an astounding synthesis of
singing, dancing, acting, chanting, oratory and literature. The performers are: the
Gayaka (main singer and Sutradhar); the Badaka (the Mridangam player); and the
four Palias who sing, dance and play the brass cymbal. The Palias are: the
Sripalia, the leader of the chanting group; the Vidushaka (the clown); the fellow
Palia who has the most beautiful voice for songs and lyrics; the dancing Palia who
leads the dance duets or group dances; and the Palia who performs female roles.
Pala begins with the chanting by Palias with the accompaniment of
Mridangam and cymbals. It is followed by the ceremonial entrance of the Gayaka
who pays obeisance to the deities and the audience, and wishes their wellbeing.
This ritualistic worship of deities in the beginning of performances is to be
observed in various classical and folk theatres which have their origin in the
Purvaranga of the Natyashastra. In Pala, this is known as Mangalacharana which
has two parts. In Namaskaratmaka Mangalacharana, the Gayaka pays homage to
all the audience, the organizers, the deities and everyone concerned with the
performance by means of an elaborate recitation of verses. Then in Asirvadatmaka
Mangalacharana, the Gayaka wishes their well being in similar fashion. After
spending an hour on the preliminaries, the Gayaka delves into the main narrative
either pre-conceived by him or suggested by the audience members.
While narrating a tale, let’s say Satyabadi Harischandra, the Gayaka
assumes the role of Harischandra and the Palias become the subsidiary characters.
There are constant role-changes and role-reversals. The acting is also interrupted
by elucidation of specific verses, songs and dances. Acting in Pala is gestural.
Gestures are symbolic. Coomaraswamy rightly translates Abhinaya Darpana as the
Mirror of Gesture. As a blend of both classical and folk theatre, the gestures of
Pala do not strictly adhere to the classical rules; yet they show a marked lineage
from them. For example, to depict a river, the Gayaka would move both his palms
in form of waves. To suggest Krishna, the Gayaka would stand in the traditional
Krishna pose with his fingers on lips resembling the flute. At a gesture from the
singer, the Badaka would start playing his Mridangam, and the Palias would start
singing in accompaniment to the beating of cymbals. When the beat riches its
crescendo, suddenly the Gayaka would perform a stylized jump and the music will
stop with a bang. The more talented a Gayaka is the more gestural are his actions.
Pala is a minimalistic theatre. It makes no use of stage craft or role-specific
costumes. The stage is an empty one without curtains or background surrounded by
audience on all sides. In rural areas, Pala is often performed on a demarcated
parallel ground set apart only by matting on the floor. Such a stage requires a
performance addressed to people in all directions. The dancer often orbits the stage
and the Gayaka takes a full circle to address everyone. The only prop used by the
performers is the Chamara or flywhisk which can be compared to the Danda
(stick) in Odia Dandanata or the zarzara mentioned in the Natyashastra. The
performers make extensive use of the Chamara. For example, in the Pala
Satyabadi Harischandra, the king would hand over the Chamara as a symbol of
the crown. In one scene it will become the celestial bow of Rama, in another the
trident of Shiva.
The interaction between the erudite Gayaka or the Sutradhar and the
Vidushaka often played by Sripalia achieves the blend of the sacred and the
profane, the human and the divine. Sutradhar and Vidushaka are two traditional
figures of Indian theatre. In the words of Kapila Vatsayan (1980):
Indeed the Sutradhara is used as an important device for interlinking phases
and as chorus; the Vidushaka is used to connect two dimensions of time, the past
and the present. The world of god and men is brought together by them, with
freedom and sharp innovative skills which lends the air for earthly concern for the
immediate life around. (p. 13)
The Gayaka is the leader of the troupe, the principal actor and director. He is
also a virtuoso dancer and singer. The Gayaka is a meticulous researcher as well.
His brain is the store house of various slokas from myriad Puranas, Upanishads,
Alankara Shastras, literature and even film songs. He leads the chorus singing and
has a knack of extempore poetry. He is solemn and immensely patient. Vidushaka
is a disobedient disciple, an unruly child, who takes delights in the amoral
enjoyment of mundane pleasures. He believes in what appears to eyes. The Odia
proverb says about the ideal disciple:
Jaha na dekhiba beni nayane
Parate na jiba guru bachane
What you haven’t seen with the eyes
Do not believe even if Guru testifies (my translation)
The Gayaka and the Vidushaka are complementary to each other. By
misinterpreting verses, asking imbecile questions, mimicking people and manners,
referring to contemporary reality, he does not dissuade but compels the Gayaka to
elaborate on complex issues. He treats gods and legendary figures like persons on
the street. If the Gayaka speaks the spiritual truth, Vidushaka interprets it in the
pragmatic realm. For instance, in one Pala, a pleased audience member offered a
garland with a currency note stuck on it. The Gayaka blessed the patron with his
Chamara, and prayed for his well-being to the almighty in all solemnity. But, the
Vidushaka cheekily uttered, “What’s the use of buying the garland? We would love
to take the extra cash instead of the garland”. He was immediately silenced by the
Gayaka but not before cracking a laughter riot among the audience. A garland as a
badge of honor holds no value to the practical Vidushaka who has to board the
train in a crowded general compartment after the show is over.
One of the most alluring features of Pala is what people call rasabhanga or
the dissolution of rasas. When Gayaka, in the role of Harischandra, would ask his
parting wife of the last gift she needs from her husband, the Vidushaka in the role
of his wife would say, “I like to eat dahivada (a street food) of this place, let’s
order a plate”. This utterance would not only transport the audience from the
pathetic to the comic but also from the fiction to the tangible contemporary world.
The crude, irreverent buffoonery of the Vidushaka in the pinnacle of tragic
discourse binds together the sublime and the carnivalesque.
5 Recent Changes and Concerns

Within the span of a century there have been many changes in the
performance of Pala. Till the twentieth century, Pala singers wore the royal attire
with royal Pagadis, earrings and tika on their forehead. Such attire was also
feminine. Being asked the reason for such getup, Jagannath Behera (2014) said that
Pala singers aspired for a union with Krishna who rendered all humans female.
Today, Pala singers choose dhoti and kurta over the flashy costume of lost
monarchy.
While earlier the Pala singers used to delineate only mythological stories,
today historical and semi-mythical stories are also used. The biggest change has
occurred in the very structure of Pala. According to Prasant Nath Sharma (2014),
Pala resembled theatre during 1960 to 1980. After 1980s, it has become more akin
to Prabachana (preaching). Earlier Pala used to be one of the very few forms of
entertainment for the rural folks. Today it finds uneven competition from audio-
visual and digital media. According to Sharma (2014), in order to fit into the
decreasing durations, they are compelled to do away with extraneous use of music,
comedy and ancillary materials. Recently, I watched two Palas of four hours each
solely built on the elucidation of the cult of Jagannath. Bereft of plot, characters
and theatrical conflict, these performances were merely the display of who knows
how much. Today humor is considered redundant and digressive in the intellectual
discussion of Pala. Even though such a practice would require immense
perseverance on the part of the Gayaka, it would eventually be much the poorer.
The last two decades have also seen an upsurge in the popularity of spiritual
gurus in India. In religious congregations called Satsang, acclaimed Gurus are
invited by wealthy patrons to preach to urban followers. The advent of new
satellite channels have but provided new space to these spiritual programs. Apart
from 24/7 spiritual channels, news and entertainment also air many spiritual
programs with an acclaimed preacher. It is no wonder that the poor Pala singer is
lured to minimize theatrical and adopt the spiritual to ensure a better livelihood. If
Pala becomes yet another commodity of this growing spiritual market, it will no
longer retain its artistic dimension.
Due to its synthesis of various traditions, it is difficult to classify Pala into
any one genre like music or theatre or literature. Dhiren Dash (1986) made an
appeal that Pala singers be considered for recognition by both Sahitya Akademy
and Sangeet Nataka Akademi. Till now Jagannath Behera is the only Gayaka to be
awarded by Kendra Sahitya Akademi for his contribution in the field of art. It’s
high time that the labor and art of the practitioners of this ancient art be given due
recognition.
There have been some signs of hope lately. Ravenshaw University, Cuttack
has continually organized Pala competitions where they train and evaluate Pala
troupes and bestow awards. Recently the government of Odisha created awareness
about Polio and Aids among rural people through Pala singers. Some Pala
programs are being aired on television and some are available on YouTube. More
remains to be done of course. A Pala Akademy or workshop at least should be

created to train people this art which can be rendered in many languages. In his
interview, Jagannath Behera (2014) recounted with pride that he performed a Pala
entirely in English in front of President Pratibha Patil for half an hour when he was
awarded the Sahitya Akademy Prize.
References
 Behera, Jagannath. (2014, June 18). Personal Interview.
 Bharata. (1996). The Nāṭyaśāstra English Translation with Critical
Notes. Trans. Adya Rangacharya. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal
Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
 Coomaraswamy, A. & G.K. Duggirala. (1917). The Mirror of
Gesture: Being The Abhinava Darpana of Nandikesvara. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
 Dash, Dhiren. (1984) Pala Itihasa Pala. Bhubaneswar: Iota
Publications,
 Goswami, Tridib Kr. (2009). A Comparative Study of the Pala-Art-
Form of Assam and Orissa. Retrieved from Shodhganga.
 Lal, Anand. (2004). The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre. New
Delhi: Oxford University Press.
 Mu Odia (2014, August 4) Naradanka Bara Vesa - Odia Paala.
[Video File]. Retrived from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulupXuZ4wk
 Mukherjee, Prabhat. (1981) The History of Medieval Vaishnavism in
Orissa. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.
 Panda, Arun. (2014, June 14). Personal Interview.
 Panda, Niranjan & Dhiren Dash. (1986). ODISARA PALA.

Bhubaneswar: Orissa Sahitya Akademi.
 Sahoo, Mihir Ranjan. (2013, August 2) Odia Pala PRAVASA
JAJNA. [Video File]. Retrived from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulupXuZ4wk
 Sahoo, Mihir Ranjan. (2013, August 31) Odia Pala
ASWAMEDHA JAGYAN. [Video File]. Retrived from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNlzfNawkcM
 Sharma, Prasant Nath. (2014, June 14). Personal Interview.
 Vatsyayan, Kapila. (1980). Traditional Indian theatre: Multiple
Streams. New Delhi: National Book Trust.
 Yamin, Mohammed. (2009). Impact of Islam on Orissan Culture.
New Delhi: Readworthy Publications.
Ramayana to Lok Ramayana: an Act of Contemporizing Sacred Texts through

Lok(cal) Practices
Kapil Sagrolikar
The focus of my paper is located on the difference between grand narratives

like Ramayanai and the efforts of little narratives like Jatyavarachya Ovyaii in
making the grand narratives accessible to every individual across India and
contemporizing it. This paper studies Ramayana and its stories dealt in the oral
narrative of Maharashtra women: Jatyavarachya Ovya. In this paper I have taken
some of the stories that are associated with the female characters like Mandodari,
Sita, etc and some of the incidences in order to throw light on the way songsters of
Jatyavarachya Ovya have successfully discussed the status of women depicted in
the Ramayana and to do so how they have localized and contemporized such
narratives through renewing, refining and redefining the Ramayana which are later
on studied as separate version of Ramayana as Lok Ramayana. In order to
substantiate my point I shall put forward the discussion between me and one of the
songsters of Jatyavarachya Ovya and how they have taken the task of transmitting
knowledge of Ramayana and other Indian epic Mahabharataiii among the younger
generation and how they have succeeded doing this. In order to make my
contention explicable I have divided paper in two part: part one deals with the
difference between Valmiki Ramayana and Lok Ramayana and the later part
discusses my conversation with one of the songsters of Jatyavarachya Ovya which
is very significant to trace the necessity and significance of Lok Ramayana in
contemporizing sacred texts like Ramayana, etc.
Part I : Difference between Ramayana and Lok Ramayana

Ramayana though attributed to one sage, has been retold, re-narrated,
written and rewritten in many regional languages of India. Much before its first
composition by Valmiki, stories of Ramayana had been there, contends Devdutt
Patnaik in his book Sita: an Illustrated Retelling of Ramayana, in the form of
Srutis or orally transmitted songs and tales. These Sruti stories transmitted from
one person to another, or from one generation to another have been called Lok
Ramayana. Lok Ramayana had been sidelined after the Valmiki Ramayana due to
Valmiki’s ability to compile all these scattered Sruti stories (of Ramayana) into
one entity giving it the importance as authentic Ramayana. Apart from the
compilation there are other reasons too which had its share in the sidelining of the
traditional Lok Ramayana and bestowing more privileges to Valmiki Ramayana.
The formation of Ramayana did not stop with the compilation. In addition to that
Valmiki held together these stories through the meta narrative into an epic literary
form. He dealt with them with the added celestial, godly, and magic realism
qualities. This and other such attributions like- Valmiki Ramayana’s wide
availability in the written or printed form have made Valmiki Ramayana as the
Ramayana or the authentic Ramayana in essence. On the other hand Lok
Ramayana being merely small scattered stories had been marginalized throughout
history. Even in the medieval and modern times different regional writers and
translators have copied Valmiki Ramayana as authentic one to translate it into
different regional languages for example, Sant Eknath’s Marathi Ramayana
version Bhavarth Ramayana. What Lok Ramayana has lost, Valmiki Ramayana
earned and vice versa.
Though Valmiki Ramayana is regarded as the authentic Ramayana,
redundancy became its major loophole. On the other hand Lok Ramayana had
undergone certain necessary and timely changes and modification in tune with the
needs of the social betterment, kept the sruti stories up-to-date and cast away its
outdated redundancy. Lok Ramayana is composed by masses that incorporate
matters of everyday practices. Here is an instance where an incidence in a farm is
narrated by Marathi women in Jatyavarchya Ovya:
Ravanachya bagamandi vaner he ala bhari
Ravanachya bagamandi vaner he ala bhari
Ghali shepatachi hadi, zade hasdun padi
zade hasdun padi, zade hasdun padi.
Ravanachya bagamandi, Marvati hay bhukela
He tar padlya phalachi, aadnya magto Sitela
He tar padlya phalachi, adnya magto Sitela.
Marvati raja mhane bhuk lagli Sita maye
Marvati raja mhane bhuk lagli Sita maye
Baag vairyacha ahe, padlele phal khay
Baag vairyacha ahe, padlele phal khay.
In the above lines songsters deal with two things: first is the Ramayana
incident of Hanumana going to Lanka, meeting Sita in Asoka Vana, destroying the
trees, and seeking Sita’s permission to eat the fruits. Secondly they transfer this
incidence by contemporizing it through telling the real incident that took place at
their agricultural field where one hungry monkey dropped all the fruit of a tree and
then looked at this woman songster. She thought as if that monkey is seeking her
permission to eat the fruit that fell on the ground. She furthers says that the
permission you are seeking from me is meaningless as she is just a worker at this
agricultural field. To convey this point she says that though you asked me
permission I have no right to say yes because this land belongs to some other
people as Asoka vana belongs to Ravana. In this way she equates Ravana with the
land owner who is her enemy or vairi. This and other such stories have been retold
by the songsters separately. Most of the scenes of the grand narrative Ramayana
have been coloured with local, daily, day-to-day life examples. Without letting the
listeners know that they are becoming a part of grand narrative, songsters through
the little narratives like Jatyavarachya Ovya have put the Ramayana into the hearts
and minds of the listeners. To put it in other words, Lok Ramayana being
ubiquitous, local and channelized through day to day habitual actions has been
nurtured, implanted, transferred and thus contemporized through the mini
narratives like Jatyavarachya Ovya which catered audience by fusing it with local
flavour and daily practiced incidents.
Both Local and Lok are involved in this type of Ramayana which brought it
closer to the hearts and minds of the common people. That is to say the gap
between Valmiki Ramayana and Lok Ramayana has been the split between an
upper class and the lower. Valmiki Ramayana was literary, elite and saksritized
composed for the elite, educated, and well off which had an author or patent to
dealt with the high class people of the society. On the contrary Lok Ramayana was
the outcome of the mass, common, general people who do not own the authorship
and patency and moreover who don’t even mind to transfer the ability to reproduce
the Ramayana stories to the following generation. Thus to cut the long story short,
I would say that it was Lok Ramayana and not the Valmiki Ramayana which has
been into the hearts and minds of the common people and which has been carried
forward throughout history. But the credit is given to the Valmiki Ramayana as the
source of Ramayana stories that are ubiquitously known to every individual. Even
modern electronic media had its share in upholding and assigning the Valmiki
Ramayana as the source of known Ramayana by basing their productions on it.
Lok Ramayana has been refined, redefined and distilled. The following song
does talk about again two things: one Sita’s relationship with Kaikayi and the other
one, songster’s exploitation at her in-law’s house. Songster compares the
Ramayana incident of Kaikayi and Sita’s relationship to her relationship with her
mother-in-law. In both the cases daughters suffer at the hands of their mothers-in-
law. On the one hand songster in the very first two lines deals with the daily
household works that she has to do everyday from dawn to dusk which makes her
to forget on the one hand to pray as “ramram” and on the other hand to please or
serve her husband. So the word “ramram” here stands for both the activities:
praying in the name of ‘ram’ and Sita’s or a wife’s wifely services. Furthermore
songster complains to Ram (on behalf of Sita) or to her own husband of his
ignorance of his mother’s (domestic) violence (words like: ‘marat-jhodat’ or
‘Sitabai rade ticha radna aika’ or ‘dagdachi keli ushi’) on her despite her everyday
hardship. Precisely speaking women of Maharashtra through the medium of Ovya
(un)willingly contemporized and made use of sacred textual characters and
incidences widely in order to compare and resemble those incidences and
characters with their everyday life.
Sakali uthuni mi tar ramram visarli
Asturi janma kamdhandyala guntali.
Ram tujhi Sita Mahadevachi Parvati
Sanyashi basla jodya bigar Maruti.
Sitala sasarvas Ram tula kay kale
Vanachi vanaphale rasrumali ka gale.
Sita sange katha ram vachvito pothi
Kavadchya aade kengahya kan deti.
Sitala sasarvas neli marat jhodat
Sadodyachya panavari geli akshar kadhat.
Sitabai rade ticha radna aika

Hichya sobatni bori vaghuli bayka.
Sitala sasarvas dagdachi keli ushi
Evadhya airanat (aranyat) tula zop ali kasha?
Paus padto mirugh adhi rohinicha
Palna halto bhau aadhi bahinicha.
Sakali uthuni jhadu devacha devhara
Anjanichya poti dev Maruti Kuvara.
Thus this chunk of the Ramayana story has been transferred through
Jatyavarachya Ovya from the elder women folk to the younger. In this and other
songs like this women put stress on two people: Maruti and her children (Lav-
Kush). They confide in Maruti because it was Maruti who came to Sita’s rescue
when she was in trouble. The women too seek a Maruti in their lives to rescue
them from their ordeal. The second part of this paper deals the significance of her
children Luv and Kush in Sita’s life and also in the life of common Hindu woman.
Part II: Why Lok Ramayana and not Ramayana? A Conversation

While conversing with one of the songsters I have come across with an
interesting thing which highlights the Lok Ramayana and its importance in the life
of songsters, how they keep this genre alive through their folksong culture and why
women incorporate the Ramayana stories into their singing. Though Valmiki
Ramayana has overshadowed Lok Ramayana with the facilitation of electronic
media, Lok Ramayana has not been an outdated phenomenon for the common
people. This Lok Ramayana and not any other Ramayana was significant for them.
Because according to her, Lok Ramayana is the known and generally accepted
Ramayana for them which has been transferred to them by their ancestors and it is
their duty to transmit the same knowledge among the younger generation with the
same intensity. In order to pass these sruti Ramayana stories they correlate them
with their daily habitual activities, local practices, etc. she further contended that
the Twenty-First century generation does not know what is Ramayana or
Mahabharata and “Pothi Purana”. Hence she said that it is their duty to impart the
knowledge associated with the Hindu sacred texts like Ramayana, Mahabharata,
etc. to the next generation. And when she was asked about how they do that, her
answer was interesting. She said that they pick small stories and incidences, weave
them along the songs and narrate them to the younger generation. In addition to
that she says that the younger generation get to know the sacred knowledge
playfully (playfully in the sense that they listen to songs and (un)knowingly get the
knowledge imparted).
Following is the song followed by a narration done by the songsters.
Bara varsh zale bai, Kapalala kunku nahi
Kapalala kunku nahi, Bara varsh zale ga bai
Bai nahi, an kapalala kunku nahi.
Sita baicha vanvas, zalaya ga sandobandhi
Sandobandhi, an Rama hote Dhundimandi
Dhundimandi, an Sita hoti Jwani mandhi
Sita hoti Jwani mandhi, an Rama hote Dhundimandi
Dhundimandi, Rama hote Dhundimandi.
Sita baicha vanvas, asa kiti divaaila
asa kiti divaaila, Lahu potalayeila
Lahu yeila an sud ramacha gheil.
asa kiti divaaila, Lahu potalayeila
Lahu ye ga lavhalyacha, Lahu ye ga lavhalyacha.
An Kush bal sita baicha, sita baicha
An Kush bal sita baicha, Sita baicha vanvas, asa kiti divaail.
Sita bai cha vanvas, kukachya dabyapai

Bara varsh zale bai, kapalala kunku nahi
Ek nahi an kapalala kunku nahi
Sita bai kuku leti, jasa gandha tikla
jasa gandha tikla, he tikla an ravan matacha ekla.
Sita bai kuku leti, jas nagelicha pan,
ek pan, kapatya ga ravanane
kapatya ga ravanane, gela kuka vari dhyan
ek dhyan,an gela kuka vari dhyan.
Sita baicha vanvas, asa kiti divaila
Sita bai balatin, tichya balachya jivana
Het van, todi palsacha pan
Het pan, an todi palsache pan
Aronya ga vana madhi, bori babhla halti
Re halte, an sita palna jhokiti
Sita palna jhokiti, lahu ani ankusacha
Ankusacha, sita palna jhokiti.
The story she narrates goes in conjunction with the above song like this-
when Sita was rescued from Ravana, Rama abandons her for her being defiled.
Henceforth she stays in the same Aranya even after the end of fourteen years exile
bestowed upon Rama whom she accompanied. But even during the vanvasa stay
she was spied by Rama and her every act has been reported to Rama. And the later
part of the above song is the description given to Rama where they say that in the
Aranya or forest where Sita is staying, they have heard of two children swinging,
etc. and the beginning part of the song is Sita’s outcry on Rama’s departure leaving
Sita all alone in the forest. In this narration this songster also talks about a
generally accepted Hindu social norm that a woman’s vanvas or exile or suffering
in general does not end unless and until she begets a son. That is the reason why
they (songsters) have special longing to the Lav-Kush and whenever they are
exploited, they either sing songs pleading for Hanumana who is their true friend,
and/or Lav-Kush for they represent the male-children because of whom Sita retains
her previous honour as Rama’s wife. Woman in general through mentioning the
Lav-Kush actually hopes for their better life at least after they beget male-child.
Conclusion
Towards the end of this paper, I would like to say that women in
Maharashtra through their folksong culture, namely, Jatyavarachya Ovya, have
preferred to incorporate Lok Ramayana in order to impart the knowledge present in
the sacred scriptures like Ramayana, Mahabharata and other such sacred
scriptures (in their words “pothi purana”)
The first part demarcates and deliberates between Valmiki Ramayana and
Lok Ramayana and why Lok Ramayana is more significant in the study of
contemporizing the Indian sacred texts like Ramayana. My discussion with the
songster provided enough information to say that songsters use(d) to incorporate
Ramayana stories and impart the knowledge pertaining to the Hindu scriptures and
while doing so they have contemporized these sruti Ramayana stories through the
folk media like Jatyavarachya Ovya.
End note
1
Ramayana is one of the Epics ever composed in India. Ramayana has
many versions but in this paper I am dealing with the authentic one composed by
Valmiki. Here after different characters from this epic will do appear in this paper
like- Sita, Rama, Maruti or Hanumana, Ravana, Mandodari, Lav-Kush and so on.
1
Jatyavarchya Ovya are those songs which are sung on the grind mill during
grinding the grains by the women of the rural Maharashtra. In English it is being
translated either as “Grind mill songs” or “songs of the grind mill”.
1
Mahabharata is the second Epic composed in India by Vyasa. In this paper
I shall be incorporating the name of this epic only when I talk about Indian epic in
general
References
 Ghorpade, Lakshimbai, et al. “Jatyavarachya Ovya”. Recorded by
Waghole Ashok. Naleshwar: Dec 22, 201. Audio.
 Patnaik, Devdutt. Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of Ramayana. New
Delhi: Replika Press. 2013. Print.
Complementary Nature of ‘Oral’ and ‘Written’ Literature: Application of

Ruth Finnegan’s Idea on Maharashtrian Folk Art
Banekar Tushar
Abstract
‘Oral’ literature and ‘written’ literature are always being compared for their
different characteristics. Most of the scholars see these two terms contrary to each
other rather than complementary. Hence, what is not ‘oral’ becomes ‘written’ and
what is not written that becomes ‘oral’. But when we look at such distinctions
several questions arise in our mind- is it as real as it appears? Are these boundaries
concrete? Do they always have to stand against each other? Or is there any other
way or approach to look at these two concepts as complementary to each other?
This paper is an attempt to answer such questions that we need to consider before
we approach to ‘oral’ or ‘written’ literature through two different spectacles with
some layers of prejudices on them. In order to do so, I will make an attempt to go
back to some Maharashtrian Folk arts to see how the boundary between ‘oral’ and
‘written’ has disappeared with the use of some of the concepts from Ruth
Finnegan’s How Oral is Oral Literature.
Key Words: Oral, Written, Art, Media
Let me begin with the definition of the terms. The term ‘literature’ is derived
from the Latin literaturae which means "writings". It is commonly used to
designate fictional and imaginative writings – poetry, prose fiction, and drama
(Abrams 156). Here, the dominance of the word ‘written/writing’ in most of the
definitions of literature must be noticed. Because it indicates literature means
majorly something that is written down or scripted. Though the ‘oral’ is also
accepted as a part of literature, it has always stood on the periphery compared to
‘written’. The University of Cambridge Yale says that “oral literature refers to any
form of verbal art which is transmitted orally or delivered by word of mouth.”
(http://www.oralliterature.org/). Whereas the Encyclopaedia Britannica says
Orality, in other terms oral tradition, refers to a dynamic and highly diverse oral-
aural medium for evolving, storing, and transmitting knowledge, art, and ideas. It
is not surprising that oral literature is sometimes used interchangeably with
folklore.
It has been an unconscious effort to look at ‘oral’ literature through all those
old conventional understanding of the term and that could be a reason Finnegan
expresses his doubt about accepting the contrasting types, i.e. ‘oral’ and ‘written’,
as universal. Because it is always difficult to go with the assumption that one (oral)
is more organic and close to nature, untouched by mechanization, advanced
technology, and mass culture. (he calls this ‘type A’ society), and the other
(written) as literate, which is dominated by the tradition of the written word;
secular and rationalistic; oriented towards achievement and individual
development; highly mechanized, perhaps artificial, and well-developed
technology (he calls this ‘type B’ society).
Ruth Finnegan puts forth an interesting idea that both ‘oral’ and ‘written’
literature may be considered two poles with a continuum between, or as a model to
illuminate reality, it would be more useful if we have a comparative perspective.
There is always a time when the boundaries go narrow or dissolve. Let us look at
some examples...
Lavani 1is a very famous folk art form in Maharashtra. It constitutes the
beautiful combination of traditional song and dance, which is particularly
performed to the enchanting beats of ‘Dholak’, and a drum like instrument. The
1
Lavani is a popular genre of music in Maharashtra. It is a combination of traditional song and dance, which is
particularly performed to the beats of Dholki, a percussion instrument. It is also noted for its powerful rhythm.
dance is performed by attractive women wearing navvari (nine-yard sari). It has

been a major part of entertainment for people. The writers (male/female) hardly
think of Lavani being read by people. They are more careful about the performing
aspect of it. Though it is considered one of the most important folk arts in
Maharashtra, it does not purely and completely belong to ‘oral’. The writers might
never think of their readers but the spectators (target group) and performers. Their
focus is on the end product, i.e. the delivery of Lavani through performance,
because these two are integral elements of each other which can hardly be
separated. The same written script of Lavani is useful in transferring it orally to the
audience, generally, by a female singer. We can take an example of Lavani that is
being used in the movie ‘Natrang2’. Guru Thakur, a lyricist who wrote Lavani
songs for the film, says that it is about the demand or situation for which you write
something and Lavani is no exception to that. Thus, before a writer writes he/she
needs to consider a lot of things such as characters, situation/setting, language,
form, medium etc.
It would be really a pessimistic thinking if we say that the ‘type A’ society is
only one obvious context/setting for oral literature and is in fact its natural context,
because such assumptions gives a deceptive impression of the nature and practice
of oral literary doings. For example different cults of jogata/jogatin 3perform some
religious rituals on different occasions like pooja, mela (or religious occasions) etc.
They dance, sing and/or narrate the story of goddess Yellamma to the crowd and
try to please the goddess so that they can get blessings from her. People always
need not to travel back into the ages in search of such religious or tradition-bound
setting to reach these kinds of performances. In this modern and technological time
it is quite easy to get access to them through different kind of media, such as movie
2
Natarang is a 2010 Indian Marathi film directed by Ravi Jadhav. It is based on 1978 Marathi novel by Dr. Anand
Yadav.
3
A male/female child offered or dedicated to the goddess Yellamma, respectively.
(e.g. Jogwa), local/global cultural performances (http://www.thehindu.com/), on

different occasions such as Mysore Dasara 2014 (http://mysoredasara.gov.in/).
Thus the content remains the same but the setting changes. Therefore, it is
pointless to give unnecessary stress on the naturalness and purity of oral literature.
The time requires us to understand the importance of complementary nature
between the oral and written.
Another example will help us to get more clear idea on the same issue.
Lavani, which used to be a part of entertainment only for soldiers, is being widely
used in different media- movies, cultural programs, schools, ceremonies, marriages
etc., and by different people. These many variations we have got in terms of setting
and time. That homogeneous and hereditary nature of oral art has gone now and it
is widely open for the world.
We have been getting wrong understanding of oral literature as something
coming from some 'uncontaminated' and 'primitive' oral stage of culture. But
change is something that cannot be neglected as it is a law of nature. Most of the
times change is a requirement of the time you live in, or a need. Therefore, we
cannot expect the purity of something to remain untouched or unchanged
throughout the ages, and same applies to oral literature. It is bound to get changed,
improved according to the need and demands of a particular time. For example,
when a woman performs a Lavani in front of a crowd she may change a part or
segment of that Lavani; by repeating or putting stress on a particular word or a
line, taking a long pause to attract the audience with her different
expressions/gestures, having a dialogue with audience etc. and all these things are
generally spontaneous which might not have thought of or planned before while
writing or composing a Lavani. Thus, we should be open to accept such harmless
facts about folk art.
‘Literacy’ is defined in a number of ways, and one of the common

perceptions of it is being able to read and write. The National Literacy Trust,
however, includes reference to speaking and listening in its definition of literacy:
‘We believe literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen well. A literate
person is able to communicate effectively with others and to understand written
information.’ The attribute of literacy, generally, refers to the ability to read and
write to an appropriate level of fluency. It can be noticed that when it comes to
communication most of the people have common perception of language as a
medium, which might be true on the surface level, but it cannot be universally
applied to every part of the world. Does it mean that where language is being not
used or used only in the spoken form there cannot be any literacy? Is it right to tag
them as uneducated or ‘primitive’?
In my opinion primitiveness by and large does not come with the lack of
language but prejudices. Communication can take place through different mediums
such as drawings, paintings, sounds, etc. let us look an example; the Warlis (or
Varlis) is an indigenous tribe (or Adivasis), living in coastal areas of Maharashtra-
Gujarat border and surrounding areas. They are members of one of the wildest
aboriginal tribes in Thana District, who lead a nomadic life. The Warlis speak an
unwritten Varli language which belongs to the southern zone of the Indo-Aryan
languages. The Warli people are famous for their beautiful and unique style of
painting which reflects the close association between human communities and
nature.
The Warlis did not have a written word until recent times and their art was a
way to hand on their culture from one generation to the next. Their drawings
revolve around the traditions of their communities, the tools they use and their
association with nature. They deal with number of themes such as community
dances, the harvest as well as "fields swaying with healthy crops, birds flying in
the sky, group dancing around a person playing the music, dancing peacocks,
women cooking or busy in their other house chores and children playing." Many
people do not know but a Warli person, Jivya Soma Mashe, won the Padmashree
from the Government of India in 2010 in recognition for his contribution towards
the arts of India.
They use a very basic graphic vocabulary for their wall paintings- a circle, a
triangle and a square. It is noticeable that these shapes come from their observation
of nature; the circle representing the sun and the moon, and the triangle derived
from mountains and pointed trees etc. The central motif in these ritual paintings is
surrounded by scenes portraying hunting, fishing, farming, festivals and dances,
trees and animals. The walls are made of a mixture of branches, earth and cow
dung, making a red ochre background for the wall paintings. They use only white,
a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding for their paintings. They
use a bamboo stick as a paintbrush. The wall paintings are done only for special
occasions such as weddings or harvests. They are simple but very expressive
paintings. Therefore, it will not be wrong if we say that Warli art is a sort of
pictorial language which is not less expressive than any other languages (script) as
it is capable of expressing the whole Warli culture, customs and traditions, and
their day to day life. The Warli paintings have always been an illustrative
presentation of a Warli life. Then how can we call such communities ‘primitive’?
They are special, skilled people.
There are several other examples of the interaction between oral and written.
One of the best examples could be ‘drama’. The term comes from a Greek word
meaning ‘action’ or ‘to do/act’. So the primary focus of any drama is it should be
performed or acted. But we should not forget that a playwright has to write down a
play, and while doing it he always has to keep the end in his mind, i.e. performance
on the stage. It happens in a similar fashion, from local pathnatya, a street drama,
to a professional play on a stage. Written cannot be separated from oral here.
In the contemporary world many playwrights write number of plays.
However, not every play gets performed or staged. But it has not hammered this
great genre of literary art, it has evolved in itself and reached to the world in the
form of book. That is why many playwrights have been writing plays to be read by
people. Even on written compositions by 'a professionally skilled author' who
wrote specifically for performance; the ballads, Lavanis, poems etc. also appear in
printed versions designed for literate section of society. Many abhangas (or
devotional songs), ballads, even poems originally stored in written form have been
used in different movies or vice-versa.
Same thing can be observed in case of novels. Novel is such a great genre of
literature that it became the one of the best source of knowledge as well as
entertainment, especially for those who could/do not go out, e.g. women, of their
houses. People could enjoy reading novels happily whenever and wherever they
want. However, the fact cannot be denied that many novels were (and are) being
transformed in another media such as film, or even plays, for example, Natarang,
Jogwa, and so on. Now those who do not like reading can get access to the same
material that is available in written form. The plenty of examples of this kind helps
to bring home that the relation between oral and written forms need not just be one
of parallel and independent coexistence, far less of mutual exclusion, but can easily
exhibit constant and positive interaction.
We need to remember that in various areas of the world mass literacy is still
only a far-off ideal. The situation is one in four young people in poor countries
unable to read a single sentence. India has by far the largest population of illiterate
adults at 287 million, amounting to 37 percent of the global total, a United Nations
report said (The Hindu, 29 Jan, 2014). Thus, with still many illiterate and many
more semi-literates, it is not possible to deny the existence of oral literature, and
that is why it is hardly surprising to encounter the contemporary existence of oral
literary forms. It has been changing, shaping, moulding itself according to need of
time. One cannot simply call oral literature as old, primitive, traditional, etc. It is a
lively part of our so called modern world as well. There are many people who
prefer listening to reading.
In reality, oral forms can rightly well coexist and interact with written ones
and can flourish in cultures characterized by lesser or greater degrees of literacy.
Hence, there is no reason to deny the existence of some oral literary forms in
cultures with high or even universal literacy. For example, something of the same
thing can be said of popular songs or various literary forms on radio, which, even if
composed and transmitted originally in written form, are only fully actualized
through non-written circulation-whether through direct word of-mouth,
gramophone records, tapes, or broadcasts. Let us take an example of one of the
most popular programmes “Yadon ka Idiotbox with Neelesh Misra” on #92.7 Big
FM. He and some people in his mandal (team) write stories that he narrates orally
for the listeners of #92.7 FM. Though stories are originally in written form, those
are intended to be heard by its listeners. The mass media may have added an extra
dimension, but the basic situation is not so odd. The process of composing in
written form with the definite aim that the finished piece should be orally delivered
has many parallels. One could read out the news/poems/short stories/ballads-
written, but intended to be delivered orally. So it has an element of oral-ness in it.
Ruth rightly says that the criteria- mode of composition; mode of
transmission; actualization in performance, according to which a piece of literature
is classified as oral or not, is really complex. None of them leads to an actual
categorization of ‘oral'. However, he still stresses on the choice that one should
make among these criteria. We need to be more explicit about the criteria that is
used, because that will help us to get a much greater understanding of the different
forms that oral literature.
Finally, we must accept that the distinction between oral and written is
ambiguous in nature and it needs more liberal approach towards both of them.
Both should be seen complementary to each other, and that will give new
dimensions to the study of oral literature. It will also help to take the study of oral
literature at higher and wider level.
References;
 Gimekar, Parshuram. Marathvadyatil Dalitanchye Loksahitya. Kailash
publiscations, 2004. Print.
 Jogwa. Dir. Late Rajiv Patil. iDream Productions, 2009. Film.
 Kamble, Balawant. Devdasi, Potraj, Vaghya-Muruli, Roop-Swaroop
Vikruti. Inida: Padmagandha Publication, June 2008. Print.
 “Lavani.” www.indianmirror.com. Indian Mirror. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
Jan. 2015.
 “Literacy Rate in India.” National Literacy Trust. Web. 14 Jan, 2015.
 MLA Handbook of Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York:
The Modern Language Association of America, 2009. Print.
 The Hindu. 29 Jan, 2014: India tops in adult illiteracy: U.N. report.
Print.
 Warli Painting / Tribal Art / Warli Art. Ayush Adivasi Yuva Shakti.
18 Nov, 2011. Film.
 World Oral Literature Project, The University of Cambridge Yale
 http://www.oralliterature.org/
 “Yadon ka Idiotbox.” Narr. Neelesh Misra. Big FM 92.7. 16 Jan.

2015. Radio.
 http://mysoredasara.gov.in/event-list/item/314-october-2nd
Chaiti Ghoda Nacha: A Glorious Chapter of Odishan Folk Culture

Ashis Mohapatra
The culture of Odisha has been presented a picture of synthesis of both

classical and folk form. Due the assimilation of various types of racial and cultural
elements Odisha occupies a unique place among the states of India. Odisha is
known as “Utkal” (the land of excellence in art) because of her brilliant folk
traditions which have been maintained from ancient past. Irrespective of their
economical status, literacy rate as well as rate of progress, most of the communities
of Odisha have their own folk-cultural ways of life which includes folk dance, art
& crafts, theatre, songs, rituals, legends and ballades etc. Odishan folk culture is
still preserved in our rural life and agrarian society. There are dance-acts with
themes ranging from merry-making to martial activities and there are folk plays
depicting various episodes from mythology, history and legend, which inspire the
people and help keeping up their morale. Odisha has the distinction of possessing
rich folk culture in all its aspects, spreading among various folk communities from
one end to the other, communicating to the mass its past tradition in the present
day setting and shaping folk life to its tune. Odishan folk dances are numerous and
versatile, and they are systematized in multiple ethnographic areas based on their
correlation, basic style, rhythmical, spatial and other characteristics. Odishan folk
dances are a vessel for the individual to express their emotions through colourful
presentations, music and movements. All performed movements in every dance,
folk dances included, have an aesthetic purpose. The aesthetic dimension is one of
the most important ones, because dances represent a source of aesthetic urges and
feelings. Folk dances provide the possibility for humans to aesthetically shape
themselves, or enjoy other aesthetic forms with harmony. Folk dances imbibe new
influences and at the same time maintain tradition and continuity.
The dance with its simple beauty and immediateness is a medium for
drawing near different clans for their better mutual acquaintance. The folk dance
contributed in integrating society as a unit cultural community. As long as folk
dances exist as an integral part of community life, they are sometimes linked to
specific occasions, and may be associated with specific groups of people. Most of
their folk dances are open to everyone in the community. Folk dances of Odisha
are spectacular and a visual delight and Chaiti Ghoda Nacha or Dummy horse
dance is one of the most popular folk dances of Odisha. Folk dances are still
popular among different communities of Odisha and Chaiti Ghoda Nacha (Dummy
Horse dance in the month of Chaitra) is one of its vivid examples. The art of folk
dance is evolved from the natural instinct of human beings self expression.
Dummy horse dance or Chaiti Ghoda Nacha is as natural to the fisherman
community of Odisha as speech in to human beings. Fisherman communities all
over Odisha, enrich their life with the joy of community folk dance performed as a
part of ritual of community gathering.
Chaiti Ghoda Nacha is a popular folk dance of Odisha connected with
goddess Baseli or Vasuli. Worship of Baseli and the Dummy horse dance
inexplicably connected with its rituals and celebrations is the most important
festival of the fishermen who observe it with great devotion and austerity. The
details for the worship have been enunciated in “Kaibarta Geeta” by Achutananda
Das, a mystic Odia poet of 15th century A.D. In the month Odia month Chaitra
(March) there is an exclusive festival for the bonafied fishermen community of
coastal Odisha who are popularly known as “Keuta” (Kaivarta). This colorful
religious festival is held for an entire full month beginning from Chaitra Purnima
(full moon day of Chaitra in March) and ending with Baisakha Purnima (full moon
day in April). This festival as well as folk dance is connected with the regards for
Shakti cult by the fisherman community of coastal Odisha. Worship of the goddess
Baseli or Vasuli and the dummy-horse dance inexplicably related with this ritual
and celebrations are the most important festival of the Keuta community. Who
observed it with great devotion and austerity?
Chaiti Ghoda Nacha or Horse dance is a glorious chapter of Odishan folk
culture, which is also popularly known as Baseli or Vasuli puja. Goddess Vaseli,
the horse headed goddess is considered to be the tutelary deity of the fishermen
community. The details about the Goddess Baseli and her worship traditions have
been enunciated in “Kaibarta Gupta Geeta” written by Achyutananda Das, a mystic
Odia poet of 15th century A.D. In ancient the worship of Shakti had gained
tremendous prominence and it is believed that the worship of Goddess Baseli or
Baseli puja originated during tenth century when tantricism of both Hindu and
Buddhist merged into one religious practice. Baseli a form of Mother Goddess who
was earlier formless evolved during tenth century. According to legend, when the
world was in deluge lord Vishnu could not able to find a place to rest and reduced
his form and rested on a floating banyan leaf. During the leaf dwindling on the
stormy waves of the ocean Lord Vishnu by his power created a man out of the dirt
of his ear zone the leaf still with the help of a row, but soon he fell into deep
slumber and a huge demoniac fish ‘Raghab’ swallowed the man. When the leaf
again dwindling and lord Vishnu’s sleep was disturbed. Lord Vishnu surprised
when he found the man missing by his intuition Lord Vishnu could know
everything and at once killed the ‘Raghaba’ and got the man out. In the mean time
Lord Vishnu transformed the banyan leaf into a horse and also summoned
Biswakarma and asked him to build a boat immediately. Then Lord Vishnu said to
the man that you and your community will be known as Kaibarta and you would be
the king among them, make this horse as your carrier and use this boat for trading.
As you were swallowed and almost got killed by a fish, so generation by
generation you would kill the species and live on them. Baseli became the name of
the horse and God ordered man to worship Baseli as tutelary deity on the full moon
day of Chaitra, it is believed that since the tradition of Baseli puja followed.
Baseli puja is also popularly known as Chaiti Ghoda connected with the
Dummy-Horse dance of the fisherman community of coastal Odisha. The
celebration of this festival begins on the auspicious day of Chaitra Purnima and the
Kaibartas (fishermen) worship a bamboo with vermillion, candle paste, butter lamp
etc. then the bamboo is ceremonially split into pieces out of which only twelve are
taken out for preparation of the frame of the dummy horse. The frame after dyed
with red clay covered with a Pata (indigenous silk cloth of Odisha). After which a
painted colorful horse head made out of wood is fixed to the frame and a garland
of Mandara (Hibiscus) flowers is placed on the neck during early worship. The
dummy horse is worshipped till the eighth day of the dark fortnight and after which
it is taken out for dance. A man enters through the hole kept for the purpose behind
its neck and then dances to the rhythm of Dhola (country drum) and Mahuri (the
kind instrument) during the dance of dummy horse moves along with the steps of
dancer. Basically the Chaiti Ghoda dancing party consists of two dancers, one
male, one female (mostly a male in female attire), and a drummer along with a
piper. Particular folk songs are sung which bear the beauty of the whole
performance. This horse dance is extremely simple with minimum steps or
movements very easy to learn and understand for which very popular among local
people. People are fully excited while the dance performance along with the people
who are witnessing the dance all around. The Chaiti Ghoda Nacha (dummy horse
dance)as a part of Odishan folk culture as well as popular culture (particularly in
villages of coastal Odisha) is very popular and attracts a large audience.
During the performance of Chaiti Ghoda Nacha two other characters called
as “Chadua-Chaduani” or “Rauta-Rautani” also exhibit dance with folk songs
based on different mythological episodes. The Rautani (female character is played
by a male) is Rauta’s (male character) co-dancer as well as co-singer. During this

portion of the dance the dummy horse is ceremonially placed in the centre and the
performance is held in front of it, the audience sitting all around. Particularly in the
coastal districts of undivided Cuttack and Puri there are both professional and
amateur dummy horse dance groups perform this folk dance. Some scholars also
opined that the fisherman community of Kujanga area used this dance as a way of
freedom movement against the auto critic rule of British administration Because
through this dance some freedom fighters easily mobilized the fishermen
community of Odisha after the end of the Chaiti Ghoda and Basuli Puja festival the
dummy horse head is taken out ceremonially from the frame and is preserved in a
local temple, again in next year during the festival it is brought out and repainted
for use during dance.
In present days the Chaiti Ghoda Nacha is not only limited within the
fishermen community because people of other communities have also taken
interest in this colorful folk dance of Odisha. At present the votive dancers no
longer hermetically sealed in the Kaibarta community. Since the Dummy horse
dance is attached to many Shakti Shrines of Odisha also people of other
communities have also taken interest to join the votive dancers.
Odishan folk dances reflect the peculiarities of particular community's
religious, cultural and historical narrative, as it were; the dances, their
choreography and their colorful costumes naturally reflect their unique narrative.
While the heritage of the folk dance that was passed down the generations among
ethnic groups as a whole was rich and varied, it was unevenly distributed from
group to group, partly because whole chapters, as it were, of the tradition had been
lost, for various reasons, often owing to the upheavals of war and the struggle for
survival in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The richness of the original
Odishan folk dance, in all its aspects both in terms of choreography and repertoire
as well as in terms of the exact replication of the original costumes has slowly
made a comeback, and today is recognized. Odishan folk dances are of course
more than simple vehicles of ethnic expression; they are sometimes highly
sophisticated and elaborate even dazzlingly spectacular displays of dance and
pageantry, sometimes with a martial arts theme, choreographed to celebrate official
ceremonies.
Through the indigenous folk traditions of Odisha are now loosing its grip
day by day due to advancement of techno-culture and impact of globalization but
the folk culture is still preserved in Odishan rural life. Chaiti Ghoda Nacha or
dummy horse dance is untouched and unaffected by western influence and still
popular among villagers of Odisha as one of our colorful folk traditions .This
Chaiti Ghoda Nacha or horse dance tradition should be preserved by proper
documentation through publication and audio visual presentation. As a result of
which we can able to regenerate the same spirit among the fishermen community
against the modern social evils as well as able to exhibit the colorful folk dance of
Odisha before our new generation.
References:
 Banerjee, P. (1959). The folk dance of India, Kitabistan.
 Das, K.B. & Mohapatra L.K. (1999). Folk lore of Odisha. National
Book Trust of India.
 Das, B. S.(Ed) (1986). Glimpses of Orissa. Calcutta.
 Das, B.B. et al. (Ed.) (1994). Eye to Orissa, I & P.R.Department,
Govt.of Odisha, Bhubaneswar.
 Jena, B. B.(1981). Orissa-People, Culture and Polity. New Delhi.
 Leach, M. (Ed) (1972). Standards Dictionary of Folklore, mythology

and legend. Funk and Wagnall’s co. , New York.
 Liebl, M. & S.M. Pattnaik(1989). A Guide to Orissa, Media Transasia
Ltd., Bangkok.
 Mohapatra,S. S. (2008). “Folklore Studies in Orissa”. Lokaratna.
Vol.1.
 Narain, S. (2004). Folk dance traditions of India. Gurgaon: Subhi
Publication.
 Pattanaik , D. (2000). Folk dances of Odisha. Bhubaneswar: Odisha
Sangeet Natak Akademi.
 Pal, A. (2009). Lokosanskriti,Prognavikash, Kolkata.
 Pasayat, C. (Ed.). (2008). Paschima Odisara Lokageeta.
Bhubaneswar: Folklore Foundation.
 Patnaik,N. R. (Ed). (2004). Glimpses of Orissan Culture. Cuttack:
Kitab Mahal.
 Tiwari , A.N. et al. (ED). (1999). Reference Odisha. Bhubaneswar:
Enterprising Publisher.
 Upadhayaya , K.D. (2009). Society as Depicted in Indian Folk-
Narratives. Fabula. Vol 9, 1-3.
 Vatsyayan. (1996). Traditions of Indian folkdance. Clarion Books
associated with Hind pocket books
Feminization of Folk Art: A Case Study of Patta Painting of Odisha

Mamata Dash
Introduction
Going down the memory lane I still remember as an young anthropologist ,
while doing my Ph.D. on Chitrakar community of Raghurajpur village of Puri
district of Orissa, I was attracted by the linear house pattern of the village, almost
homogenous occupational status( as Patta painters) of the population, family
structure and such other anthropological issues. Being a small repertoire of folk art
of Patta painting each house hold of the village allures me to stop at the door step
and look at the painting. There I used to meet the male person of the household and
take my interview while keenly observing the painting work. Many a times I had to
do the job of interpreter if any foreign tourists or clients come to buy any painting
or to interact with the artisans. The only time I talk to the women folk of the
village is when I need some water, take food in my host family, if the head of the
house hold is a widow or if I have to ask some questions exclusively related to
women.
But off late when I started my career in Women’s Studies and started
looking at things through a gender lens same painting work reflected a different
connotation. The incredible but invisible contribution of women artisans in the
whole painting process and the inherent stereotyped gender roles putting a glass
ceiling on their talent and aspiration became more visible. I realized Patta painting
is one of many folk art forms which reflects the gender dynamics of Folk art.
This article is an endeavor to unfold this intrinsic gender dynamic involved
in Folk art. The methods used for the study are mostly observation and informal
interview with both male and female artisans.
The objective of my paper is:

 To assess the nature of Patta painting as a folk art form
 To explore the gender perspective of the folk art of Patta painting
 To find out some solution to breeze the gender gap
Etymologically folk refers to the common people of a society or region and
folk art refers to to any art produced by the common people depicting their day to
day life and believes.
Art is an expression of the intrinsic qualities and meaning man finds in
reality with things, persons, events or life. Art is the manifestation of one’s
imagination as well as conception of any fact, ideas or beliefs. Art, in this way is
not necessarily the manifestation of mind of the artist alone rather it owes its
inception to entire social and cultural setting where the artists lives in.
And when these artistic works, such as paintings, sculpture, basketry etc.
are produced typically in cultural isolation by untrained often anonymous artists or
by artisans of varying degrees of skill and marked by such attributes as highly
decorative design, bright bold colors, flattened perspective, strong forms in simple
arrangements, and immediacy of meaning it is called Folk Art.
As defined in the free dictionary art originating among the
common people of a nation or region and usually reflecting their traditional
culture, especially every day or festive items produced or decorated by unschooled
artists are called folk art. Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous
culture or by peasants or other laboring trades’ people. As there are thousands and
thousands of culture and cultural beliefs across the globe there are corresponding
folk art and it is difficult to draw upon any unanimous frame of reference for folk
art. Folk art includes various art forms like dance, music, and painting etc. Patta
painting of Odisha is one of many folk paintings.
Patta painting is a typical regional art of coastal state of Odisha in eastern

India. It expresses the religious and mythological aspect of the Odiya ethos giving
a panoramic view of the epic Mahabharat, and Ramayan in general and Jagannath
culture in particular. Orissa, the abode of traditional art and craft is highly
esteemed and identified with the cult of Lord Jagannath. The daily ritual of the
cult of Jagannath has encouraged much form of art and craft like appliqué, pottery,
“Patta painting etc. The artisans are brought to Puri to supply various items
required for the rituals of Lord Jagannath Temple (Sahoo:1988:20). Closely
associated with the Jagannath culture, Patta painting adds greatly to the glorious
painting tradition of Orissa. Although the painting tradition of Orissa has passed
through the various historical phases and there has been some degree of impact of
modernization in recent years, the Orissan type continues to maintain its originality
in “Patta painting” popularly known as “Patta Chitra”
Rationale for Patta painting to be categorized as a folk art

Folk is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic. It is
characterized by a naïve style, in which traditional rules
of proportion and perspective are not employed. It expresses cultural identity by
conveying shared community values and aesthetics. Folk art encompasses a range
of utilitarian and decorative media, including cloth, wood, paper, clay, metal and
more.
Folk art is indigenous, simple, direct, and characterized by its non-
educational, hereditary and community based in nature. Patta painting has a
religious utilitarian origin. It owes its origin to the jagannath cult and its devotee’s
religious need. In olden days the devotees from different part of country while
returning back from pilgrimage after Visiting Supreme trio of lord Jgannath used
to take these Patta paintings with them to have a daily Darshan of the trio and
worship them at their home. These earliest types of Patta paintings are called Yatri
Pattis ( Painting for pilgrims) which are of different shapes like circular, triangulat,
rectangulat, square etc, and not very aesthetic. . Secondly these paintings
traditionally are produced by a particular community called Chitrakar.
This form of painting transcends generation after generation without any
formal training. Rather this is inherited as family or caste occupation. Patta
painting is the caste occupation of Chitrakaras. Despite all these similarities the
age old Patta painting is unique for its indigenous style of preparing canvas, brush,
and pigment- the major prerequisites of painting.
However, the tradition of Patta painting is indigenous in its nature. Starting
from the preparation of the base or canvas till the final touch of the work, Patta
painting is unique in its style.
All these characteristics put Patta painting as a form of folk art.
Folk art of Patta painting: an analysis from gender perspective

As Collingwood (1938) puts it, the emotions of sentiments, expressed
through art are moulded and influenced by various aspects of the society one lives
in and by one’s day-to-day life,. Thus, art is a part of one’s social and cultural life.
In the widest sense, as Herskovits (1951) says, art is a product of culture, and
explicitly or implicitly explains various ethos and eidos of the culture one lives in.
The concept of “Gender” is also nothing but social construct. It reflects one’s
social attitude embossed with cultural ethos and eidos. Thus both Gender and Art
owes their origin to society.
Secondly any folk art be it tribal dance, music, drama weaving, or basketry
etc is a microcosm of male–female roles within the family and society. Men and
women either work together or depicted by their gender roles in the different forms
of the art.
Above all art in the simplest sense is a creation and women are the sorce of
any creation and cannot be ignored from any form of art be it folk, traditional or
modern.
Thus there is an imperishable rather umbilical relationship between gender
and folk art.
Coming to Patta paitning, there is a deep rooted close nexus between
women and this age old painting tradition. It not only controls the intra caste
division of the chitrakaras but also regulates mate selection procedure. The whole
of Chitrakara Community is divided into three Badas or groups on the basis of
responsibility of Anasara patti ( the paintings of Lord jagannatha, Devi Subhadra
and Lord Balabhadra worshipped inside the sanctum sanatorium in the absence of
supreme trio during ansara). But the chief of Balabhadra bada (subdivisions) takes
the final decision over other two chiefs, if any discrepancy arises.
Besides knowledge of painting work is one of the criteria for match selection
for chitrkara boys and girls. The girl/bride, with better /more knowledge on Patta
painting is more appreciated; even more than any educational qualified girl and
lesser is the material demand from in-laws side. Even the physical boundary for
marriage is fixed within Atharnala,( Cannal with18 drains) , the entrance of Puri
Town, apprehending that beyond that the perspective brides might not possess the
knowledge on Patta painting. A piece of Patta painting is mandatory among all
other gifts the bride takes with her to the in-laws house at the time of marriage.
Thus the life of chitrakaras, particularly of the women, revolves round the art of
Patta painting.
How much engendered is Patta paintings

This folk painting form is basically a family craft, rather than an individual
perfection. Each and every member of Chitrakara (painter) family contributes to
the painting work. Women do almost all the preliminary works like preparation of
the ‘Ranga’ (colours), ‘Atha’ (glue) and ‘Patti’ (canvas) and finally the work of
lacquering. The young girls and boys help their parents in their work too.
Especially the girls above the age of 8-9 years help their mothers in grinding the
tamarind seeds to be used in repairing the glue. Sometimes they also assist in
preliminary painting works like lining thickly the borders and figures that do not
need much expertise. The boys, below the age of 10-1 years, devote much of the
time in learning the painting skills from the elders and also assist their parents in
their leisure time. The youngsters below the age of 12-13 years after learning the
craft gradually paint independently and thereby help the family economy. Thus
there is an informal but clear cut division of labour among all the family members
so far as craft is concerned. Like any painting the whole process of Patta painting
can be divided into three aspects, namely I. base or canvass, Ii. Brush, III, colours
(both preparation and process of colouring)
I Base/ Canvass:
Patta painting “Patta Chitra” as the name suggests is an art where Chitra
(Picture or painting) is done on a piece of ‘Patta’ which means cloth. But there are
also other connotations of the word ‘Patta’. According to some people in the
remote past the painting was done with the help of brush prepared from locally
available screw pine stick called ‘Patta’ so the name ‘Patta’ painting. Some others
say that the original nomenclature is Pata Chitra, as the style of painting was
traditionally done on Plank of wood or ‘Patta’. However, the first explanation is
more authentic and universally accepted.
Unlike the other types of paintings i.e. Kangra painting, Madhubani painting
or Tassar painting etc. ‘Patta painting’ is done on a special type of canvas called
‘Patti’ which is a primed cotton cloth. The preparation of this canvas is stated as
follows:
Procedure
The process of canvas preparation passes through four successive stages
like:
a) Atha Tiari (Preparation of the glue from the tamarind seed)
b) Khadhi Tiari (Preparation of chalk powder liquid)
c) Patti Laga (Application of glue and chalk powder over the cloth)
d) Patti Ghasa (Making the surface of the primed cloth smooth by
polishing)
a) Preparation of glue from tamarind seeds

Tamarind seeds are soaked in water for about 12 hours, preferably for one
night to make them soft enough for grinding. Then the seeds are taken out of water
and ground in two phases; first on a rough grinder called Sila for once or twice and
then the pulp is made more fine by a smooth grinder called Chikkana Sila. This
pulp is then mixed with water in 1:2 ratio and is cooked for 30-45 minutes on the
traditional hearth. The solution is stirred with a ‘Danki’ (wooden spoon) from time
to time till it is poured from the ‘Palama’ (earthen plate) and is allowed for cooling
down, after which the glue is ready for application. Generally the tamarind seeds
are preserved against insects by adding turmeric powder.This is done by women
b) Khadi Tiari (Preparation of chalk solution)

A white chalk stone, locally known as ‘Khadi Pathara’ is ground to fine
powder. As the stone is a soft one it does not take much time to be powdered. The
powder is mixed with water in the ratio of 1:2 in a pot. Then about 400 gm of
tamarind glue is mixed with the solution to make it sticky so that it will adhere to
the canvas well. This is also mostly dome by women.
c) Patti Laga
The application of tamarind glue to the cotton cloth which is used as base for
Patta painting is called ‘Patti Laga’. First of all, a clean cotton saree or cloth about
5 – 5.5 mtrs of length is taken and its borders are cut off. Then the saree or the
cloth is cut into two equal halves and one of them is spread lengthwise over a plain
mat over which tamarind glue is thickly and uniformly applied twice with the help
of a piece of cloth and is left for drying by pressing four stones at four corners, so
that it will not shrink in the sun. Utmost care is taken so that no crease is left on
the second layer cloth while spreading it after it is dried fully; the cloth is taken out
of the mat gently. This is done by both men and women mostly by the elderly
ones. Once the ‘Patti’ is dried, the solution of chalk powder is applied on both the
sides with a piece of cloth in a similar manner left for drying. Two or three such
coatings of chalk solution is applied with an intermediate interval for drying each
time, in order to make the base more perfect which will reduce the amount of
colour consumption at the time of painting.
The application of chalk powder solution is also called ‘Khadi Laga’ (as
chalk stone is locally called as ‘Khadi’), which is again done by both men and
women.
d) Patti Ghasa
‘Patti Ghasa’ is smoothening of primed cloth. The Patti is spread on the
cleaned floor and is rubbed with ‘Bagada Barada’ (a stone with rough surface) to
make the surface smooth. After this the patti becomes smoother but still has small
rough patches. So the patti is once again rubbed with a comparatively fine-grain
stone, locally called ‘Chikkana Barada’ till the surface of the Patti is totally
polished and fit for painting work. Sometimes they first of all cut the patti
according to the required size and then make it smooth. After the completion of the
polishing work on both the surfaces, the Patti becomes ready for painting. This is
mostly done by the women.
I - Preparation of colours
a) The colours used for Patta painting are indigenously prepared at
home.The Chitrakaras prepare different colours with different raw materials and
different procedures. Basically they prepare six colours like (1)Sankha (white)
from small conch shell mixed with elephant gums , (2)Kala (black) from black
shoot of the burnt weaks mixed with oil.,(3) Hengula (red)from a mineral stone
called ‘Hengula’ (4)Haritala (yellow) from a type of mineral stone called Haritala
or opiment ,(5) Geru from red ochre stone and (6) Pacha (green)traditionally by
processing the ‘KAsturi’ stone available in the navel of a special breed of deer
called ‘Kasturi . But now it is prepared by processing the extracts of various
leaves.
All the colours are however prepared by the women artisans after collected
by the men. However in contemporary times they prefer to buy herbal colurs
(exciting white and black, which still they prepare at home, or use fabric colours as
there is no more forest to get raw stones.
II. Brush
Unlike the other paintings, Patta painting is done with a special kind of
brush. Traditionally they prepared the brush by crushing a portion of the root of
‘Kia’ plant (Screw pine) called KIA KATHI. Then they prepare it from the body
hair of different animals like mongoose, farm rat or buffalo tied to a polished thin
bamboo stick with gum of elephant apple tree. The body hairs of buffalo is used to
prepare thick brush while for the thin brush, the body hairs of the mongoose or
farm rats are used. This is done by men as women are not supposed to touch dead
animals.
Now if we prepare a table of Division of duties (rather than Labour)
associated with Painting:
S Nature of Types of Sex of the craftsman
l work work involved Male Female
No. Both
Collection
1 of raw a. collection of - 
. materials for painting tamarind
b. Collection of  - -
mineral stones
c. Collection of  - -
body hair of
animals
Preparation
2 and a. Preparation of -  -
. processing of he raw tamarind glue
materials
b) preparation of -  -
colour
c. Preparation of  - -
brush
d. preparation of - - 
canvas
3 Painting work a. sketching of  - -

. motif
b. application of - - 
colour
c. - -  -
Preservation of
painting
4 Marketing  - -
.
It has been revealed from the above table that the collection of raw materials
is usually done by the women and men. Accepting collection of mineral stone,
preparation of brush and marketing the end product women do all in all other jobs.
All the menial and time consuming jobs associated with the painting is mainly
done by the females. But females are never asked while deciding the price. Nor
they have any control on the income out of painting.
Though there is no formal and distinct division of labour, the total job of the
craft is carried out on the basis of a conventionally approved division of labor.
They classify the works into two types like,(1) Bhidokama (Hard work or skilled
labor) and (2) Halkakama (light work or unskilled labor).
The differentiating criterion between these two according to the artist is the
mental involvement. The more the requirement of mental involvement the more
intricate the work is. Apart from physical labor, the skilled work requires both
mythological knowledge and mental exercise where as the unskilled works are
done only mostly with physical labor with minimum mental involvement. Since
the women spend more time with household chores, they get hardly sufficient time
to put their brain on painting work. Whenever they get leisure, they only help their
male counterparts in painting which involves mostly physical labor. They are not
even allowed to negotiate with the customers.
However following is a brief table of division of labour:
Skilled and Unskilled Work and Division of Labor in Patta Painting
Nature
S of Types of work Skilled/ Sex of Age of
l work unskilled craftsmen craftsmen
No.
Collection
1 a. Collection of tamarind Unskilled Female & Child
. of raw male ren
materials b. collection of mineral Skilled Male Adult
stones
c. collection of animal Skilled Male Adult
hairs
2 Prepa a. grounding tamarind Unskilled Female Young &
. ration and seeds Adult
processing b. preparation of Unskilled Female Adult
tamarind glue
c. preparation of canvas Semi- Females Adult
skilled
d. preparation of colors Unskilled Male & Adult
1. Processing the raw Females
materials by crushing
and cooking
2. Addition of exudation Skilled Male Adult
of elephant apple tree to
the color
3. Mixing up of Unskilled Male & Adult

exudation and color Female
e. Preparation of brush Skilled Male Adult
3 Paint a. sketching of motifs Skilled Male Adult
. ing work b. Application of Unskilled Femal Adult
colors e
1. Hengula
Banaka
2. Ranga Banaka Skilled Male Adult
3. Luga Pindha Skilled Male Adult
4. Gahana Banaka Skilled Male Adult
5. Mota Kala Skilled Male Adult
6. Soru kala Skilled Male Adult
7. Gachha Lata Unskilled Male Adult
8. Sankhapota Unskilled Male & Adult
Female
9.. Border Unskilled Male & Adult
Female
e. Presentation of Skilled Male Adult
painting
Marketing
4 a. Price fixation Skilled Male Adult
.
b. Taking orders Unskilled Male & Adult &

Female old
c. Delivery of orders Unskilled Male & Adult & old
Female
d. Transportation of Unskilled Male Adult

product
e. Customer dealing Skilled Male Adult
.
Investment of time and labor by women
As Patta painting is a household or family craft, family acts as the basic
production unit as well the marketing unit for the craft like any other household
chores. So it is not so easy to say the exact time invested by a Chitrakara woman
for the craft work. Their involvement with the painting is prodigious.
In the morning while preparing food, she does all the craft works which are
possible inside the kitchen. Such works include processing the tamarind seeds to
prepare glue, grinding the mineral stones and putting the tamarind seed in water to
process it next day etc. If calculated all such works will amount to approximately 2
hours of continuous labour in the morning hours though unskilled in nature.
The women always try to finish up the cooking and other household work as
soon as possible by 10 O'clock so that they can join their male counterparts to help
in craft work. In the mid day from around 10 O'clock till 12 to 1 O'clock, they help
in pattighasa (Smoothening the canvas) or ranga ghotibe (mixing of exudation of
elephant apple tree with the colours) or sometimes in ranga banaka (applying
colors to the background of the canvas etc. They take up works which does not
require much concentration and expertise, att about 1.00 pm. They again go to
serve lunch to the family members and clear the utensils and houses, then again
from 2.30 or 3.00 pm till evening around 5.30 or 6.00 pm. They spare their time for
painting work or other works related to the craft. During night hours, they remain
associated with painting work such as lacquering the finished paintings which
takes nearly one hour. So as a whole, in a day a woman invests around 7 hours of
labour in average for painting.
But now-a-days as they need not process the raw materials like mineral
stones to prepare colour or lacquering on the painting due to introduction of
various water proof chemical colours in the painting technology, they save a lot of
time which was invested previously. Moreover, availability of electricity at night
increases their working hour at night too. So at present they are able to invest
around 9 to 10 hours of labour for the craft in a day.
The availability of modern amenities has not only increased the working
period of both women and men but also has enriched the horizon of their
traditional, religious and mythological knowledge. During evening hours they no
more visit the temple premises to listen to the religious scriptures; rather they
assemble near the television set which works as a medium of informative
entertainment.
But despite of spread of educational facilities, women from chitrakar caste
do not prefer to go to school. Barring a few i.e. three to four households the girls
are still getting married at the age of 16-17 years.
Apart from that when Govt. is focusing on skill development; women are not
given proper skill development training nor given a chance for field exposure. In
crafts exhibition they are given a job of sales person but not as the craftsperson as
an independent identity. No women till now has achieved the title as Master crafts
person( better to be used in place of Master craftsman) .
Possible solutions:-
 In order to breeze these gender gaps it is high time to conduct more
and more research on the practical gender needs of these women artisans.
 They should be given proper education and exposure to establish
themselves as independent artisans not as a helping hand to their male
counterparts.
 Department of tourism and handicraft and mass communication
should work with proper coordination so that this can be used for their livelihood.
 Men and women artisans should be given equal scope and opportunity
so that they can equally participate in this folk art and sustain it in the adverse tide
of modernization.
References:
 Archer,W.G. (1976).Indian Painting, New York.
 Beals. (1971). The Arts, An Introduction To Anthropology, New
York.
 Bernett,D. & Gray, B. (1963). Painting of India, China.
 Collingwood,R.G. (1938). The Principle of Art, Oxford.
 Koomarswamy,A.K. (1923). Introduction to Indian Art, Madras (now
Chennai).
 Dark, P.J.C.(1978). What is Art for anthropologist, art in Society?
 Das, J.P.(1980). Puri Painting,Publishing’s, New Delhi
 Havell, E.B.(1920). A Hand book of Indian Art, London.
 Kramrisch, S. (1954). The Art of India, Traditions of Indian
Sculpture, Painting and Architecture, London.
 Linton,R.(1941). Primitive Art, Kenyon Review, iii.
 Mishra,K.C. (1991). Studies in the Cult of Jagannath, Bhubaneswar.
 Zealey, P. (1956/57). The Folk Painters And Stone Carvers Orissa,
Envoy,II,1114-15,ills.
Gantha ra Katha: The Quilting Tradition from Ganjam, South Odisha

Pankaja Sethi
Abstract
This research examines the story of quilt- Gantha ra Katha based on the first
hand information from the Ganjam district of South Odisha. Illuminating the
narrative expression of quilting tradition this documentation opens up multiple
expressions of Gantha in the contemporary context. In the process of documenting
a lost craft, the journey explores the vivid expressions of living story of Gantha,
the different forms of quilting tradition with which people associate and the stories
associated with it. Whilst recycling, recreating and reusing materials; Gantha
rediscovers and gives a new meaning to the old textile materials and engagement
with material culture as a personal mattress, dowry article and a souvenir. The art
of making Gantha may disappear in few years like many other languishing crafts,
however, this documentation process ignited a new sprit and hope among proud
Gantha artists that this craft is not isolated - narrating ‘recycling threads of life’-
Gantha ra Katha -the story of quilting tradition from South Odisha.
Introduction
This research study examines the story of quilt-Gantha ra katha from the
Ganjam district of South Odisha. The story of Gantha is a personal expedition that
made me contemplate about the narrative expression of quilting tradition and an
interesting subject of material culture. Whilst understanding quilting as a narrative
medium and material the process stimulated me to rediscover my own
understanding of recycling material cultures in rural- urban spaces- how materials
carrying social messages, are recycled, reused within the personal space and place.
This research is based on first information from the field, narrative account shared
by women artisans and self observation. It will illustrate the process of recycling as
a personal engagement, where reusing and recreating is a common practice in rural
space and then the material takes a new form and shape with a social message in
the process.
My memory of quilt making goes back to my childhood days from my
paternal village. Women used to make kantha (quilt in East Odisha is locally called
Kantha) for personal purpose. To create Kantha, old clothes and worn out sarees
were used. These materials were reused by placing one above the other and later all
the layers were stitched together slowly by hand to create quilt. As the layers were
piled one above the other, memories connected with each textile would come up
like images in my mind. Memories reconnect with the forgotten moments. These
reused fragments of textiles in Kantha reminded me of old memories, love and
reflection of past biographies in the present. It seemed like a living story bringing
different phases of time stitched together within layers. It was a living story in
vivid forms which transformed into a quilt-Kantha. It was used as a soft, light
weight mattress used for sleeping and birth quilts for the new born child. These
handmade quilts were simple kantha made for comfort and basic need; it was also
used as warmer against the cold in winters. It was a multipurpose personal product
made by hand with multiple stories lying within the layers.
With the passage of time, people in villages stopped making Gantha. Local
darji created Gantha by machine by collecting bundles of cloth on his bicycle from
each house and delivered the quilts after completing. In the race of time, process of
making handmade quilts evaporated from the local homes. I did not see any
women in my paternal village creating quilts in their leisure time. The home based
local craft practice was replaced with machine stitched kantha. Locally people had
adapted themselves with machine stitched quilts (plate 1) to save time and energy.
Then there was no trace of local handmade kantha.
Machine stitched quilts-Kantha. Photo Credit- Tanuja Sethi

In 2008, I came across some exquisite form of colourful quilts known as
Gantha from Ganjam district of South Odisha through Laxmipriya Mahrana and
her distant relatives. Ganjam district is my mother’s birth land; however, I had
never seen such a beautiful exemplar of needle craft from that region. These quilts
are locally called Gantha in Ganjam district instead of Kantha which is a familiar
term for quilts across Odisha. These were made by rural women of Ganjam district
living in suburbs of Bhubaneswar city who migrated to Dumduma village of
Khurda district. While interacting, some of the women artisans narrated that their
families shifted from Ganjam many years ago in search of livelihood. These quilts
were unusual in comparison to basic kantha I had seen in other parts of Odisha. It
was very special and painstakingly made by skilled hands. The manner of
arrangement of old fabrics, torn borders of dhoti and bold printed patchwork on
Gantha seemed like one’s personal story and one’s self expression – and an art
form. One of the quilter’s had thirty to forty year old Gantha beautifully rendered
with tiny hand stitches and colourful patches. The texture and pattern of Gantha
was not only unique and personal, it resembled an abstract form of art made by
hand, and stories associated with it collectively represented self expression of rural
folk craft-how the threads sewn with love, share untold stories connecting different
phases of time – past and present, and past in the present together. The journey of
Gantha kindled a ray of hope and inspiration inside me. The raw texture of hand
crafted local quilt which was neither channelized nor refined through any
sustainable livelihood program motivated me to document the craft in its original
form. Moreover, the journey raised my interest to know about the living quilts
story and the proud practitioners. It was only a thought that started shaping when I
began my exploration and expedition to know the individual self expression in a
community driven-personal home based craft.
This research study is an endeavour to document the languishing quilting
tradition from Ganjam district of South Odisha with the support of small study
research Grant 2015-16 from Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria
& Albert Museum .The first section of paper narrates the journey of quilts. The
study of material culture opens up conversations with the proud practitioner,

narratives related to quilting process and their personal relation with the product as
a part of social fabric. The material culture study addresses the research questions
in the second part of the paper related to the languishing craft and speculates
reasons behind disappearing material culture. What could have been the factors
behind the lost craft? Why did it not pass from one generation to another as an
heirloom craft practice? The third section illustrates the process of making Gantha
and how a workshop with women ignited a new hope among community. Thus,
this study examines the age old tradition of Gantha particularly in relation to
women and material culture. Giving voices to women through interaction and
workshop created a possibility of sustaining this local hand crafted quilting
tradition- Gantha ra Katha from Ganjam district of Odisha.
Research Questions
Whilst locating the living craft and the quilt practitioner, this research raised
several questions and voices of disappearing quilting tradition –Gantha from South
Odisha. The untold stories of quilt and people might or might not answer all the
questions but the voices of Gantha wants to unfold many layers of stories sleeping
inside it. Sometimes, untold stories of local tradition disappear with time. The
voice of disappearing Gantha tradition was calling me. The probability of locating
a lost craft was fifty-fifty still I pursued my interest with hope. I realised, most of
the people had forgotten about handmade quilts and many of them could not even
relate to this craft as traditional practice, however, such hurdles could not stop my
research work.
It was evident that this living craft practice is dying and will die in some
years. My anxiety and anticipation to see the old pieces of Gantha were increasing
even though the chances were very less. I was searching for a lost craft from one
house to another house but machine made quilt had replaced hand stitched quilts.
During interrogation I found out rural migrants in the suburb area of Dumduma
village in the Khurda district of Odisha had preserved some old pieces of Gantha.
In the first two visits I found some old and worn out pieces in good and bad
conditions. Different types of Gantha were made by different hands, the feel,
comfort, texture varied from one quilt to another. Each Gantha had stories to tell
and many questions unanswered.
During this study several questions preoccupied my conscious, “What could
have been the social factors which resulted in disappearing of local crafts practices
such as Gantha”. The shift in the local market which resulted migration of rural
community to urban areas in the search of livelihood could be one of the reasons.
In the process of migration, during inter district shift, people disconnect with local
crafts and tradition. People leave many things behind and bring many memories
with them. Gantha craft practice was also forgotten by many and was preserved by
few women. In the race of time, the increase of fancy materials available at low
cost in the local market or as a result of penetration of synthetic materials might
have created shift in the perception and insignificant space for their handcrafted
products. Like many crafts quilting tradition remained undocumented and
unnoticed.
Perhaps, the raw texture and low end use of quilt could not stimulate interest
and hope among younger generation to continue and associate with this as
heirloom tradition or as a sustainable craft practice. Even though, the quilting
process is a social message and an emotional process of creation made only for
personal use, it was undermined as an artistic tradition by the practitioners. Women
are the creators of this home based craft and traditionally women never had space
for their skill as home based daily duties preoccupied their time to a large extent.
Craft practitioner did not honour their quilting tradition or family members
encouraged women to practice this tradition. Women did not know that quilt could
be something which can make them feel proud about, probably because women
lost the hope and considered it less significant part of tradition. As a result of
which, it was never handed over to the next generation with pride and value. Quite
a few among the community are holding on to the tradition. Unfortunately, in ten
years time those who value this tradition and the living craft practice will slowly
disappear.
This research documentation also wants to speculate -the identity of Gantha
practice. How do women identify to this age old tradition of material culture- as a
self expression art form? What are the different forms of expression people
associate with quilt, while engaging with the material. In what way people
practicing this tradition relate to Gantha in the present milieu. Is it a caste based
community practice or trade confined to certain communities; these were some of
the important questions to address. In the process of research documentation on
craft, I am also questioning and re-questioning my own position while representing
the tradition and the community. Will this research contribute in terms of
documenting information and translating it for the reading audience for learning
purpose? And will I be able to speculate the several forms of expression and untold
stories layered within the layers of Gantha.
The making of Gantha-the quilting tradition of South Odisha

The art of quilting tradition which was once part of vernacular process had
disappeared from the living space of people. There was no sign of hand stitched
Gantha and most of the people had forgotten about the quilting tradition. Still, I
wished to see the making of Gantha and meet the proud practitioners. Tracing the
roots of Gantha my journey started from Khurda district towards south Odisha
reconnecting with my mother’s land-Ganjam, which has its own distinctive style of
visual art forms and a typical style of architecture- long narrow houses, one room
leading to another room without any windows from beginning to end of the house.
This research encompassed three villages in Ganjam district- Mardkote,
Chundikhole and Sikula to meet the proud practitioners who used to make Gantha
once upon a time to document the process of Gantha making.
India -> Odisha -> Ganjam District
Whilst interrogating, people could not believe that my purpose of visit was
only for locating handmade Gantha, a lost craft which does not exist. As the
conversation opened up I told them Gantha is a handmade craft and it is as

important as any other languishing crafts of Odisha which is yet to be documented.
Thus, documentation process is essential and imperative. Through the
documentation process, I wanted women to participate as proud practitioner, share
their stories, and share their memories, how they learned the craft and wanted to
participate in the making of Gantha.
This research started with fifty year old quilting artist- Hemalata Maharana,
who had moved to Dumduma village from Ganjam district after her marriage. She
is the proud owner of three exquisite pieces of Gantha which she had made during
different stages of her life. These three pieces of Gantha are her lifetime treasure
and memories. She had made her first and the oldest piece of Gantha before
marriage while learning the craft from her relatives. Hemalata carried this Gantha
along with other items in a large wodden box- called pedi or sandook as part of
dowry articles. Traditionally, it is a ritual to carry handmade articles made by bride
to her in laws house. In earlier days carrying a beautiful piece of Gantha was
prestigious for girl to present her skill and talent. After many years Hemalata
prepared another Gantha all by herself for personal usage. Gantha is used as
mattress and as a decorated piece on the wodden bed over a hensa- a soft natural
grass mat made by hand. She narrates the process of Gantha is slow, collection of
fabrics and assortment of borders and prints for Gantha takes time. As her daughter
starting growing up, she prepared her last Gantha. She took one year to complete
the Gantha and this will be her souvenir for her daughter’s marriage. Her
daughter’s quilt was the newest one. It is very special and very close to her heart
because in the end all this is labour of love made by mother for her daughter. This
is the tradition of Gantha passed on from one generation to another, as a souvenir;
however, Hemalata’s daughter is a college going girl and she did not pursue the
tradition.
This type of quilting method is locally called tippo gantha. As the name
suggests, the tip of the finger is used as marking point equivalent to dot or tippo in
Odiya to maintain equal distance between stitches without any use of measuring
tool. The art of making Gantha requires skill and patience. It takes time to store
sarees, dhotis' and other materials over the years. In these quilts Hemalata has used
different borders of printed and woven sarees. Torn out woven borders of sarees
are placed on four sides of Gantha. White colour base that is made of old dhotis
which she had collected during the funeral ceremonies is used to enhance the
colourful borders and small patch works. In the centre, the entire space covered
with white coloured cloth is again decorated with bright borders in check pattern
using colourful patches and printed cloth. Layers are tacked together with loose
stitches. During quilting, as the needle follows the vertical row of tippo the edges
of border and patches are tucked by hand in the process. The colourful patches and
borders are rendered carefully simultaneously by the artisan. Usually the back side
of Gantha is kept simple with plain coloured or printed cloth without any
decoration. It is the texture, feel and colourful patches of Gantha with ribbed wave
pattern that makes it special and extraordinary.
Sixty eight years old Satyabhama Maharana showed another type of quilting
technique called farrua in local Odiya language. In Farrua Gantha stitches form a
predominant pattern all over the quilt. Although the quality of stitches used in
Gantha were not proportionate, farrua Gantha is distinctive in itself. The scale of
stitches is much bigger in length in comparison to tippo Gantha. Satyabhama
stitches in two different directions to achieve concentric step pattern all over the
quilt on single piece of saree as the background using local acrylic threads similar
to woollen texture. Straight stitches are first taken in one direction and then pattern
is created by interconnecting stitches in the second stage. She prefers bright
coloured thread for quilting to lift the patterns against the colour of base cloth. The
layers of cloth in between the front and back saree are kept tight and intact along
with stitches forming an interesting texture. This type of quilting method is rare
and uncommon in comparison to tippo Gantha. Satyabhama has prepared and
stored many pieces of Gantha for her granddaughter. Her daughter has learned the
craft and helps her to make Gantha on order for sustenance.
Fifty six years old Sukumari Maharana married to a retired primary school
teacher from Mardkote village pulled out her worn out hand stitched Gantha which
she had made especially for her family members. Her husband had his own
personal Gantha which he refused to share with anybody. It was interesting to
know that Gantha can be a personal attachment for men also. She had also made a
small size aasan (floor mat) to sit on the floor. The stitches were very small on the
surface of entire Gantha giving an interesting texture compared to the length of
stitches on the back side. Sukumari’s Gantha had a different feel and it was
extremely soft to touch. The quilt in the picture is made of printed saree without
any patches or extra borders. In the past she had also made some quilts for
neighbours when her husband was not getting enough income from the school.
Sukumari was happy to be photographed for this documentation as one of the quilt
makers and would like to make Gantha on order.
This worn out piece of tippo Gantha made by Sukumari Maharana shows the
several layers of cloth bound together through stitches beneath the surface. This
Gantha has been used for a long period of time. Raw texture, stitches are intact in
Gantha because these are tightly stitched giving strength and support together.
Through torn parts, layers of fabric sandwiched together are visible creating an
interesting piece of textured tales.
In Chundikhole village forty three year old Runu Maharana cited how she
used to make Gantha during her leisure hours prior to marriage and after marriage
using old recycled materials. The sarees she wore in routine life were discarded
after a period of time and were replaced with new sarees during rituals and
festivals. All the old worn out sarees and other fabrics with fond memories were
piled and bound together with stitches giving strength, weight and texture to the
Gantha. Two or three women participate or assist in creating a large piece of
Gantha, thus, this becomes a community driven work made for recreation, souvenir
and as a dowry article for their daughters. This technique is also called khalli silai
(leaf plate stitches) because fabrics are joined together with small stitches like a
leaf plate. She showed a narrow width ordinary piece of Gantha made by her using
patch work .The edges and borders are usually not uniform. While quilting the
stitches reshape the borders and patches, giving interesting texture and weight.
With great difficulty and persuasion Sabitri Maharana from Chundikhole

village agreed to be photographed with her basic hand stitched tippo Gantha. It had
with two different colours in the front and back of the quilt. Her nose ring seemed
very interesting and unique, in earlier days women in South Odisha used to adorn
themselves with nose ring on both the sides and another nose ring hanging in-
between the nose and resting on the tip of the lips.
Rajamani Maharana with her granddaughter, Photo-Tanuja Sethi
Rajamani Maharana from Sikula village had already collected bundle full of
old sarees for a new Gantha. This will be her gift for her granddaughter's dowry. It
is a custom to prepare dowry articles such as quilts from a very young age and later
the newlywed bride would carry her dowry in a large sized pedi-wodden box with
her personal belongings such as sarees, jewellery, kitchen article and Gantha inside
it. This is the Gantha tradition-the story of quilting tradition- carrying memories,
stories of people and craft from the heart of Ganjam.
Rajamani Maharana (left) with her beautiful tippo Gantha, Photo-Tanuja

Sethi
Rajamani showed her tippo gantha with colourful printed borders of old
sarees with patches placed against the white cloth base. The colourful assortment
of borders with vivid patch work with intricate stitches made it a skilled piece of
work. Her daughter in law- Lakshmi Maharana showed another immaculate piece
of hand stitched farrua gantha which was rendered beautifully using woollen like
acrylic thread. The scale of every stitch was balanced and neat in comparison to
earlier work made by Satyabhama’s work. Probably Lakshmi is younger and have
more patience to create intricate Gantha. Both the artists are proud quilt makers
and the only skilled practicing quilt artists I met in the entire journey during
documentation. The intricacy of their hand stitches and skill level was beyond
imagination. Both the quilt maker’s are expert in two different techniques. While
discussing the work, Rajamani and her daughter-in- law Lakshmi Maharana cited
that none of them can pick up each other’s method of quilting. Both the women
indicated a positive sign that Gantha tradition exists and is not isolated and there is
still hope for reviving this craft.
A vibrant and colourful Gantha made by Padma Maharana from Sikula

village in colourful patches of red, maroon and pink with golden borders. This
beautiful piece of work was lying on her wooden bed in Sikula village. She is the
mother of Rajamani Maharana and the tradition of Gantha has passed on from
mother to daughter as a legacy.
The process of Gantha making involves slow collection of personal old
clothes, dhoti, gamchas and discarded cotton sarees which are carefully sorted and
packed in bundles to be recycled. During the leisure time, women layer seven to
eight layers of sarees and tack it with loose threads which can be rolled and pulled
up again as per convenience. In earlier days, the threads for sewing were procured
from local tanti (weaver) and local kumuti (trading community). It was boiled in
rice starch and twisted together by hand and spun on thighs for enough tensile
strength. The six ply threads are interlocked with chunci (needle) at one end of the
Gantha with one bare foot resting on the layers of cloth for tension. Straight
stitches are taken step by step following the tippo or dot as the needle penetrates
several layers of cloths along the length of Gantha giving equal space with finger
tips. The next row of stitches penetrates in the alternate space in the same direction
with equal space of finger tip in similar method. After covering some distance the
threads are pulled together by hand on the layers of cloth and the tension of threads
gives rippled and textured weave to the tippo Gantha. Many people decorate tippo
Gantha with colourful patches of printed cloth and saree border. The process of
making farrua Gantha is longer in comparison to tippo Gantha. Layers of cloth are
quilted in one direction using straight stitch. After completing the entire pattern,
another stitch is taken in another direction to create step design pattern. This form
of quilting is rarely found. The length and texture of stitches varies from one
person to another. Every piece of Gantha is created slowly by hand encompassing
several stories of cloth and legacy of handcrafted tradition.
The interactions with proud practitioners created the base of research work
and possibility of doing quilt workshop in order to recreate the quilting tradition.
The following images demonstrate the technique and process of Gantha.
Dumduma village workshop, small size Gantha for a commissioned order. Photo-Pankaja Sethi
Quilting workshop. Dumduma village, Khurda.Photo-Pankaja Sethi
Plate 1. Quilting workshop. Photo-Pankaja Sethi

Quilting workshop in Mardkote Village, Ganjam- preparing threads for

quilting. Photo-Tanuja Sethi
.Folding edges of layered sarees inside, Mardkote Village, Ganjam, Photo-Tanuja

Sethi
Tacking all the layers of sarees together, Mardkote Village, Ganjam,

Photo-Tanuja Sethi
Dumduma village, Khurda, women practicing technique of farrua

gantha.
Gantha ra katha- The story of a quilt
This study of Gantha ra katha- the story of quilting tradition of Odisha
brings imperative understanding of existing knowledge of recycled craft used in
rural spaces by people. It is a home based practice made by women during their
leisure hours. Women are the creators who have preserved, sustained and carried
on the tradition till date. Being confined to the boundaries of four walls, quilting
must have evolved for personal usage and recreation in the process. It is an age old
tradition of recycling material by the women, and a legacy passed on from
generations, weaving and engaging several interpretation of material culture from
personal biographies to self expression art form. Living within imitation of time
and space; craft practices such as quilting tradition became one of the medium of
expression for women. It could also mean emancipation of personal expression
through quilting practice.
This project adds a new dimension to the visual and represented art form of
quilting tradition which echoes personal biographies of people, memories,
impressions, love and reflections rendered with hand crafted stitches. ‘Recycling
threads of life’ Gantha narrates the ‘story of quilt-Gantha ra Katha’ -how the quilt
travels, connecting threads, connecting social message, stories of women and
materials layered within layers. It is a journey of quilt - a folklore which lived for
years, a meaningful journey touching the soul and expression of many people.
Tracing the roots from urban suburb space to rural villages in Ganjam
district, women artists proudly presented their work with grace. It is an irony that
many artists we met have disconnected themselves from the local craft and some of
the skilled artists did not want to pursue it. Artists interviewed in this paper belong
to Maharana community; however, this craft is also pursued by other communities
as it is a home based recycled craft and this study created hope for further research
work. The documentation process kindled a ray of hope among the practicing
community and interest to adapt and continue this age old practice. Workshops and
interview brought out voices of women and honour to all who had sewn stitched
and carried the quilting tradition in the timeless process of creation. The story of
quilt recorded the voices of craft practitioner, their personal story in relation to this
tradition – how women are engaging with the recycled textile material in their
mundane life. Moreover, the visuals essay captures the entire process- celebrating
the journey and narrative expression of Gantha. Considering the milieu, research
and documentation on this quilting tradition was essential because several local
trades and traditions have disappeared and are slowing disappearing. The living
Gantha- quilting tradition is still alive with few people and may live for some
years. Thus, the endeavours and journey of quilting tradition of South Odisha-
Gantha ra Katha encompassed through the visual documentation created a spark
among the practitioner and hope of sustaining the craft.
Tribal Customary Marriage Practices Among the Major Tribes of South Odisha - An
Ethnographic Approach
T. Akshya Kumar
Liza Swain
Abstract
The cultural heritage of any primitive society built on its age old customs
and traditions. In any civilised and progressive society, marriage played an
important role to provide a kind of safeguard to continue the so called age old
customs and traditions. Marriage is one of the universal social institutions
established to control and regulate the life of mankind. It is the centre of a family
which is turns as a significant unit of the social structure. The present paper throws
the light on the tribal forms of marriage and ways of acquiring mates practices
among the tribes of southern Odisha which is based on ethnographic study.
KEY WORDS: Tribal customary marriage, types of tribal marriage, ways of
acquiring ma
Introduction
Odisha is one of the most fascinating ethnographic states of India. The tribal
communities are found in varying concentrations in almost all districts of Odisha.
As per 2011 census, about 22.8% of Odisha’s population consists of people of
tribal origin. Odisha occupies a distinct position in the tribal map of India. Since
the age of Ramayana and
Mahabharata, the tribal’s occupy a putative role and the Jagannath cult is
interwoven with tribal religion which has given genesis to a paradigm of
integration. The tribal’s of Odisha is known as Adivasi (aborigine), Vanabasi
(forest dweller) and Girijana (mountain dweller). Linguistically the tribes of
Odisha are broadly classified into three categories, like; Indo-Aryan speakers,
Dravidian speakers and Austric speakers. The article 242 of the Constitution of
India states that Odisha is home to as many as 62 scheduled tribes. Among the 62
tribes of Odisha most number of tribes are found in the southern region of Odisha
among them the tribes like; Savara or Saora, Bonda, , Kond and Koya are
imperative. Geographically South Odisha comprises six districts i.e. Ganjam,
Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangapur and Malkangiri. In southern Odisha
the largest population dominated by the tribal community. The tribes of this region
are comes under the primitive tribal groups of Odisha, they mainly in habit the
Eastern Ghats hill range, which runs in the north- south direction. For having a
larger population of tribal communities, South Odisha is popularly known as the
hub of tribe.
As we all knows that, every society or community is bonding with some
socio-cultural religious activities as well as certain rules and regulations. Among
those socio-cultural practices marriage played a vital role which is turns as a
significant unit of the social structure. It is the complex of social norms that define
and control the relations of a conjoined pair to each other, their relative, their
offspring and society at large. Marriage is one of the universal social institutions
established to control and regulate the life of mankind. It is the approved social
pattern where by two or more organize and understand the consequences of a
natural persons establish a family. The marriage tradition generally transforms the
roles and responsibilities of two individuals and is closely associated with the
institution of family.
Let us have a look at how the tribal customary marriage occurs among the
tribes of southern Odisha.
Savara/ Saora Tribe

Marriage can be of several types. All over tribal India, and in other parts of
the world as well, we come across rules laying down prohibitions, preference and
prescriptions in deciding the form of marriage. There are different forms of
marriage such as ;
Preference and prohibitions – A taboo on sexual relations between closely
related kin like parents and children and between siblings is universal.
Exogamy- practice of marrying outside one’s clan
Endogamy- The reverse practice of marrying within one’s tribe or very
rarely clan
Since pre-historic days the land of Odisha has been inhabited by various
clans. The earliest settlers of Odisha were primitive hill tribes. The Savara tribes
are considering as one the primitive tribe not only in Odisha but also in India.
They also know as the Saora tribe. They are one of the most populous tribes of
the country. Presently, they inhabit in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
West Bengal, Tripura, Bihar and Assam However, the present Odisha state
contains nearly three-fourths of the total population of the Savara. In Odisha, their
number is about 3, 42 lakhs and are distributed in 13 districts. In this State they are
mostly concentrated in Ganjam and Koraput districts of south Odisha. Their
population in these two districts account for more than one-third of the total Savara
population in the country.
Regarding marriage the Savara follow strict endogamy at community level.
One does not marry outside the community. The community endogamy is
commonly approved and sanctioned by the Savara society, the breach of which is
considered as the breach of law. In marriage, endogamy is allowed at village and
community level but not at lineage/ gotra level/ clan level. In the case of Exogamy
is allowed at village level, gotra level, clan level and surname level but exogamy is
strictly restricted at community level these above marriage rules may lead to
sanctions by society head.
Serial monogamy is practised by Savara and limits themselves to one wife at
a place. In case of divorce or death of wife, a Savara can marry again and remains
to be monogamous. Polygene exists in two specialized variations as sororal
polygamy and non-sororal polygene. In the sororal polygene form of marriage the
wife of Savara encourages him ti marry her sister in order to avoid the division of
parental property. But this happens only when all the siblings are females without a
single male to inherit the property. But in non-sororal polygene this marriage rule
is not applicable. In Savara tribe cross cousin marriage are more common and
occasionally maternal uncle-niece marriages are also observed.
The preferential method of acquiring a mate among the Savara is marriage
by negotiation and mutual agreement (Penkui) which involves long procedure
depending upon the talks of either party. The other methods acquiring mate among
the Savara are marriage by elopement (Dandaboi), Marriage by service
(Kinarsung) and Marriage by exchange (Ulaiboi). Due to economic considerations
less number of marriages occurs through negotiation which is very costly involving
considerable expenditure on gifts, liquor etc. and large number of marriages
occurs by elopemen which involving less expenditure.
Savara understand the relationship between conception and sexual inter-
course, they believe that human effort should also be sufficiently strengthened by
the blessings of gods for the proper procreation of the race. Therefore, the Savara
generally do not indulge in sexual inter- course during night time as they believe
that female organs sleep during night times. The forest is preferred to the house for
sexual inter- course during day time. When a couple is engaged in sexual activity
in the forest two wood poles or three branches are placed “X” shape indicating to
others nobody should disturb them by going that way. But now-a-days the practice
is on the wane and many husband wife are preferring night times for sexual inter-
course in their own houses.
The census 2011 enumerates that there are 56 nos. Of ST communities
residing in Malkangiri district. Out of them the ‘Koya’ tribe has the highest
population and Bonda are autochtonous communities in the area.
Koya Tribe
The Koya tribal community has been of considerable interest from point of
view of their society and culture. The Koyas are distributed in Malkangiri district
of Odisha, and the neighboring states – Andhra pradesh and Chhatisgarh.
As per the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes Order, 1950), the Koyas [Gumba
Koya, Koitor Koya, Kamar Koya and Musara Koya] were listed as scheduled
tribes in Odisha. The members of the Koya tribe that inhabit in the entire district of
Malkangiri of south Odisha, call themselves Koyas or Koitor meaning ‘people’.
Koya society strictly follows the traditional social ceremonies. The procedure
adopted in the ceremonies may vary from village to village, but the object remains
the same. It aims at making the ceremony convenient and hassle free to the
individual and the community at large. The marriage can be said to have been
proper and complete when boy and girl spend a night together in a house. The
ceremonies aim at sublimating the love of the couple.
Marriage or pendul (See Plates 01-07) is one of the most important social
functions without which a man becomes groundless in the society. For Koya,
marriage is a necessity because they have to perpetuate their generations and
satisfy the biological need related to the sexual urge. Moreover, the wife is the
indispensable partner in all spheres of their lives. The Koyas attach little or no
importance to the physical beauty of a girl for marrying. The criteria for a coveted
wife are her sound health and ability to undertake arduous labour. The qualities of
a good husband lie in the fact of his being physically tall and healthy, able to
support the family and having a large number of cows and bullocks.
The age for marriage is fixed at the maturity of both the sexes. The Koyas
think a boy attains maturity when hairs appear in his armpits and develops
moustache. Usually these things happen when a boy is aged twelve to thirteen. And
so, the marriageable age for boys starts at thirteen or fourteen. A girl becomes
marriageable when she attains puberty (amshrall), irrespective of her age. In many
cases the age of wives is more than that of their husbands. This is one of the
important reasons why the Koyas practise polygamy. But this is not always the
case. The problem arises when a nubile girl marries a bridegroom, who has not
actually attained maturity but is thought to have attained it. In this case the wife
has to wait until her husband is fully grown up. She stays with her husband and is
expected to remain virgin, but this does not actually happen. There are few
instances like an adolescent boy marrying an infant bride, in which case the boy
has to wait until she is grown-up and comes to stay with him.
Freedom in the selection of a spouse is very limited and it is only the parents
who take the initiative in marriage negotiations. The marriage negotiation starts
before few years or sometimes before few months. The parents and relatives of
bridegroom go to the bride’s house with proposal. After the bride price is
negotiated by both the parties in the presence of peda (chief of the village) and the
villagers, the date of marriage is fixed. They also obtain the consent of the girl.
Where freedom is exercised by any girl or boy, the marriage is tolerated but after a
very complicated method of the payment of compensation. The commonly
practised form of marriage is known as Pendul.
The system of marriage in which a boy picks up a girl with the help of his
friends when she is in the forest or field is known as Karsu Pendul. In this case
compensation has to be paid to the bride's father. The other form, where a girl
having a previous connection with a boy enters forcibly to the boy's house to stay,
is called lon-udi-wata marriage. In this case the bride price (to be paid to the bride's
father) is much less than that in other forms of marriage, because she enters the
groom's house at her own will and without the consent of the parents. In the case
where a boy selects a girl, he has to obtain the consent of the girl directly or
indirectly. Then he tells his father of his motive and if his father agrees, he brings
the girl to his house with the help of his friends. The bride's father demands
compensation from the boy in terms of money and goods. Out of the compensation
amount, the villagers use a portion for a feast as they help the bride’s father in
obtaining compensation from the boy. Instances are also found of marriages by the
exchange of sisters known as marsanad pendul.
Koya marriage season begins soon after the first harvest is over and
continues till the month of April. In selecting a bride, preference is given to the
maternal uncle's daughter (crupiki) or father's sister's daughter (crupiki). This is the
generally approved form of marriage. The period of marriage ceremony continues
for three days. It begins by the ceremonial fetching of the water from nearby water
source by the ‘yange’ or the elder brother’s wife. She is accompanied by a group of
women to do this. They sing songs while bringing water. Singing is a regular
feature and during the ceremony nothing goes without being accompanied by
chorus sung by the group of women relatives of the bride as well as groom. The
water that is brought is called ‘Putu Eru’ or bath water. On the second day also the
collection of water by the elder brother’s wife continues. The bridegroom or
kokand sits on lap of his elder brother’s wife and tamarind and turmeric paste with
ghee is smeared on the body of the groom. Water is poured over him and he wears
the new cloth. Then he is made to visit all other families in that village belonging
to his own clan. He visits these houses with the accompaniment of drums. A few
men are sent by the groom’s father to the village of the bride or Kokad to fetch her.
These people go with invitation and stay there for the night. Next day or on
the day of the wedding, accompanied by a number of women, friends and relations
singing and dancing, the bride is brought to the groom's house. The groom’s father
sends pots of landa to the brides party when they come closer to groom’s village.
On getting the liquor, they all drink and rest for a while and then start again. By
this time the dancing ground has already become crowded with hundreds of people
both male and female participating in the dance. The men wear the bison horn
headgears and beat the Dhols rhythmically. The women dance to the rhythm of the
drum beats. This creates a wonderful festive atmosphere.
It is interesting to note that, the villagers from distant places come to dance
in the marriage ceremony even without being invited. They are given rice beer
(landa) to drink and some food. On this occasion several types of songs are sung
by the women folk of both the parties. Each song has a specific purpose and sung
at a particular time. The Koyas also perform the ceremonial dance, wearing bison
horns on their heads during the marriage.
Bonda Tribe
In the remote highland country within mighty Kondakamberu ranges of
Eastern Ghats rising on the eastern side of Malkangiri district lives the brave and
beautiful human race called “Bonda” The Bonda is a numerically small and archaic
tribal group inhabited in a compact area of the Khaipur block of Malkangiri district
of south Odisha. The Malkangiri district is inhabited by 13 tribal groups, out of
which two communities Bonda and Didayi are designed as Particual Vulnerable
Tribal Communities. Basically they fall under the category of Hunter gatherers and
Shifting Cultivators. They belong to the Proto- Australoid race and have dialect of
their own known as “Remo (men)”. They were well known for their homicidal
tendencies and aggressive behaviour. Due to huge degree of illiteracy,
inaccessibility and confinement to a particular territory, the Bonda have managed

to keep themselves away from the influence of the outside world. Even today, the
belief and practices of their society are followed religiously.
Marriage is the most remarkable event to a Bonda during his life time as his
cherished dream comes true by acquiring a mate. Marriage confers on them the
social sanction to indulge in legitimate sex among the marrying couples while
living as husband and wife. Besides, it brings them the challenges of certain new
roles as father, mother, husband and wife to play.
Like the other tribal communities the Bonda’s also have their own rules and
regulation. The Bonda rules of marriage are farmed as well as regulated by three
sects of relationships i.e. the relationship with his clan (Kuda), the relationship
with his community and the relationship with his sorubhai.
As regards the age of marriage the Bonda community follows a peculiar
practice with its boys and girls. As per the practice, a boy of 8 to 10 years of age
marries a girl of 16 to 18 years of age. This indicates that the boys in their society
marry when they are still child and girls, when they attain puberty and became
adult. Interestingly Bonda women states that boys becomes old when they
develops beard and moustache in his face which Bonda girls are not like therefore
they marry the boys when they are not mature physically.
Another interesting thing in the Bonda society is that the youth enjoys
absolute freedom for the selection of his/her life partner. No other tribal society of
Odisha has granted freedom to such an extent to their youths as enjoyed by the
Bonda tribe. Neither the parents nor any relatives try to interfere in such a matter.
But at the same time, they do not forget to follow the rules of marriage prescribed
by the society. There are two ways of acquiring mates among the Bonda society;
1. Marriage by mutual consent (Sebung)
2. Marriage by capture (Guboi).
Among these two types of marriages the Sebung marriage is considered to

be ideal and prestigious in the society but the second one or Guboi marriage is not
rare among the Bonda society.
The Sebung marriage is regular and socially approved. This type of marriage
is very complex and expensive. Negotiation is only a formality in such type of
marriage. After the marriage to bring the bride with them the boy’s parents
carrying with them several pots o cooked food and rice beer (handia). The food and
drink served to the bride’s family and relatives. After this in the same evening or
the following day, the groom’s party returns with the bride who brings with her a
basketful of cooked rice, meat and rice beer for distribution the boy’s relations.
The girl on her arrival is cordially received by her mother in law who sprinkles
turmeric water on her feet and gives a mark on her forehead with a paste of
uncooked rice. Just before she taken in, she is take in, she receives gifts and
blessings from the relations of the boy’s relations. These rituals are the vital
aspects of Bonda marriage, which gives the boy and the girl social recognition as
husband and wife.
In the Bonda society, the widow or widower is allowed to remarry if they so
like. Like others they also get equal status as that of the others and they do not
practice polygamy, unless the occasion demands.
Among the Bonda society, payment of bride price (ginning) is a must in all
types of marriage except when they practice levirate. Normally, before marriage,
the two parties fix the amount to be paid and soon after marriage payment is made
to bride’s family by the groom’s family. Generally, the bride price consists of some
cattle’s, few pots of liquor and some cash. This entire are depends on negotiation
between both the sides.
Kondh Tribe
The Kondhs or the Kui’s are one of the largest tribal communities of Odisha.
They are believed to be a form of the proto-Australoid ethnic group. Their native
language is kui, a Dravidian language written in Odia script. The Kondhs are
expert land dwellers exhibiting greater adaptability to the forest environment. They
are mostly concentrated Kondhamal, Gjanjam, Koraput, Kalahandi and Rayagada
districts of south Odisha. They are also divided into many sub-groups like Dongria
Kondh, Desiya Kondh and Kutia Kondh etc.
Kondhs have no caste system. They maintain a social distance by an
observance called 'bisa'. This is strictly observable with regard to cooking, eating
and marriage among Kondhs. In this tribe marring a cousin on either the maternal
or paternal side is considered impossible. Girls are usually chosen for marriage
from a different village. However, there is no territorial exogamy. Marriage is
settled after the bride price is fixed. Generally it is paid in the shape of money,
ornaments, buffaloes, cows, goats, utensils and other articles. The Kui folk do not
look for a beautiful woman as a bride, they rather look for an industrious, hard
working housewife. Nuclear type of family is found common among the Kondhs.
While taking into the consideration of the Desiya Kondhs (Sub group of
Kondh) , according to them they were the successors of the original Kondh tribe,
they inherited and practised the traditions, customs and rituals of their forefathers.
The marital tradition of Desia Kondh is very interesting. There are two types of
marriage systems prevailing in Kondh society.
1. Khincha Biha or Tana Kania
2. Mola Biha or arranged marriage.
Before marriage the young boys of Kondh family (Dhangadas) choose their
life partners from Hatta (Weekly Market) or from Dinda Ghar or Dangari Idu. If
Dhangada (Unmarried Boy) selects a Dhangidi(Unmarried Girl) in hatta and
decides to marry her so that dhangidi is forcibly taken away ( kidnapped) or eloped
with the help of his tanes (friends). Then message made with understandings of
two families. Along with this during the time of celebration of the several festivals
the Kondhs were performs their traditional folk dance and songs. Specially
Unmarried boys and girls are participated in this dance. The girls dressed with their
special attire, like arms, and dance to intricate Khanjani beats. These dance
festivals also help them to choose their life partner.
Conclusion
The present study reveals that, there are various types of marriage practices
occur among the tribes of Odisha particularly in southern Odisha. But all these
rituals are based on the traditional rules of those meticulous communities. If we are
going to make a comparative analysis regarding their marriage practices and rules
we can observe much amalgamation among them. The tribal marriage system is of
particular interest as it throws light on the evolution of the system which comprises
practices like winning of the bride by capture, purchase, service to the parent,
elopement- negotiation. In course of time the system of negotiation has come to
receive preference. Payment in various forms is made for bride price but with
modernization the dowry system has come into vogue. The marriage rites are now
performed in the bride's house instead of the groom's house. A prescriptive and
preferential marriage with maternal or paternal uncle’s son or daughter prevails
among Dravidian tribal communities except the Kondhas. Adult marriage is the
usual practice among the Koya’s. Where as, in the case of Bondas and Saoras the
groom is younger than the bride. Polygamy is prevalent among certain tribes to
exhibit prestige and importance. Multiple wives, as with the Saoras, help in sharing
and reducing the burden of labour. Clan exogamy is observed by most tribes and
even village exogamy by some of them. Extra-marital relationship is riot approved
by the tribes and is not of common occurrence either. The most interesting thing in
the Bonda society is that the youth enjoyes complete freedom for the selection of
his/her life partner. No other tribal society of Odisha has granted freedom to such
an extent to their youths as enjoyed by the Bonda tribe. However, with the impact
of the changes of religion like Christianity as well as modernization this so called
ancient sacred rituals and practices are started fading.
References
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SC&STRTI, Govt. of Odisha, Bhubaneswar.
 Sheikh, I, Hafeez-ur-Rehman and A. Naz. (2013). An Ethnographic
Study of Marriage System and the Runaway Brides of Kalash,
Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 16 (10):pp. 1393-1402.
 Singh, K.S. (1994). The Schedule Tribes, Oxford University press,
New Delhi.
Plate 01: - Girl & Boy watching each other during marriage proposal
(Koya Tribe)
Plate 02: - After finalisation of marriage celebration during negotiation

(Koya Tribe)
Plate 03: The village ladies are bathing the groom with holy water on
marriage day.
Plate 04 : Relatives & villagers of groom going for bring the bride
Plate 05: Marriage procession by the bride villagers
Plate 06: Bride and Groom in marriage
Plate 07: Newly Married couple of Koya tribe
Folk Tradition in Chettikulangara, with Special Reference to the Ritual Art

form of Chettikulanagara Kuthiyottam
Priya Soman
Siddharth M
Chettikulangara Sree Bhagavathy temple is one of the most renowned Sakthi

worship temples in Kerala. This temple is situated at Mavelikkara Taluk in
Alappuzha district. One of the most important aspects of Chettikulangara Sree
Bhagavathy temple is the deity here appears as Mahasaraswathy in morning, as
Mahalekshmi in noon and as Mahakali or Sree Durga in evening.
The folklore tradition and arts includes elements from the traditional
lifestyle of the people of a region. The traditional beliefs, customs, rituals etc. are
reflected in the folk art and songs of that region. Chettikulangara has a rich
tradition of Folklore. Folklore in this region is a spontaneous expression of human
behavior and thoughts. Generally speaking, Folklore could be defined as the lore of
the common people who had been marginalized during the reign of feudal Kings
and Bhraminical predomination. The people of Chettikulangara have their culture
and lore which were mostly part of agricultural. Sowing, planting, clearing out the
weeds, harvests etc. are the different stages of agriculture which have their typical
rituals. Numerous songs and performing arts are accompanied with them
.Religious coloring is seen in almost all of these folk dances, even in those
performed in connection with harvests, sowing of seeds, festivals etc., so much so
that their secular nature is always at doubt. There is difficulty in classifying these
dances as social, religious and martial.
The folk arts of Kerala can be broadly classified into two as ritualistic and
non-ritualistic. Ritualistic folk arts can be further divided into two as devotional
and magical. Devotional folk arts are performed to propitiate a particular God or
Goddess. Chettikulangara Kuthiyottam is an example for this. Folk art forms like
thottampattu, which is performed in Chettikulangara is composed in the form of
songs. Magical folk arts seek to win general prosperity for a community or
exorcise evil spirits or to beget children. Gandharvas and nagas are worshipped in
order to win these favours. The magical folk arts include pambinthullal,
pooppadathullal, kolamthullal, malayankettu etc. Most of the folk dances are
performed to the accompaniment of songs which are sung by the dancers
themselves or occasionally by a group of musicians. Some dances are performed to
the accompaniment of musical instruments only. In several dances the performers
form a circle and clap as they dance. Sometimes, instead of clapping they strike
small sticks which they hold in their hands.
The Chettikulangara Sree Bhagavathy Temple is famous for the art forms
like Kuthiyottam and Kettukazcha.This temple has played a major role in the social
unification of the society here. The festivals here are an event of all section of
people in Chettikulangara nadu of neighbouring places. Public feasts, construction
of kettukazcha etc ensure the participation of people belonging to different classes.
. Another important feature of the feast is that the ingridients of the feast are made
in the village itself. During barani day all houses will prepare a special dish using
fish which is an example of a brahmanical tradition followed, even though
Brahmins are enjoying the rituals and rites of the temple.
Chettikulangara Kuthiyottam is a unique temple art which is a symbolic

representation of human bali or homicide and this is considered as the most unique
offerings to the deity here .The main objective of this seminar paper is to reveal the
and understand about the folk tradition of the rituals of Chettikulangara with
special reference to Kuthiyottam, the world famous traditional temple art form of
kerala.
The main highlight to these festivals of Chettikulangara is of course

Kuthiyottam, which is very unique in its features. The Kuthiyottam started on the
fine day of Shivarathri. Kuthiyottam is probably the single largest unique devotee
offering or Vazhupadu in Kerala or in any part of the country in terms of
expenditure involved. According to present circumstances and Market condition,
the expenditure for even a minimum state kuthiyottam runs to at least rupees three
to five lakhs. Kuthiyottam is performed as an important offering to the deity. It is a
symbolic human sacrifice to appease goddess Kali. It is believed that the origin of
kuttiyottam is from blood sacrifice to please the ferocious Goddess Kali and the
ritual has moderated over time, possibly under the influence of Buddhism
.Kuttiyottam sponsors who vow to offer Kuttiyottam adopt two or four pre-
pubescent who are to symbolically sacrificed on behalf of the sponsor. They are
adopted on the day of shivaratri and brought to the sponsor’s house where a
canopy is erected and a shrine of Kali is constructed... On the fine day of
Shivarathri these children will start their training under well trained masters known
as Kuthiyotta Asans. All these days up to Bharani, these people will host public get
together and arrange food for them .The children will be taught a special dance
steps Called Kuthiyotta Chuvadukal. On the day of bharani the boys are bathed and
dressed up as kings with paper crown, bangles and fac. Their abdominal skin is
pierced with silver or golden thread the ritual is known as Chooral Muriyal the
name comes from Chooral (cane), as cane threads were used earlier and muri (cut).
They are then taken to the temple, accompanied by pompous procession. In the
front of the sanctum sanctorum they dance to four songs praising the goddess and
thread is then removed and offered to the goddess. These boys are now ritually
dead and may not take part in kuttiyottam again.
Kuthiyottam is mainly a ritual dance practiced and perfected through several

centuries .It used to be done only in the places decided to conduct it by the people,
who pledged to conduct it. Kuthiyottam starts one week before Bharani Day. It is a
type of folk dance performed by youth with the accompaniment of folk music and
other musical instruments. Children adopted for symbolic homicide were taught
the ritual dance here amidst of big social gathering before the portrait of the deity
.Fasts also provided for all the people gathered there.
Kuthiyottam is in fact a ritualistic symbolic representation of Human Bali or
Homicide. Homicide Practices of these sacrifices are mostly associated
with Shaktism, and in currents of folk Hinduism strongly rooted in local tribal
traditions. This aimed to pleasing the deity by shed blood and this is really a trace
from folk tradition. In Ancient days, the Primitive war goddess Kottavai is said to
have been pleased by see the blood and the symbolic representation of human
homicide associate with Chettikulangara Kuthiyottam indicate this also.
During Sangam age, the whole Tamilakam, which kerala was a part in it was
divided into different geographical sectors known as 'Tinais'. This was a division
on the basis of Vegetation, flora and fauna. Tinais were of five in numbers which is
known as'Aintinais' .Palai was the third Tinai. This was the arid region ,which was
lack of Vegetation .So the people didn't have any means to live .So, they used to
earned by plundering and worked as protector of merchants by accompanying them
to pass through the Palai Tinai. Blood, blood sheds and war was a part of their
daily routine .Their chief deity was a Goddess called 'Kottavai' .This Kottavai was
the only female deity of the period. She was considered as war goddess of the
period .The people of this Tinai used to conduct human homicides and by this they
shed blood in order to satisfy their mother goddess. Thus Bhadrakali is considered
as the Goddess being satisfied by blood. Kottavai is thus considered as primitive
Bhadrakali .Thus bloodshed was a usual practice in Bhadra kali temple .Thus,
historians argued that kuthoyottam of Chettikulangara temple is really a ritualistic

representation of ancient human homicides.
Folklore exponents see this art form, with enchanting well-structured
choreography and song’s, as one among the rare Aadi Dravida4 folk lore tradition
and environment. Typical to Aadi Dravida folk dance and songs the movements of
dancers ,clad in white Thorthu mundu and baniyan,the simple dress ,
Choreographed in Kuthiyottam are quick, peak at a particular point and ends
abruptly.
A few exponents also site similarities for Kuthiyottam in Padayan another
popular folk lore of Central Travancore. Similarly, the traditional songs also started
in a stylish slow pace, then gain momentum and ends abruptly. Kuthiyotta Kalaries
are run by Kuthiyotta asans.They trained the group to perform the dance and songs.
Normally the training starts about one or two months before the season.
The songs mainly in four rhythms, popularly known as “Paadam”, literally
means footstep and it is compulsory to sing all the four paadam every day of
performing5. The music has resemblance with folk music and in early days it was
orally transferred from generation to generation. The songs elaborated on the deeds
of Bhagavathy, how she killed asuras like Sumbha, Nisumbha and Darika etc and
aims to please her by singing her virtues .Some old songs, rich with lyrical quality,
show the creative talents of the forefathers of Chettikulangara.
The boys who adopted by the man who pledged for Kuthiyottam were get
training and the taught the ritual dance. Early in the morning of Bharani, after food
and other rituals this boys, whose body is pierced with a golden or silver wire at
one end of which tied in their belly and an aracnut fixed on the tip of a knife held
high over their head are taken in procession to the temple with the accompaniment
of beating of drum, music, ornamental umbrellas and other classical folk art forms,
elephant etc. All the way to the temple tender coconut water will be continuously
poured on their body.
After the procession reached the temple the boy stand at a position facing
Sree kovil or the sanctum sanctorum and begin to dance. Then the wire pierced to
their skin where by a few drops of bloods comes out .The ceremony comes to an
end with the presentation of prizes to the Kuthiyotta Asans and ths is known as
Dakshina6.
Besides Kuthiyottam, there are some other rituals and tradition in
Chettikulangara, which has routs in tradition and folk life style. During the time of
Ethirelppu Mahotsavam the rituals Thottampattu is sung by a section of the
community residing in the far off Trivandrum .Some historians argued that, the
Thottampattu here indicate the existence of Abrahmana Worship in
Chettikulangara.
Thottampattu is an old ritual performed at the Pattambalam in the temple
premises during the thirteen day Ethirelppu festival. Bhadrakali‘s mudi, the
imaginary hair of goddess, that is a size wooden piece with deity’s sculpture
portrait will be installed in the Pattambalam. Thottampattu is performed before
this Bhadrakali’s Mudi with necessary preparations. Kuruppasans of a family from
Kaniyapuram near Thiruvananthapuram sings Thottampattu, the songs aimed to
invoke Bhadrakali, thrice during every day of the festival. The songs and rituals
related to Thottampattu always throw light to the traditional and folk lore aspects
of the folk lore system of Central kerala.
Mainly, the traditional songs in thottampattu include “Darika Vadham”, the
killing of a demon named as Darika by Bhagavathy, Balaka’s birth etc .People
believed that children would cure and develop immunity from fits Pakshibadha,
possibly an ancient name for polio by hearing Thottampattu. All these had some
traits to the folk lore culture and tradition of ancient kerala.
The existence of mother goddess was a reality among the primitive tribal
and agrarian society in kerala .Because they considered nature as their prime
mother. When their agriculture was in profit, they were ready to offer anything to
this Mother goddess. And when agriculture was in lost, they thought that it was
due to the curse of mother goddess. In such situations, they conducted human
homicide, in order to please the mother Goddess. The each and every above
mentioned ritual in Chettikulangara Sree Bhagavathy temple open the way towards
the folk lore traditions of the society.
Thus, by analyzing all these, we can conclude the rituals, art and tradition of
Chettikulangara, especially related to Kuthiyottam have its trait to the folk lore
culture of the society here and that’s why all these became very unique in its
nature.
End Notes
1. Chettikulangara Bhadran,Chettikulangara
AmmaMahatmyam(Keerthanangal), Chettikulangara,2010,p.6
2. Ritualistic dance form associated with Kuthiyottam.
3. Unnithan.K.S,Chettikulangara Kshetram- Mahatmyavum
Aithihyavum,Mavelikara,1993,p.137.
4. Chettikulangara Bhadran,Op.cit.,pp6-7
5. Unnithan.K.s.op.cit.,p.132.
6. Chettikulangara Bhadran,Op.cit.,p8
7. Jayakumar.P.B(ed),Chettikulangara Visesam,Kochi,2003,p.46
REFERNCES
Books
 Bhadran, C. (2002). Chettikulangara Amma Mahatmyam

(Keerthangal) , Mavelikkara.
 Kocheeniyan, E. (2009). Kshetrangeliloode, Cherthala,
 Ganesh, K.N. (1990). KeralathinteInnalekal,Thiruvananthapuram,
 Gurukkal Rajan, P.N. (1992). The Kerala temple and Early Medieval
Agrarian System in Kerala, Sukapuram.
 Jayakumar, P.B. (ed). (2003). Chettikulangara Visesam, Kochi.
 Unnithan, K.S. (1992). Chettikulangara Kshethram Mahatmyam
Aithihyavum Mavelikkara.
Newspapers
1. Malayala Manorama, Kottayam, 20th February, 2010
2. Malayala Manorama, Kottayam, 10th March, 2011
3. Mathrubhoomi, Alappuzha, 6th march 2011
4. Mathrubhoomi, Alappuzha, 25th February, 20
Irony in Context : A Study of Popular Russian Expressions in Soviet Era

Rashmi Kumari Jha
Abstract
A language is not complete without its stylistic tools which enhance its
beauty and add extra colour to the languages. As sometimes we see that the
speaker does not mean what he says, one uses empirical tools of languages in
languages to shade the whole picture. Present article deals with one of the
linguistic tropes and its uses in language and speech.
Keywords – Irony, Tropes, context, Soviet period, Language
This article talks about one of the very common stylistic tools in a language
and how this tool influences and changes the understanding of the natives as well
as of the foreign learners. Like any other language in Russian as well, Irony is a
complex linguistic phenomenon which occurs quite spontaneously amid
communication. Comprehending irony at times is a tough task because of its
cultural, situational, verbal and sometimes historical background. It is quite
difficult for individual to decode the irony in a sentence if one has no idea about
the back story of the expression, so it demands a precise and logical listener in its
application. As per Jeff Keller “it has a real value and a face value” (Keller J.,
Irony) the face value is not surprising in nature as it describes the direct meaning of
a word or a sentence, But what makes it ironic in nature is the real value and that is
why discussing irony in linguistic discourse needs an honest audience, because an
honest audience can find out the meaning hidden in it. According to Norman D.
Knox “it always has an audience, even if it is only the author amusing himself; and
a victim, who is deceived by appearance and enlightened by reality, although an
author may turn himself into a pseudo victim.”( Knox, Norman D. "Irony", in
Dictionary of the History of Ideas, 1973) this describes the innate nature of the
irony which always has a person to play upon, leaving others to discuss. Irony uses
antonymous expressions instead of antonyms which indicate that it mocks upon the
individuals using those qualities which they do not possess in reality. The linguistic
aspect of irony covers a wider section of cognitive linguistic sciences which is
based on the principle of different analogy of human mind and that is why it is
easier for irony to have new expressions each and every day because the study of
human mind is a complex phenomenon, it changes from person to person and no
one has understood it completely which leaves a wider scope for research.
What is an irony?
Irony is a device of both mind and language for acknowledging the gap
between what is expected and what is observed. (Gibbs, Raymond W. Jr., Colston,
Herbert L. Irony in language and thought: A Cognitive Science Reader: NY,
2007.)
As per different interpretation An Irony is;
A figure of speech in which what is stated is not what is meant. The user of
irony assumes that his reader or listener understands the concealed meaning of his
statement.
In stylistics, a statement with a double meaning that expresses mockery or
cunning. In irony a word or utterance acquires in the context of speech a
significance that is opposite to its literal meaning, negates it, or casts doubt upon it
(Rozin N. P., The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1979).
Irony in soviet period

The uses of irony in Russian literature cannot be stated, it has already started
way back in 19th century when writers started criticizing governing bodies using
ironical expressions. Since then it has engraved its presence everywhere in Soviet
literature. Many of popular soviet writer, poet and linguist gave this a new impulse.
V. G. Belinsky, N. A. Nekrasov, and M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, N. V. Gogol is
some prominent names who beautifully used their literary techniques and rhetoric
expressions to use irony. The need for something which could directly praise and
metaphorically criticize the regime gave birth to ironic expressions in Russian
literature, as we know about the stringent and highly authoritarian rule of soviet
era.
Irony in context
Contextual irony or irony in context has evolved due to its usage in socio-
historical events. This includes the expressions used by some famous literary
characters, in some particular context or the expressions used by prominent faces
in order to address and aware the masses and even now as well these expressions
are timeless but with a different interpretation.
Here are few examples from the soviet era and which later on transformed in
to a contextual irony.
 Every cook must learn to govern the state.
This quote was taken from an article of V. I. Lenin “Can the Bolsheviks
Retain State Power?” Lenin talking about the proletariats says “so we are not
utopians we know that any unskilled worker and cook is not able to run the
government but we demand an immediate break with the prejudiced view that only
the rich, or officials chosen from rich families, are capable of administering the
state, of performing the ordinary, everyday work of administration. We demand
that training in the work of state administration be conducted by class-conscious
workers and soldiers and that this training be begun at once…”
This expression was then used to show that everyone was equally important
and any one can govern the state but now it is used ironically and indicates towards
those people who are unprofessional and unskilled and but engaged to important
work of state.
 Pipe of peace
There was a tradition in the natives of North America that on the name of
reconciliation they smoked with the enemy a pipe which was called “pipe of piece”
it was first mentioned by the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 — 1882) in
“The Song of Hiawatha" which was translated in Russian by Ivan Bunin in 1896 .
In Russia this expression became popular from the novels of the American writer
James Fenimore Cooper (1789 — 1851) "Pathfinder", "Prairie", "The Last from
Mohicans".
To smoke the pipe of peace" meant to make peace or to reconcile. But now
pipe of peace is used ironically to show the false and figurative reconciliation.
 Rich Buratino
This expression is from a movie "The Adventures of Buratino" (1975), made
by the Director Leonid Nechayev and written by Ivana vetkina which was based on
the fairy tale "Gold Key" (1936) of Soviet writer Aleksey Tolstoy (1883 — 1945).
This expression indicates to those people who became rich not from their
own labor or qualities but from other means.
 Solo performance (theatre of one actor)
This expression became trendy in Russia in 1920.The story was about a
theatre named Sovrimennik in Russia which was established in 1927 and the only
actor in theatre — Vladimir Nikolayevich Yakhontov (1899 — 1945) played the
entire role.
This term is now used ironically for that organization whose heads play all
the important roles and give no space to others.
 Privy councilor of the leader
This expression became popular from the work of Vladimir Uspensky. It

was used for Stalin and his advisers and councilors who always stayed besides him
and defended his policies no matter how bad or illogical it was.
Later on the term became ironical for those advisors and official heads who
always supported the decisions of their heads.
 We’ve been ploughing
This set expression is used as irony for those people who take credit of
other’s achievements and exaggerate there importance and role in any business.
The term originated from the fable 'The Fly' (1803) by Ivan Ivanovich
Dimitriev (1760-1837):
He wrote
Bull with a plow worked hard on the feilds
A fly was seated on his horns, and
They met with each other.
'How are you, sister?' - Was his question.
And she raised the nose, and said in response:
How? - We’ve been ploughing!
 Drunken Hare
This phrase was used in a fable by Sergei Mikhalkov ‘Drunken Hare'
Yes I will skin him alive
And send him to Africa naked!
Says a drunken rabbit about the lion. But as soon as a lion appears in front of
him, he trembles in fear and started shivering.
The phrase ‘drunken hare' is used as an ironically for coward people, who
fakes their strength in front of others.
 Oh! Familiar faces!
This expression originated from the comedy 'Woe from Wit' (1824) of
Alexander Griboyedov
(1795-1829). in which Famusov says (Act 4)
Daughter, Sophia Pavlovna!
Shameless! Where! With whom!
Just like her mother, my deceased wife
Sometimes my better half
Little apart - Already somewhere with a man
Now used to wonder at the unexpected meeting with any person.
These examples show the transitional phase of irony from sentences to
expressions. Even if we consider Hindi language and Russian in the same frame
we will find that intertextuality (story behind expressions) has been an important
linguistic substance which helps irony in endorsing different meanings.
For example the famous expression of Hindi “Tum to Ram ho” used
ironically when someone is cunning and clever enough to deceive people where
“Ram’’ originally indicates a mythological Hindu god who is said to be the most
loyal and honest person on earth. Same with the expression “Tum to Harishchandra
ho” or “Tum to Yudhisthir ho” whereas these names indicates mythological Hindu
gods who were very honest, loyal and truthful, it is used ironically for those who
display antonymous qualities to above mentioned things.
These changes in meaning do not just demonstrate the shift of language from
one dimension to another; it also shows the shift of human cognition and
perception of masses. And if individuals do not possess the ability to comprehend
the intertextuality, irony rooted in it stands away from their cognition. With time
expressions can fade or loose its temper but so far as these stylistics tools exist, it
will keep reinventing its beauty and amusing us in different ways.
References
 Gibbs, Raymond W. Process and products in making sense of tropes:
Metaphor and thought. edited by Andrew Ortony: Cambridge University
Press, 1993.
 Knox, Norman . "Irony", in Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Studies of
Selected Pivotal Ideas, ed. Philip P. Wiener (New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1973), Vol. II, pp. 626-634.
 Muecke, D. C. Irony and the Ironic. Vol. 13, The Critical Idiom. New York:
Metheuen and Co., 1970.
 Lakoff, G. Johnsen, M. Metaphors we live by, London: The university of
Chicago press, 2003.
 Lenin, V. Can the Bolsheviks Retain State Power?: Prosveshecheniye No.
1-2, Moscow, 1917.
 Winner, E. Gardner, H. Metaphor and Irony: Two Levels of Understanding:
Metaphor and thought. edited by Andrew Ortony: Cambridge University
Press 1993.
 Энциклопедический словарь крылатых слов и выражений, Автор-
составитель Вадим Серов, Издательство «Локид-Пресс», 2003.
(Encyclopedia of Idioms and Phrases. Compiled by Vagim Serov : Lokid
press, 2003.)
 Буряков, Е. Статьи о юморе и острословии: теория и практика, 2009.
(Buryakov, I. An article on wittiness and humor: theory and application,
2009.)
Kirat Myths in Some Indian Nepali Poems

Suman Bantawa
Introduction of Myth
In today’s reality, myth is a kind of story. It relates with the gods, the soil
and stones, water and fire, earth and sky, environment, living and non-living,
mankind and the elements beyond human being. Its field has been the world of
faith and fantasy, physical and para-physical, truth and untruth, the imagination
and beyond. That is the reason why some believe the myths as the true story and
others take it for fiction. In fact, the word myth has been derived from Greek word
mythos meaning– oral story (Jagdish Prasad Shreewastav, 1985:6) in English and
Mythak in Hindi and Nepali. Some scholars believe that this has derived from the
religious belief (Lewis Spence,1921:11) in which the stories relating to the origin
of the cosmos, God, Life and Death, re-birth, super-natural and super-human
elements, ancestral or the stories of the gallantries are involved. (Krishnahari
Baral, 2012:175). In this regard, the principle of the scholars such as Morford and
Lenardon etc. on myths as the elaborate stories handed down from the pre-historic
period (Mark P.O. Morford/Robert J. Lenardon 2003:3), has been worth
mentioning because in such myths, the history of mankind and its evolution, can be
traced. From this point of view the myth cannot be taken simply as a fictitious
exercise because there can be found the truthfulness, as well. As a result,
Malinowski has regarded myths as the living reality, (Bronislaw Malinowski,
1948:78).
The myth, in any race, is handed down from generation to generation by way
of oral tradition and its motif is mainly the well being of the mankind. In any
community, these kinds of stories emerge mainly from two types of traditions.
First, it’s the oral tradition and the written tradition is the second one. Written
tradition signifies the tradition of the religious scriptures such as the Vedas, the
Brahamans, the Upanishadas and the Puranas that develop from the well educated
community. And the oral tradition means the stories told from the early times
orally and the same remain between the storyteller and the listener. In such folk
stories coming from one generation to another, the beliefs and the superstitions of
the folks remain there in the central place. These kinds of folklore (folk- stories)
found in vogue in any tribe can be classified in this category. But of such a many
folklore, the myths prevalent in the Kirat tribe of the people of Nepali origin,
found in the poetical writings, has been presented here.
The Relation between Myth and the Poetry

Myth is not an indispensable element of the poetry because we come across
the excellent works of poems even without the use of the myths. But there is a
school of the scholars who recognise the myths as a necessary component in the
literary works. Among them chief scholars are Slegal, Mark Schorer, and Richard
Chase. Mark Schorer states that the myths are the essential base of this poetry and
Chase supports this statement saying that this poetry is the essential base of the
myths. (Krishna Gautam, 1994:148). It is clear from this standpoint that the
relation between the myth and the poetry has been interdependent. But, now the
relation between the two is bridged together and which elements are instrumental
in this exercise, is a matter of further discussion.
In fact, the elements such as imaginativeness, emotions or the symbolism in
the myths assimilate it with the literature. In a way, myths are entertained in the
literature for the sake of the images and symbols. In other words, myths are used in
the literature as a complements of the depth of the content (Luxman Prashad
Gautam, 1999:81). But the myths used largely in literature are not only for this
reason of imaginativeness, emotions or the symbols. Besides, the excellence of the

use of the myths in the literature is for the reason that any writer does review his
own life by explaining or re-explaining the myths (Baral/Atom, 2002:163). From
this standpoint, it can be seen that the myths in any literature has been glorified not
only as a special use in writing but also as a basic element of the literary work. In
other words, there are the poetical works that have become eternal just because
they have stood on the foundation of the myths and for this reason the myths have
been accepted as the basic essential of the literature.
Kirat Myth and Nepali Poems

Kirat myth is dealt here as the one prevalent amongst the Rai and Limbu
tribe within the Kirat group of the Nepali Community. Oral tradition has been a
glorious history of this nature-worshipping community. The oral description
regarding the origin of the universe in vogue in this community is known as the
Mundhum. It is also known as the Kirat Veda because it contains the detailed
history of the creation till date including the laws and restrictions and rituals meant
for the welfare of the individuals, family and the society (Vairagi Kaila, 1999:251).
This Veda is oral originally but recently the efforts have been there underway to go
in for writing the same for the purpose of preservation. According to this oral
Mundhum, Tagera Ningwanfumang the God, first created the universe out of the
big black zero and then created the mankind and all the moving and non-moving
things on earth. Along with the creation of the mankind, there developed among
the human family and society the things like vices, greed and envy etc. The death
or the untimely death and other evil things came side by side with the mankind and
the evil spirits also haunt the human beings all through his lifetime. The mankind
started worshipping the wondrous power of the nature such as the sun, the moon,
the mountains, the rivers, the slopes and the birds and animals for their own
protection believing that the gods dwell on these natural elements (Kaila,
1999:257). In fact, there has been a remarkable similarity between the myths of
Sumnima-Paruhang found in the Mundhum of the Rai clan and the myth prevalent
in the Limbu community. It is for the reason that these two communities were one
and the same originally. Therefore, in some of the poems, the myths of these two
are found in the mixed form. But of these myths, some poets have brought a few
myths as a source of their poetical works.
It is seen that the use of the Kirat myths in Nepali poetry was started since
1963 by Vairagi Kaila along with the tradition of third dimension writing. In his
poem Astitwako Dabima Sabatko Baila Utsav ( Vairagi Kaila, 1994:53) he has
used myth of Tigenjongma (according to Imansingh Chemjong, the daughter of
Nasigen and Tilisopatti, the eighth generation of the human being) (Purna Subba
‘Sabahang’, 2010:106). According to the Kirat Mundhum, Tigenjongma had two
sons– Kesami (the tiger) and Namsami (the human being). The tiger son always
says he would eat up the human son. Their mother gets frightened on hearing that.
One day, she asks her human son to use the arrow if that tiger son attempted to
devour him. Tigenjongma sits back, watching the two flowers named after her two
sons. As per the word, if the flower Ondong faded away, then Kesami would be
killed and if, on the other hand, the flower Sekmari got faded, their Namsami
would be killed. Ultimately, the human being wins (Basudev Tripathi and others,
1990:193). An example of the use of myth in a poem –
Tigenjongna
Kansko Thalma Umareka Jokhanaka Bot harule
Ke bhanchan ?
(Vairagi Kaila, 1994:55)
The tradition of oracle itself is an ancient tribal character and the same is
still prevalent in our folk life. And through this myth the binary opposition
between human being and animal has been shown in two characters, Namsami and
Kesami. In a way, this dialectical trend in human life is there since the very
beginning.
In the same manner, another poet Man Prasad Subba has Limbu Kirat myths
in his poems used with a great success. His poetical work Bhuiphutta
Shabdaharoo, published in the year 2013, contained the following poems which
are remarkable in this view. The poems are Meri Kirati Ama, Akashvani Nasunera,
Ek Dhupauro Rato Angar etc. an example –
Ek Khatti Kirati aimai
Meri Ama
Manuwa dahako sapha taral ainama
Sristiko suonderya dekhna sakne samvednako autar
Sumnimako santan ani
Pashutwa ra manchhetwako ananta dwandwalai
Sekmari phul ra Ondong phulko kalashharuma
Jokhana herdai
Chupchap
Surtale sukiraheki tigenjongnaki natini
Meri Ama.
(Man Prashad Subba, 2013:18)
Commenting on the dialectical nature between this human beings and
animals as an all time law of the things, Shree Subba has given here the poetic
touch to the origin and development of his own mother as descendent of Sumnima
and her offspring Tigenjongna. Sumnima (Pravin Puma, 2011:24-25) is regarded as
the primal mother by the Rai’s Kirat. According to the Kirat Mundhum, Kiratmong
(the creator) first created Newagangninamma and Hitahangninamma and for their
Sumnima was born who created all sorts of creatures on earth. To this same
Sumnima, the Limboos called Yuma Sammang (Vairagi Kaila, 1994:247).
Likewise, we can discuss Subba’s another poem Ek Dhupauro Rato Angar.
In this poem Mangenna (Swami Prapannacharya, 2001:440) a rite of limboos
performed mainly to earn name or prestige, has been dealt prominently. In this
religious rite which is solemnized by the Fedangba, the limbu priest, prayer is
cited to re-instate the lost health or the fame. (Purna Subba, ‘Sabahang’, 2010:143-
44), following the desire and the command of the God Ningwfumang, God
Porokmi Yamfami thought of creating a special creature like human being. In order
to make this human being undying and imperishable, he built the human replica of
the valuable metals like gold or silver and put the life into them. Unfortunately,
that could not become the human being. Again, he made human replica out of the
soil. But, that too, became a very dwarf human being. Considering that this kind of
human being could not reign the world, Porokmi Yamfami threw away that on the
earth. Later, the human being thrown away in this manner became Khambongba
Lungbongba.These khambongba Lungbongba are regarded as Yuma Samyoma– the
Master of the soil and stones.
Ultimately, Porokmi prepared a human replica out of the mixture of the
ashes, bird-dung, soil, air and water. He then put the breath and soul by way of his
divine power and the human being began to speak. On the one hand Porokmi
Yamfami was happy on the creation of a human being but on the other hand he was
rather angry as he failed to create human being out of the valuable metals such as
gold or silver. He became implusive and so he spit at the face of that human and as
a result his head fell down. He became rather lifeless and sick. In this way, the
human being became mortal and had to bear with the humiliation. He could not
bring back that human being to normal out of his trance like state and so he went to
Ningwafumang. From Ningwafumang, the God, he understood that the state of the
human being was due to the act of spitting by himself. As per the advice of
Ningwafumang, the God, the ritual of Semirima Mangema had to perform in the
name of that newly created low-profile human being. Therefore, after the ritual of
Semirima Mangema, that human being became fresh and fine again.
From then onwards, there is the ritual of Mangema, prevalent in the Limbu
community for the sake of the re- instatement of the lost strength and vigour. Here
is an example of its use in the poem of Shree Subba –
Ma
Kardale ghungring khipera phurka-phurka sapanako
Kalash bharera himalko panile jharilo titepatisita
Than sajauchhu
Than aghi baschhu sangkalpalai palentima kasera
Charaitirabata kanma thurrincha janda jhankriko bidrohi dhyangro
Dangkata Dangkata Dangkata Dang-
Ma tyahi layama kanse thal bajauchhu
He Lepmuhang ! Paruhang ! Mahakalbaba !
Yo pahadko shir dhaleko chha
Aja uthna bal gardaichha hai
He Parmessor !
Shir uthaunae shakti dew yaslai
Dangkata Dangkata- Thyang Thyang Thyang-
(Man Prasad Subba, 2013: 81)

In this poem the head of the mountain is shown in the low profile as an
imagery to bring forth the critical racial identity in the present day. Now, the
Mangena ritual is necessary to re-instate the lost pride, the poem has stated.
In the same manner, another poet, Sanjay Bantawa also has used the myths
associated with the Rai’s tribe in his poems. His poem Eklo Chhu Antatira,
compiled in his book Bisangatima Bhiktims Kavitaharoo published in the year
1990 is the best example of this kind. From the very beginning Shree Bantawa
seems aware about the use of myths and here is an example–
Euta Trastatale vaishakh, mangshir-haru
Setammyai, lataramma-
Matoko bedi uthayera ragat haru
Pitri !
Purvajharu dekhinchha Chula-Dhungama.
(Sanjay Bantawa, 1990:56)

In this poem, the Suptulung or Samkha (Pitra or worship of Ancestors) has
been referred as a sacred ritual. This ritual has an important place among the Rai’s
community. After the completion of any new house, the Three Stones are placed in
the sanctum by the Mangpa, Singing the Ridum Mundhum Henkhama Matlunglo
Hangchha muluhha Chhang Matdung i.e. without the earth human life is not
possible. (Rajan Mukarung, 2005:7). These three stones are regarded as the symbol
of Diwalung (Ancestors), Chhenbilung (Property/Daughters) and Sawalung or
Chasumlung (offspring/gentle people) respectively. In this community, all the
rituals right from the birth till death are performed by keeping these stones as the
witness, and normally the ancestors are worshipped twice in a year i.e. in the
month of Vaisakh and Mangsheer.
Thus, the belief is there in this community that the happiness and riches can
be obtained by worshipping the Suptulung or Samkha (the Ancestors). And the
ancestors in this poem are seen in these Fire Stones. That means, they are the
physical form of that symbol.
Conclusion
Thus, the myths are not only the history of the ancient time expressing the
various aspects of life but also are the accumulated knowledge of the real life.
However, they are the religious faith (David A. Leeming, 2005:xi), religious
stories (Satyendra, 2006:103), stories of gods (Hardwarilall Sharma, 1990:405),
disease of the language (Max-muller, 2010:22) and history (Euhemerus, 1921:42)
in non–literary point of view, the symbolism, the emotions and the imaginativeness
inherent in the myths are the important components of the literature. Due to these
reasons, the myths are being necessary elements in the literature. They have their
appropriateness in the literary works. There are some works of literature which
have become immortal because of the myths in them and others are heading
towards this direction. The poems as quoted and discussed above are the best
instances of this fact.
(Translated from Nepali by Arjun Pradhan)
References:
 Baral, Krishnahari, “Mythak ra Sahitya” Ratna Brihat Samalochana-

Saidhantik Khanda Rajendra Subedi/Luxman Prashad Gautam (edit.)
Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 2012.
 Baral, Krishnahari/Atom, Netra, Upanyas Siddhanta ra Nepali
Upanyas Kathmandu: Sajha Prakashan, 2002.
 Bantawa, Sanjay, Bisangatima Bhiktims Kavitaharoo Banaras:
Prashanta Prakashan, 1990.
 Dineshwarprashad, “Mythak ka Swaroop” Loksahitya aur Sanskriti
Allahbad: Jaybharati Prakashan, 2010.
 Gautam, Krishna, Adhunik Alochana: Anek Roop Anek Pathan
Kathmandu: Sajha Prakashan, 1999.
 Guatm, Laxman Prashad, “Vairagi Kaila ra unko ‘Parbat’ Kavitama
Mythakiya Prayukti” Garima 16/2/192 Gopal Parajuli (edit.)
Kathmandu: Sajha Prakashan, 1998.
 Kaila, Vairagi, (second edition) Vairagi Kailaka Kavitaharoo

Kathmandu: Society for Development of Limbu Literature and
Culture, 1994.
 Kaila, Vairagi, “Mundhum” Nirman Sanskriti Biseshanka Pawan
Chamling (edit.) 19/34 Gangtok: Nirman Prakashan, 1999.
 Leeming, David A. “The Nature and Dimensions of Myth” The
Oxford Companion to World Mythology New York: Oxford
University Press, 2005.
 Malinowski, Bronislaw, “Myth in Primitive Psychology” Magic,
Science and Religion And Other Essays Boston: Beacon Press, 1948.
 Morford, Mark P.O./Lenardon, J. Robert, Classical Mythology New
York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
 Mukarung, Rajan, Kirat Sanskar Nepal: Samanwaya Prakashan,
2005.
 Prapannacharya, Swami, Prachin Kiratko Itihas Panchthar:
Kirateswar Prakashan, 2001.
 Puma, Prabin, Henkhama-Ninamma Kirati Mundhumi Mythak
Sangraha Chisapani, Nepal: Sumnima Theater, 2011.
 ‘Sabahang’, Purna Subba, Sekmuridekhi Mikchirisamma Darjeeling:
Bijanbari Kirat Limbu (Yakthung) Chumlung, 2010.
 Satyendra, Loksahitya Vigyan Rajsthan: Rajsthani Granthagar, 2006.
 Sharma, Hardwarilall, Lokvarta Vigyan-1 Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh
Hindi Sansthan, 1990.
 Spence, Lewis, An Introduction of Mythology New York: Moffat
Yard and Company, 1921.
 Sriwastawa, Jagdish Prashad, Mythakiya Kalpana aur Adhunik Kavya
Varanasi: Bishwabidhyalaya Prakashan, 1985.
 Subba, Man Prashad, Bhuiphutta Shabdaharoo Kathmandu: Sangrila
Books, 2013.
 Subedi, Abhi, Sirjana ra Mulyangkan Kathmandu: Sajha Prakashan,
1982.
 Tripathi, Basudev ra Anya (edit.), Nepali Kavita-4 Kathmandu: Sajha
Prakashan, 1990.
Linguistics and
Langauge Pedagogy
Culturally Sensitive Pedagogical Model for the Multilingual Context of

English Language Teaching in India
Nivedita Vijay Bedadur
This chapter discusses the concept of multilinguality in the context of the

multilingual mosaic of India. It argues for an understanding of ELT as a part of the
multilingual mosaic. Finally it proposes a culturally and socially sensitive model of
pedagogy for English which is rooted in a mutually enriching multilingual mosaic.
The first section explores the concept of Multilinguality from many
perspectives. The second section goes on to examine the models of ELT followed
in the country. It goes on to prove that these models follow a subtractive pedagogy
that has no place for the children’s home languages. The third section proposes a
culturally sensitive pedagogy for the teaching of English in India. It finally
describes an experiment in multilingual pedagogy for the teaching of English.
Defining Multilingualism
Multilingualism has been defined by different scholars in different ways. A
Multilingual is a person who has “the ability to use three or more languages, either
separately or in various degrees of code-mixing. Different languages are used for
different purposes, competence in each varying according to such factors as
register, occupation and education” (Aronin & Hufeisen, 2009).A person who is
simply switching or mixing codes to communicate effectively or speaks many
dialects or diaglossia of the same language, is considered Multilingual according to
this definition.
It is also necessary for our purposes to distinguish between additive and
subtractive bi/multilingualism. Additive multilingualism enriches both the
languages by their usage, while subtractive multilingualism refers to the loss of the
first language as the second language dominates the learner’s functional space.
In this chapter we use the term Multilinguality with reference to the human
ability to communicate in several languages. The term multilingualism is used in
the social sense of communicating in one or more languages. A multilingual person
need not be proficient in all the languages which she uses for communication.
Multilingual education and pedagogy are used in this paper with reference to the
languages that are taught and used in the functional and communicative spaces in
the school in India. It also refers to the use of these languages as the media of
instructioniv.
TheNature of Multilinguality
In todays’ global world most human beings are multilingual. Agnihotri
posits that Multilinguality is the nature of human beings (Agnihotri, Identity and
Multilinguality : The Case of India, 2006). Franceschini defines Multilingualism as
the fundamental human ability to be able to communicate in several languages
(Franceschini, 2011). We can look at multilinguality as a concept from three
different perspectives.
Language - Multilinguality is the nature of language. All languages in a

sense are a mixture of other languages. Commerce, conquest and exploration has
led to the movement of people throughout history leading to a borrowing and
assimilation of terms from other languages, in all languages of the world. In
another sense almost all languages have a certain amount of diaglossia4, a
condition where spoken or informal language differs significantly from formal
4
Diaglossia – A Language having two or more forms – formal and informal, quite distinct from each other
written language.Languages also have class and caste varieties whichat one level
may be thought of as different languages.
People - In today’s world all of us are multilingual: most people speak two
or more languages; we use different dialects, languages, styles or registers to do
different things. The language we use with the auto-rickshaw driver and the
language we use in mobile messages may share some common features while the
language we use in academic communication is very different.We also constantly
use words from other languages in our daily use.Moreover we indulge in code
mixing for our functional needs.
Culture and Society – We cannot think of language apart from culture and
society. Language is the cognitive tool for thinking and expression. Culture
transmits itself through language and that is where language becomes dynamic; by
absorbing and assimilating cultural symbols of other languages.However, social
structures introduce stratification of language. Language policies create hierarchies
and politicization of languages. Power creates notions of ‘standard’ versus
‘nonstandard’ in language. This increases the distance between languages leading
to the death of minority languages.
A. Multilingualism in India
In India multilingualism has always been part of our cultural and social
ethos. The richness and complexity of the Indian multilingual situation,
characterized by both individual and societal bilingualism may be ascertained from
the from the facts that over 1652 languages belonging to four different language
families are spoken in India; printing media uses 87 languages, radio 71, schools
47 as media of instruction (Agnihotri, Towards a Pedagogical Paradigm Rooted in
Multilinguality, 2007). Any average Indian speaks two to three languages for
different purposes in her daily life. I speak Marathi at home, Hindi or Kannada in
the street and English, Hindi for official purposes. I also understand Bengali and
Gujrati spoken by my neighbor. My domestic help speaks a dialect of Marathi

which I follow and even use to communicate with her. Yet the startling fact is that,
“nearly 80% of Indian languages are endangered (Mohanty, Panda, Phillipson, &
Skutnabb-Kangas, 2009). India is a multilingual country in which many languages
co-exist, many languages are maintained, but at the same time many languages are
also treated with neglect, discrimination and deprivation. Power, privilege and,
hegemony in political, economic and social life leads to hierarchies in Indian
Multilingualism.
One of the most important factors responsible for confirming and
maintaining the hierarchical status of certain languages is the language policy in
education. This is evident by the fact that only 33 mother tongues out of the 1652
are used as media of instruction with 18 of them being standard, dominant
languages. Only 26 languages are used as first languages in schools and out of
them majority of the schools have one of the 19 recognized languages of the
Eighth Schedule or English as the first language. The home languages of children
who speak other than these languages find no space as first languages of the
school!
Thus on the social level Indian multilingualism is a mosaic where
maintenance is the norm but on the political/ economic and educational level there
are inequalities and hierarchies. For example there are more than 83 million tribal
people in India who speak 159 languages and none of them are school languages
neither as medium of instruction, nor as subjects of study!
This is despite the fact that Article 350A of the Indian constitution directs
State Governments and local authorities to provide adequate facilities for
instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children
belonging to linguistic minority groups.v
B.Multilingualism in the Classroom and the place of English

Although multilingualism is constitutive of the nature of human language
the medium of instruction in India has always been a ‘standard’ language as
opposed to ‘local’ or minority languages which have been labelled as ‘vulgar’. The
three language formula further marginalized minority languages by introducing
three standard languages into the curriculum. English was given the status of one
of the standard languages to be studied as the first or second language in school.
Reversing the trends from the past, the National Curriculum Framework
2005, through its position papers on English and Indian Languages, places English
as one of the Indian Languages. The emphasis is on English as an Indian Language
which will enrich all the Indian languages. This position is rooted in the concept of
Multilinguality as it ‘correlates positively with cognitive growth, divergent
thinking and social tolerance.’ (Agnihotri, Multilinguality and the teaching of
English in India) However schools still practice a subtractive multilingualism,
which increasingly leads to the loss of the child’s home language. And minority
languages do not find any place at all in education.
A child’s first social contact is her family.She constructs her identity in this
culture. Her first cognition is in her home language. For her, the journey from the
language of the home to the language of the class room traverses through the
languages of the street. In this journey ifthe new languageencounter devalues the
home language there is a loss of identity. This is observed more starkly in the case
of rural or urban underprivileged children speaking minority languages. In
Uttarakhand, a child who is speaking Tharu at homemeets versions of Tharu,
Punjabi and Hindi on the streets meets standard Hindi in the text books in school.
The language of her culture is devalued in the school where she is required to
transition from the ‘vulgar’ tongue to the more ‘scientific’ language of the class
room. The devaluation is further fostered by the aspiration of her parents who
encourage her to learn the languages of the class room, as these are icons of social
mobility, economic opportunity and access to education. Although, Right to
Education has provisioned equal access to education to every child, learning
cannot not happen without valuing the culture and language of the childin the class
room.When the child encounters English, which is neither the language of the
home, nor the street, it leads to creating ‘a burden of incomprehension’ which the
child carries with her throughout her school life. To change this trend, in 2007
Ramakant Agnihotri argued for a pedagogy that is rooted in Multilinguality with
English as one of the Indian languages that would ensure ‘the emergence of a
society that is marked not only for happiness and peace, but also for justice,
equality and care for others’ (Agnihotri, Towards a Pedagogical Paradigm Rooted
in Multilinguality, 2007).
C. Why English as one of the Indian languages in a Multilingual Class
room
- Since most states had to introduce English from Class I in response to
the aspirations of the people, laying aside theoretical claims and practical
directives (UNESCO'S 1955: 11) that children learn best in their home languages;
it follows that the treatment of English in the class room needs to be as one of the
languages of the classroom and not at the cost of their home languages.
- The NCF 2005, basing its statements on research in the area says that
the ‘burden of incomprehension’ that minority language speaking students face
when they encounter ‘dominant’ regional languages and English in school needs to
be changed to createmeaningful learning environments. We believe that these
meaningful learning environments can be created by treating all the languages in
the class room as a resource for learning.
Recommending a model of multilingual pedagogy for a socially sensitive

approach
The present models of multilingual educationin India are
- Submersion Model – the child learns the dominant regional language
as a subject and medium of instruction, use of the home language is strictly
forbidden in school.
- Subtractive Immersion Model – Use the child’s home languagein
class room transaction as a bridge to transition to the target languagewhich is then
used as a medium of instruction.
Three Language Formula – Use three languages taught as first, second and
third language. These languages are regional languages, Hindi and English, which
may not be the home languages of the children. These languages are taught as
subjects and only one of the languages which is the first language of the school
(not the child) is used as the medium of instruction.
Two languages as medium of instruction -The Kendriya Vidyalayas and
some other schools use two languages (Hindi and English) as medium of
instruction while children learn three languages: Hindi, English, Sanskrit or the
regional language as subjects. However children whose home languages are
different are faced with a completely alien language in the class room.
Why a culturally sensitive multilingual model of pedagogy for ELT?
Historically these models have failed for obvious reasons –
o They are not socially sensitive context related models of multilingual
pedagogy.
o Theyassume a homogeneous class room in terms of language and
culture. They also attempt to homogenize the class room to transition to a standard
language which leads to marginalization of home languages and cultures of the
children.
o They assume a cohesive body of knowledge and language which is

transmitted through the text book. Linguistic knowledge is universal at the meta-
level but each culture, social situation and even caste and class have their own
ways of expression and cognition. This is the child’s first learning experience,
which finds no place in the class room.
o Linguistic and cognitive heterogeneity is proved by research to be
beneficial to learning. These principles are ignored by the homogenization
approach.
o Using two standard languages as medium of instruction creates
stratification of those languages on the basis of the subject for which they are used.
The basis for decisions on medium of instruction violates the principle of equity.
Eg. Why is Mathematics taught in English and Social Science in Hindi?
o The three language formula does not include the mother tongue of
children from other than regional tongue communities and this number is very
large, it creates hierarchies in the form of 1st, 2nd and 3rd language and gives
different curricular goals, materials and pedagogy for each, the medium of
instruction remains the dominant regional language or Hindi or English.
o In cases where the languages of the school do not coincide with the
child’s home language – i.e. in the case of marginalised tribal languages the child’s
identity is not affirmed in the school, the child’s home language which is the
language of his cognition is systematically devalued in the school.
Experimental Models of MLE in India

In India, experimental programmes of MLE have started in government
schools for tribal children in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and are about to start in
Chattisgarh. These programmes are again additive immersion programmes in home
and dominant language but they do not include English in the multilingual mosaic.
Moreover they operate separately for tribal pockets as affirmative action

intervention. The model that we propose is an inclusive model for any class room.
The Fourth Model
We propose a fourth model of using Multilingualism as a resource - Treat all
the languages of the class room as a resource to enrich each other, not only as a
subject and medium of instruction but also through a special activity class to create
language awareness.
The Theoretical Basis of the Fourth Model
Language has traditionally been seen (by both lay persons and professionals)
either as a mere ‘means of communication’ or as an external object, or as a human
capacity for careful systematic enquiry by linguists. Its diversity, iconicity,
symbolic power and its association with ethnicity, cultural practices and socio-
political dynamics have often been ignored. (Agnihotri, Multilinguality and the
teaching of English in India)
Figure 1Dual
Iceberg Model
(Cummins: 2005)
Jim
Cummins in
his
Interdependence Hypothesis has posited that the metalinguistic abilities acquired

through L1s i.e. languages of the home and the street forms a common underlying
proficiency which transfers to L2s (here languages of the class room). This means
that the more space we create for L1s the more the CUP will increase. It also
means that after a period, for example in higher primary classes the proficiency
acquired in L2s will extend to the developing and maintaining of L1s. This leads us
to the conclusion that home language of the child needs to be brought into the class
room for the development of school languages and vice versa. Moreover, as the
level of academic complexity of subjects begin to rise in the higher primary
classes; the child should have the choice to continue her learning in whichever
language she prefers.
Jim Cummins Model of Multilingual Pedagogy
In his article, Principles underlying educational success, Jim Cummins
proposes the following pedagogical framework for a multilingual pedagogy.
Literacy attainment
Literacy engagement
Activate Prior Scaffold Affirm

Knowledge / Build Meaning Identity Extend
Background (both input Language
Knowledge and output)
As we have said before the prior knowledge of a child entering school is in

the language of her first cognition, the home language and the street languages.
These languages need to have a space in the class room alongside dominant
languages to create a literacy engagement. Also, they need to develop in each
other’s company.
What should a multilingual class room look like?
The pedagogy of the multilingual class room is a language across curriculum

pedagogy. Languages no more remain mere subjects; they are the cognitive tools
of the functioning and subject matter in every discourse. They negotiate learning in
and through the various expressions of use. In this sense every teacher is a
multilingual teacher. All class room discourses are multilingual.
- The languages of the children are valued, respected and used as a
resource for learning – they are used for learning (concepts) alongside class room
languages.
- The languages of the class room (Regional Language, Hindi and
English) form part of the discourse alongside the children’s languages.
- The culture of the children’s language enriches school languages like
English and vice versa by the use of creative translations and learner created texts.
- Creative experiments in code mixing or code switching become
pedagogical tools in the classroom
- Authentic texts or authentic multilingual texts emerge from the class
room discourse
- Data from different languages and varieties in the class room will
constitute the basis for critical reflection and sharpen the cognitive skills of
observation, classification, categorization, rule formation and hypothesis testing
(Agnihotri, Identity and Multilinguality : The Case of India, 2006).
Taking these principles into consideration we will extend Jim Cummins
model into a culturally sensitive pedagogical model.
Activate prior Scaffold meaning

knowledge through through creating
cultural tools in cultural symbols in
home language both languages
and other through strategies
languages (stories, of meaning making
songs, games) and to affirm identity
other tools and culture
Extend languages through

creative translation, language
activity classes, culturally
sensitive give and take for all
class room languages
At this stage we are confronted by a basic issue: What does it mean to know
a language? Jim Cummins’ distinguishes two sets of competencies of language
education for schools; BICS: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills and
CALP: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency. He further orchestrates these
into a framework of learning trajectory. We will now extend the framework of Jim
Cummins to create a model of a culturally sensitive multilingual pedagogy for the
teaching of English as one of the Indian Languages.
Cognitively Undemanding
B A
Home and School
Context Embedded Languages and
Context Reduced
Culture
C D
Cognitively Demanding
The pedagogical trajectory is as follows: From the culture and context
reduced atmosphere of education in the dominant languages from the day the child
enters the school as described by quadrant A, we move to a culturally sensitive
multilingual pedagogy where the child’s prior knowledge is scaffolded through her
language and culture, to a context embedded and cognitively undemanding
pedagogy of given and take of home and school languages. Next the child moves
towards a cognitively demanding and context embedded phase where the home
language and school language enrich each other through methods like creative
translation. The final phase is of cognitively demanding and context reduced
academic language proficiency where the student chooses one or two languages for
academic proficiency in education. These may be global languages or home
languages.
There are many policy related issues which need close attention for the
operationalization of the proposed model of pedagogy in education:
 Culturally sensitive pedagogical and academic material creation in
home languages
 Teacher proficiency in home languages
 Public will and awareness of maintenance of home languages in case
of minority languages
1. Experiments in Multilingual Pedagogy
The following section describes an experiment conducted by the author to
create an interest amongst teachers teaching classes I to VIII in Surpur and Mandya
districts of Karnataka in using a culturally sensitive multilingual pedagogy in the
classroom. This experiment was part of a long term English language capacity
building program conducted between 2012 and 13.
Multilingual Pedagogy
The multilingual pedagogy that was practiced seeks to explore the cultural
and contextual materials of interest to teachers/ students to arrive at an awareness
of how English language works. The materials used are: Songs in home and class
room languages which form part of the cultural repertoire of the teachers / students
e.g. newspapers, mobiles, stories, amar chitra katha comics, pamphlets in two to
three languages. The objective was to create language awareness. The cognitive
tools to create language awareness are: comparison, visualisation, analysis,
expansion, summarizing. These tools are available to L1 and are extended to L2 as

the task moves from one language to another. The principles underlying the choice
of materials in both languages were in conformation of the trajectory of the model
of pedagogy outlined above.
Pedagogy- Activity 1
Objectives: Enhancing interest and motivation in reading through extending
reading strategy /skills from L1 to L2
The participants were given stories in their home language, they visualized
the situation of the stories and brought them closer to the students’ life by
localizing the names of characters, descriptions of characters and places. They
connected the text to their lives and to other texts they have read. The reading
happened in L1 and the whole group sharing happened in L2. In group discussions
were in L1.
 Culturally enriching and contextually relevant texts
 Cognitively demanding task
 Opportunity to explore ones culture, language, identity in the
classroom with learner chosen stories and songs
 Choice of learning materials – creating a path for ones learning
1. Visualising – Visualising in L1 and expressing in L2
2. Making Text to Text connections – Reading a text in L1 and talking
about it in L2 while connecting it with other texts in L1 or L2
3. Making Text to Life Connections – Reading a text in L1 and talking
about a similar incident in one’s life in L2
Activity 2
Objective - Creating Language Awareness and Discourse Awareness
through newspapers in two languages
The participants read newspapers in two languages and discussed the

differences in idiom. They read headlines in L1 and expanded the news in L2 and
vice versa. The participants read the same stories in two / three languages – one of
which was their home language. They discussed the similarities in linguistic
conventions realized that genre conventions are similar in both languages.
1. Rhetoric - Observing headlines in newspapers in two languages and
discussing the changes in expression and idiom
2. Linguistic and discourse conventions-Using Amar Chitra Katha
comics -reading the same story in three languages and discussing linguistic and
discourse conventions
Activity 3
Objective: Creating an awareness of underlying universal features in
grammatical conventions in L1 and L2
The participants read newspapers in two languages, pamphlets or
advertisements of the same product in two languages, selected sentences from both
languages and observed the similarities and differences between grammatical
features e.g. how a verb works in both languages. How verbs work in both
languages – inflections, transitivity, expressions of futurity, prepositions or post
positions
The experiments
The first experiment was conducted with 30 teachers from elementary
schools in Mandya. After conducting a DNA of the developmental needs of the
teachers it was discovered that the teachers did not have the confidence to speak
and learn English. The rural environs of Mandya did not provide any opportunity
to the teachers to speak, read or write English. None of them had ever taught
English and did not feel happy about doing so just now. In a long term
development program comprising four workshops and continuing small group
meetings, we floundered with monolingual materials and activities. In intense

reflection meetings the idea of trying out a culturally sensitive multilingual
pedagogy for developing reading skills was born. What bilingual material is easily
available and would appeal to the teachers? What are their interests? Cricket,
cultural and religious gatherings, devotional music dominated their everyday life.
So we encouraged our friends to begin with the songs they knew in their language.
They would translate these songs for my benefit. But how could this be extended to
learning? Then a colleague came to my rescue and suggested newspapers. I
explored the websites for bilingual stories which were very close to the local
culture. We also tried out stories and articles by famous writers in Kannada. What
did we do with the bilingual texts? How would learning happen? Based on the
principle of Language Awareness and Cummins Dual Iceberg model we explored
the language awareness that the teachers possessed underlying their L1. Our
hypothesis was that they could transition the language awareness to L2. At the
same time they would be reading culturally relevant texts and doing cognitively
challenging tasks. The problem with the monolingual communicative methodology
is that the tasks that are designed for teachers with poor vocabulary and language
ability are that they are such cognitively poor level that the teachers are often bored
and dissatisfied. If you design a culturally relevant multilingual cognitively
challenging task the teacher may find it difficult to do but she will not be broken
because she cannot even do a stupid task in the target language! Moreover in a
culturally relevant multilingual task she will be happy that she can do the task in
her language, affirm her prior knowledge and finds it difficult but not impossible to
do in the target language because of the cultural proximity. You are not giving her
the message that she is stupid, but you are giving her the message that she needs
some more language. The teachers read culturally and contextually relevant human
interest articles in Kannada. Then they discussed these articles and drew text to
text and text to life connections. They spoke about the text and the connections
with other texts or life in English. They were given a text in English and they
discussed it in Kannada adding details of clothes, people, nature, thus doing an
exercise in visualisation of the text in English. In these experiments teachers read a
text in Kannada and did exercises in English or vice versa. They worked with
bilingual stories and explored dictionaries for ramification and contextualisation of
meaning.
The teachers did analytical exercises wherein they compared news in two
newspapers and matched subtitles with news. They matched photographs with
news. They looked at how one piece of news was expressed in two different
languages, the words used, the meanings and contextual relevance of words used.
How headlines work in two languages, their expansion and the conventions related
to their expansion.
The second experiment was conducted with 30 resource persons from
elementary and secondary schools in Surpur. This is a long term capacity
development program in which we are developing autonomous learners and
educators who impact change. The work with these change agents has been on
perspectives, pedagogy and content of language. Casual visits to the schools
revealed that the ideas explored in workshops did not have any impact in the class
rooms. The change agents were overwhelmed with the contextual challenges in the
class room and the cultural inertia set in once again. This was when moved from
the workshop scene to the teacher learning centres. These teacher learning centres
are run by Azim Premji Foundation. They are vibrant with cultural, academic and
personal exchange of thoughts, ideas, arguments and play. It was in these TLC
visits that the thought of using multilingual material for capacity development
workshops took life. The hypothesis was that multilingual pedagogy will create
interest and lead to echoes in the class room. Through a series of workshops the
participants explored a range of multilingual materials ranging from the

cognitively undemanding to the cognitively demanding. The materials were always
contextually relevant and culturally enriching. The multilingual materials used
with this group were pamphlets, Amar Chitra Katha, bilingual stories and
newspapers. The sub skills of reading were explored through this material, leaving
the choice of language and story in the hands of the learner. We also tried our
hands with Reading Cards prepared by Raipur DIET in Hindi and English. The
exercise was specified. The language for reading was chosen by the participant, the
group discussed in Hindi, Kannada or English but the presentation was in English.
The presentation was sometimes in the form of pictures, acting and then as
confidence grew through English.
A simple contextually relevant and culturally cognizant activity was to read
a headline in one language and expand it in another. So we read headlines of the
day’s newspaper in Kannada or Hindi and expanded them in English and vice a
versa. Later we moved around to read the headlines and expansions and discussed
what was meaningfully expressed and what was not.
The challenge was to begin analyzing the two languages from the point of
view of grammar and syntax. What does India share culturally from the remotest
corners to the metropolis – a love for cricket? Where would one find this love
expressed in the remotest corner. In the newspapers, even if it is a day old this
news did find resonance with teachers – male, female, young and old. So sports
pages of newspapers in two languages were examined, compared and analysed. We
examined the syntax of a Kannada sentence and an English sentence, how verbs
work in languages, the tense markers and use of auxiliaries in English and the use
of inflections in Kannada. The group concluded that English was an easier
language than Kannada!
These experiments are still going on. We cannot conclusively say that the
use of multilingual pedagogy has brought about a change in the class rooms of the
region. However some enthusiastic teachers have begun to use multilingual
pedagogy in the class rooms. Some teachers have begun to teach English with
more confidence in the classrooms. Some have stopped chastising themselves for
slipping into the regional language in an English class room. Others have become
inclusive, thinking of the many languages that children bring into the class room.
The hypothesis that multilingual pedagogy will change the teachers’ way of
looking at the language has proved true. The experiment is in its infancy and there
is no way of mapping its impact scientifically. But the experiment has brought out
some amazing results in terms of teachers confidence, capability and attitude.
(Bedadur, 2013)
References;
References
Agnihotri, R. (1997). Multilingualism, Colonialism and Translation. In S. Ramakrishna,
Translation and Multilingualism: Post Colonial Contexts (pp. 34-46). Delhi: Pencraft
International.
Agnihotri, R. (2006). Identity and Multilinguality : The Case of India. In A. Tsui, B. Tollefson,
& J. W, Language, Policy, Culture and Identity in Asian Contexts (pp. 185-204). New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Agnihotri, R. (2007). Towards a Pedagogical Paradigm Rooted in Multilinguality. International
Multilingual Research Journal 1(2), 1-10.
Agnihotri, R. (n.d.). Multilinguality and the teaching of English in India.
Bedadur, N. (2013). An Experiment in Multilingual Pedagogy for English Language Teacher

Professional Development. English Language Teacher Education in a Diverse
Environment (pp. 64-71). British Council, India. Retrieved from www.britishcouncil.in.
Cummins, J. (2000). From Bilingual Education to Transformative Pedagogy. In J. Cummins,
Language, Power and Pedagogy : Bilingual Children in the Cross fire (pp. 169-245).
Great Britian: Antony Rowe Ltd.
Cummins, J. (2005). Teaching English. TESOL Symposium on Bilingual .
Franceschini, R. (2011). Multilingualism and Multicompetence : A Conceptual View. The
Modern Language Journal.
Organisation, U. N. (1984). Literacy Situation in the Asia and the Pacific : Bangladesh. Bankok:
Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific.
Srivastava, R. N., & Gupta, R. S. (1990). Literacy in a Multilingual Context. In D. P. Pattanayak,
Multilingualism in India (pp. 67-78). New Delhi: Orient Longman Private Limited.
Challenges to the linguistic diversity of North Pakistan

Zubair Torwali
Abstract
Indigenous communities living in the mountainous terrain and valleys in
northern Pakistan speak about 30 indigenous languages. Some of these languages
are Khowar, Shina, Indus Kohistani, Torwali, Gawri, Palula, Kalasha, Dameli,
Gawar-bati, Bateri, Chilloso, Dumaki, Brushaski, Ushojo, Balti, Wakhi, Yidgha et
el. They are the known indigenous languages spoken in northern Pakistan.
All of these languages are ‘endangered’ according to the UNESCO’s Atlas
of the World’s languages in danger. These languages are endangered because of a
number of challenges the languages and their speakers face. Crucial among these
challenges are lack of political organization, marred identities, no written tradition,
and marginalization, globalization, especially the rule of dominant languages over
these languages, rough terrain, poverty and so forth.
The aforementioned cultural, political, linguistic and ecological milieu adds
to the ‘language and cultural loss’ among these communities. Notwithstanding
the toughest challenges, there are some good initiatives carried out in these
communities that are focused on reversing the language and cultural loss by
documenting the languages and cultures in question, transmitting the languages
and cultures to the coming generation; and by trying to make the languages
relevant in pedagogical setting.
This study explores the challenges and threats faced by these communities
along with the few good initiatives carried out by individuals and organizations for
the documentation, preservation and promotion of these languages.
Introduction
The areas where these languages are spoken comprise of the mountainous
northern parts of the northwestern frontier province named Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
and Gilgit-Baltistan. In Chitral only twelve languages (Decker, 2004) are spoken.
These are Khowar, Kalasha, Dameli, Palula (Phalura), Gawar-bati, Yidgha,
Shekhani, Eastern Kativiri, Madaglashti Persian, Gujari, Wakhi and Pashto.
Khowar is the dominant language in Chitral whereas the Kalash community is the
single indigenous community who are a religious minority as well. In the Swat
valley the indigenous languages are Torwali, Gawri, Ushojo and Gujari. Pashto is
the dominant language in Swat. Torwali and Gawri are said to be the ancient
indigenous languages (Torwali, The ignored Dardic culture of Swat, 2015) of Swat
which are traced back to the pre-Muslim era in the valley. In Indus Kohistan there
are five indigenous languages spoken in addition to Gujari and Pashto. These
languages are Kohistani, Shina, Chilliso, Gowro and Bateri ( (Hallberg, 2002). In
Indus Kohistan Shina and Kohistani are the major languages. In upper Dir district,
adjacent to Chitral and Swat, Gawri is spoken along with the moribund language
Kalkoti. The dominant language of upper Dir district in Pashto.In Northern Areas,
present day Gilgit-Baltistan, Shina, Brushaski, Balti, Wakhi, Khowar and Domaki
are spoken. The major languages here are Shina, Balti and Brushaski ( (Backstrom
& Radloff, 2002). All these languages excluding Wakhi, Yidgha, Balti and
Brushaski are Indo-Aryan languages. They have further been classified as Dardic
by a number of writers notably by G.W Leitner ( (Leitner, 1880, 1866, 1886 and
1893). Yidgha, Madaglashti and Wakhi are Indo-Iranian whereas Balti is a Tibetan
language. Linguists classify Brushaski as a ‘language isolate’ which means that
this language does not go with any major language family. Gujari and Hindko are
Indo-Aryan but not in the sub-family, Dardic. Hindko is spoken in Peshawar,
Kohat and in the Hazara division especially in the districts of Abottabad and
Mansehra. It is the second major language in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In these
districts it is the dominant language. Gujari or Gojri is the language of Gujar

communities living in Northern and Southern Pakistan (Ethnologue, 2002). In
Swat and other upper parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Gujari is also spoken by
communities now stellated in some villages over the hills. In Mansehra district, a
minor language, Mankiyali, also locally knows as Trawara, (Anjum & Rehman,
2015) is spoken by a small community of few hundreds. The language is Indo-
Aryan Dardic and is also critically endangered.
The number of people speaking each of these languages is never estimated
correct in Pakistan because in Pakistan these communities do not have a separate
counting column in the census survey. Their populations vary from a few hundreds
to thousands to a million.
According to Ethnologue5 there are around 7,106 languages currently
spoken in the world. Linguists estimate that by the end of this century, more than
half of these 7000 plus spoken languages will go extinct resulting in loss of
valuable scientific and cultural information.
UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger6, categorizes 2,473
languages into five levels of endangerment:
1. Vulnerable – not spoken by children outside the home;
2. Definitely Endangered – children no longer learn the language as mother
tongue in the home.
3. Severely Endangered – language is spoken by grandparents and older
generations, while the parent generation may understand it, they do not
speak it to children or among themselves;
5Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web-based publication that contains statistics for 7,106 languages and dialects in the 17th
edition, released in 2013. Up until the 16th edition in 2009, the publication was a printed volume.
6"Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd end. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online
version:". UNESCO.org. 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2013
4. Critically Endangered – the youngest speakers are grandparents and

older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently; and
5. Extinct.
Almost all the indigenous languages spoken in northern Pakistan are
endangered. Some of them, for instance, Bateri, Chilliso, Ushojo, Kalkoti,
Mankiyali (Trawara) or Domaki are under the category of critically
endangered languages whereas languages like Shina, Torwali, Khowar,
Gawri, Kohistani et al are in the catalogue of definitely endangered
languages. Gujari, Hindko and even Punjabi are also endangered even
though the number speakers of these languages are in millions. One
language, Badeshi, which was spoken in the Chail valley in upper Swat, is
extinct now.
These languages are endangered because of a number of challenges the
languages and their speakers face. Crucial among these challenges are:
Lack of a script:
These languages don't have ‘widely’7 used scripts. The working scripts they
have are based on Arabic. Orthographies in these languages have recently been
developed with the technical support of the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
However, none of these languages had a writing tradition before the beginning of
the third millennium except Khowar, Hindko, Gujari and Shina wherein a number
of writers and poets tried to write their works following the Arabic script. In some
languages, for instance, Balti, used Tibetan Balti script ( (International, Omics);
and for Kalasha, some people use a Romanized script in addition to the Arabic one
7
Although scripts have been designed for Khowar, Shina, Indus Kohistani, Torwali, Gawri, Brushaski and Palula but
these aren’t widely used within the respective communities. Among these languages, especially Torwali, Gawri and
Palula, Indus Kohistani, and Khowar the situation has bettered off over the years since 2008 because of the early
childhood education initiatives undertaken in these communities with the support of Summer Institute of
Linguistics (SIL) and Forum for Language Initiative (FLI).
(Trail & Cooper, 1999)and (Cooper, 2005).Having been without working

orthographies no written literature of worth exists in these languages. The old poets
in Shina and Khowar wrote their works using Urdu alphabets. Urdu literacy among
the people compelled the writers and poets to use Urdu alphabets even for the
special phonemes these languages have.
No recognition by the state

These languages aren’t recognized by the government of Pakistan to be used
in schools as medium of instruction or subjects. Neither are they recognized as
national languages of Pakistan. The Pakistan’s constitution even doesn't recognize
any indigenous group in the country. In 2012 the then provincial government in the
northwestern province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, however, made a law wherein four
languages: Saraiki,Khowar, Hindko and Indus Kohistani were allowed to be
gradually used in pre-primary schooling in places where these languages are
mother languages of majority of the children whereas Pashto, the dominant
language in the province, was made a compulsory subject in primary grades in
areas where it is the language of the majority (Group, International Crisis, 2014).
This law is known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Promotion of Regional Languages
Authority Act 2012. It was passed thenin the northwest frontier province, Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, but the succeeding government in the province has not taken the
initiative further and the establishment of the authority is still in a state of limbo.
Poverty and marginalization

These communities are predominantly poor, illiterate and underdeveloped.
Literacy among the Ismailia sect of the Brushashki, Wakhi, Shina and Khowar
speakers in Gilgit-Baltistan and upper Chitral, however,is higher compared to the

other Dardic communities. These mountainous communities are virtually
marginalized in terms of human development and infrastructure. Despite being the
custodians of the country’s rich natural resources in the forms of forests,
biodiversity and water these communities lag far behind in human development
index. This has triggered large migration from these areas. Many of the members
of these communities have permanently settled in cities like Karachi, Hyderabad,
Peshawar, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. For instance over thirty percent
(Torwali, Muffled voices, 2015) of the total population of the Torwali community
of upper Swat has permanently settled in Karachi, Quetta, Hyderabad, Peshawar,
Nowshera, Rawalpindi, Lahore and other cities. This has further threatened the
languages and cultures of these communities. In addition to this a large number of
people from these communities flee the rough and long winter in the mountains
and spend it in the plains of Pakistan. About 80% (International Centre for
Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD))of the Gawri and Gujar
communities of upper Swat migrate to the plains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
Punjab with the beginning of winter. They spend three to five months there at the
cost of education to their children. Besides winter the major causes of this
permanent and seasonal migration are lack of essentials of sustenance such as fuel,
health facilities and roads in these areas. Being overwhelmingly dependent on the
scarce agriculture and livestock these communities do not live a privileged life.
Suffering a marred identity

Since the state education in Pakistan usually discourages lessons on the
cultural diversity of the society in the course books; and since these communities
have no effective political say in the country, therefore, majority of ordinary
educated Pakistanis don't know about the indigenous identity of these
communities. And as the successive invaders dismantled their centers of powers in

the past these communities have lost the sense of their unique identity. As a result
majority of them suffer a marred one which is very often an ascribed-discursive
identity as James Paul Gee puts it ( (Gee, 2001). This is the reason that majority of
these communities relate themselves with Arabs or the dominating communities
they live with. Moreover globalization has also posed critical questions of identity
and identity construction. It is a complex issue especially in the context of a rapidly
imposed external change. While culture and identity share many things but they
are not the same. Though culture is an important part of identity it is not the whole
of it. Identity is very much political as well. Given the complexity of identity
construction and the modern tools that shape and accelerate it these ethnic
minorities seem the worst victims of marred identities.
Onslaught of globalization—cultural and religious

Globalization has affected every community in Pakistan whether larger or
smaller in number but the impacts of it are fatal on these already suppressed
communities as they are triply influenced by it: internationally, nationally and
provincially or locally. The globalization has affected them in two areas the worst:
their languages and cultures. Majority of them has now begun to regard their
languages and cultures as hurdles in the way to development. This is the reason
why many of them shift not only their culture but also the language as well when
they adopt new languages and cultures. The best example of this is the threatened
Kalash community, the single Dardic community in Pakistan which has so far
retained their unique indigenous worldview. Conversion in this community is
higher; and when any body of the Kalash community converts to Islam he or she
leaves his language and culture along with the ‘pagan’ faith.
As is the case with many such communities the affluent educatedfamilies

among thesecommunities of north Pakistan sometimes prefer to speak Urdu with
their families or friends and thus feel pride in doing so. Bilingualism and
multilingualism increase in these communities at the cost of the indigenous
languages. The younger generations of these communities no longer understand
words of their languages their fathers or forefathers used to speak. The languages
are gradually becoming laden with words from other, usually dominant languages
such as Urdu, Pashto and English. Their cultures and languages are also threatened
by the popular Urdu dominated media—both electronic and print. Similarly the
global revival in religious fundamentalism and the resultant fanaticism, especially
in the form of a politically charged puritanical version of Islam, has badly affected
the indigenous cultures of these communities. They cannot observe their folk
traditions in music or rituals. Of course, these new phenomena have affected the
larger society as well but these indigenous communities cannot survive the
onslaught being less in number, weak both politically and economically; lacking
media representation and historically brutalized.
Living in hard terrains

All of these communities live in mountains. Many of them living in the
northern Pakistan share the same history, ancestry and culture but cannot relate to
each other being scattered and locked in hard valleys in the mountains of the Hindu
Kush, Karakorum, Himalaya and Pamir ranges. This has cut them off since
centuries. The Shina or the Khowar community of Gilgit and Chitral don't know
that sister communities live in Swat or in Dir. Even the Khowar community in
Chitral, where it is dominant, feels shy about being identified with the Kalash,
Palula or Dameli communities living in Chitral, too.
The aforementioned cultural, political, linguistic and ecological milieu adds

to the ‘language and cultural losses among these communities. Notwithstanding
the toughest challenges, there are some good initiatives carried out in these
communities that are focused on reversing the loss of language and culture by
documenting the languages and cultures in question, transmitting the languages
and cultures to the coming generations by incorporating them in education and
literacy; and by trying to make the languages recognized by the government(s) of
Pakistan..
These initiatives in northern Pakistan are:

1. Forum for Language Initiatives (FLI): It is a civil society
organization established in 2002 with the aim of training people from the
indigenous communities in northern Pakistan so as to enable them for the
documentationand promotion of their languages. FLI has so far trained scores of
language activists in more than a dozen languages in basic linguistics, orthography
development, cultural research, teacher training and in community mobilization
and advocacy.
2. Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT): This is a civil society
organization based in Swat. Established in 2007 IBT has the revitalization,
documentation and promotion of the endangered languages especially the Torwali
language as one of its main objectives. This forum has so far written a number of
books in and on the Torwali language. It has also been successfully implementing
a mother tongue based early childhood multilingual education initiative among the
Torwali community in upper Swat. The program has currently nine community
schools with 175 students aged 4—9.
3. Gawri Multilingual Education Program in Gawri community Swat
by Gawri Community Development Program (GCDP). Gawri is a sister language
of Torwali and is spoken in Kalam Swat and in upper Dir district. GCDP has to
date published a number of books in and on Gawri. It has also been implementing
a mother tongue based early childhood multilingual education project in the area.
4. Palula Multilingual Education Program in southern Chitral by
Palula Community Welfare Program (PCWP). The PCWP has also been running
similar program as that of GCDP and IBT.
5. Kohistani Multilingual Education Program in Indus Kohistan by
the community based organization Initiative for People in Need (IPN).
6. Khowar Multilingual Education Program in Chitral by Mother –
tongue Institute for Education and Research (MIER).
7. The Bakarwal Mobile School System for the nomadic Gujars in
Azad Jamu & Kashmir; (Bakarwal Mobile School , 2012) and
8. Hindko based multilingual education project by a community-
based organization in Abottabad, Pakistan.
In these mother tongue based early childhood multilingual education
programs the children start their education in their mother tongue for a year where
all the subjects namely math, social studies, ethics and literacy of the mother
tongue are taught in the respective mother tongues as medium of instruction. Later
in the second year Urdu; and one semester later English are introduced as subjects
first orally and then the literacy.
Conclusion
Although some good initiatives by the communities themselves are
underway with the meager support of some international organizations yet these
communities cannot sustain this work unless and until the Pakistani government
recognizes these languages as national languages ad set up plans for the
preservation and promotion of these sources of indigenous wisdom and history.
Globalization with all its modern technologies is a threat to these communities but
it can be turned into an opportunity if proper measures are undertaken for including
these languages in education and media, the very first drivers of globalization.
The international donors also need to focus on this shrinking cultural
diversity of Pakistan. Preservation and promotion of this marvelous cultural
diversity in Pakistan can be utilized for the development of cultural tourism in the
country. This rich repertoire of the cultural diversity can effectively add to the
creative economy of Pakistan.
Holistic and integrated strategies need to be adopted for an integrated
sustainable development of these communities in northern Pakistan.
References:
1. Anjum, U., & Rehman, K. A. (2015). A First Look at Mankiyali Language: An
Endangered Language. Journal of Asian Civilizations, 38 (1), 9.
2. Backstrom, C. P., & Radloff, F. C. (2002). Languages of Northern Areas. (F. C. O’Leary,
Ed.) Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 2, 3-201.
3. Bakarwal Mobile School . (2012). BMS. Retrieved 2016, from
http://educationfornomads.org/
4. Balti language. (n.d.). Retrieved 2016, from Omics International:
http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Balti_language
5. Cooper, G. (2005). ISSUES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WRITING SYSTEM FOR
THE KALASHA LANGUAGE . Department of Linguistics Macquarie University .
6. Decker, D. K. (2004). Languages of Chitral. Sociolinguistic Survery of Northern
Pakistan, 5, 11.
7. Ethnologue. (2002). Gujari. Retrieved Dec 2016, from Ethnologue:
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/gju
8. Gee, J. P. (2001). Identitya s an AnalyticL ensf or Researchin Education. Review of
Research in Education,, 25, 99-125.
9. Group, International Crisis. (2014). Education Reform in Pakistan. International Crisis
Group. Islamabad/Brussels: International Crisis Group.
10. Hallberg, D. D. (2002). Languages of Indus Kohistan. (F. C. O’Leary, Ed.)
Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 1, 83-140.
11. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Introduction to
the Kalam Case Study Area. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
(ICIMOD). http://lib.icimod.org/record/24599/files/c_attachment_348_2720.pdf.
12. International, Omics. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Balti_language
13. Leitner, G. (1880, 1866, 1886 and 1893). Dardistan. New Delhi: Manjusuri Publishing
House [reprint 1978].
14. Torwali, Z. (2015). Muffled Voices: longing for a pluralist and peaceful Pakistan.
Lahore: Multi Line Publications.
15. Torwali, Z. (2015). The ignored Dardic culture of Swat. Journal of Languages and
Culture, 6(5), 30-38.
16. Trail, R. L., & Cooper, G. R. (1999). Kalasha Dictionary —with English and Urdu.
Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quad-e-Azam University.
Developing English Language Skills in Multilingual Classroom

Koteswara Rao Mala
Abstract
In today’s global world, the importance of English cannot be denied and
ignored since English is the most common language, spoken everywhere. English
is only one language which has the power of communication with the people of all
over the world. Although India is a very big country; we have castes, religions,
ethnic groups, and many languages. This multiplicity also causes different
problems and in different areas of studies. In our country English is important for a
number of reasons. India is a land of diversity. Different people speak different
languages. So English is a link language. Different people can communicate with
one another with the help of English. The rural areas also priority given for
multilingual and number of peoples can speak at least three languages. The
parents, students and teachers also important given for their mother tongue, they
can speak in their mother tongue. The researcher has conducted multilingual
classroom activity in the classroom of EFL University. The students are coming
from different areas and with different languages. So the purpose this paper
‘Developing English language in Multilingual Classroom.
Key words: English language, Multilingual, EFL Classroom, Different
students, activity
In India MLE (Multi Lingual Education) Programme is being run in two

states Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Besides these two states, Chhattisgarh has also
started MLE programme in 2010 in seven languages. The policy document for
MLE has also been drafted and finalised. While MLE is not implemented as a state
programme in Jharkhand, several attempts have been made to prepare materials
which would serve as bridge material for the tribal children coming to classrooms
equipped with a linguistic different from the one required in school. The MLE
materials in Andhra Pradesh have been developed in eight tribal languages –
Adivasi Oriya, Banjara, Gondi, Kolami, Koya, Kuvi and Savara.
The purpose of a multilingual education (MLE) programme is to develop
appropriate cognitive and reasoning skills through a programme of structured
language learning and cognitive development, enabling children to operate
successfully in their native, state and national languages. MLE provides a strong
foundation in the first language (mother tongue), adding second (e.g. national) and
third languages (e.g. English) enabling the appropriate use of both/all languages for
life-long learning (Malone 2005).
Multilingual education is also multicultural, with learning beginning in the
child’s known environment and bridging to the wider world. The bridging process
allows children to maintain local language and culture while providing state or
national language acquisition and instruction. This process provides learners with
the opportunity to contribute to nationa and society without forcing them to
sacrifice their linguistic and cultural heritage. However, language is our primary
source of communication. It's the mode or tool through which we share our ideas
and thoughts with others. Some people even say that language is what
distinguishes us from animals and makes us human.
With regard to the language diversity, Skutnab Kangas (2000) states that
India enjoys fourth rank in terms of number of languages spoken by people of the
country. This kind of multilingual nature of the country is very significantly
important to contemplate because there are more than 10,000 mother tongues
according to 1999 census, out of which only 3372 were identified as mother
tongues based on certain rationalization among which only 1576 were recognized
as deserved mother tongues and remaining 1796 as the ‘other’ mother tongues
(Mohanthy, 2008).
Important has given for English language in India because the term English
as a second language has been employed to describe English taught or learnt for
practical and necessary uses of communication whether to serve as the language
off instruction in education or as a lingua franca among those to whom English is
an acquired tongue. English as a second language is used alongside one or more
local languages, for public purpose and often for communication between and or
among different language groups in the community. English is one of the official
languages of India alongside Hindi and fourteen other recognized regional
languages, and is widely used as a language of administration and commerce.
English belongs to all those who speak it as their first or second language
across the world. English is spoken by nearly 550 millions of people either as
mother tongue or as second language. English is international common tongue.
First of all, it is the most common foreign language. This means that two people
who come from different countries (for example, a India and England) usually use
English as a common language to communicate otherwise they didn’t
communicate their mother tongue. That’s why everyone needs to learn the
language in order to get in touch on an international level. And English is also
referred to as the Language of Opportunity as it provides people with an
opportunity for better life in the society. It also enhances the social status of people
in the community.
This paper primarily focuses on ‘Developing English language in
multilingual classroom’. We can take an example of the students of The English
and foreign language university in India. If you look the classroom, different type
of students will be there and students will come from different languages like Odia,
Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu etc. As their
languages are different, so also there are differences among the cultures they
represent. Culture has a great impact on our approach to education and learning.
Thus, it’s possible that the dynamics of a multilingual classroom might be different
from the dynamics of a monolingual classroom.
The researcher has got an idea, ‘Developing the English language in
multilingual classroom’. The researcher conducted an activity in the classroom.
This activity is for 6th standard level. In this activity whole class divided into
different languages group. Each group consists of students who speak their own
mother tongue to English.
Picture handouts are distribute each group in the class room. Every group
has to observe the picture and make four sentences in English language. After
making sentences in each group, utter those sentences loudly in their own mother
tongue and translate them into English language. So each group has two pairs and
come at the stage one pair is speaking/reading in mother tongue and second pair
translate to English and other groups has observed and should be prepare to
translate them in to their own mother tongue to English language. In this activity
whole groups covered and utter their mother language and translate to English
language. This activity develops skill of comprehension, analytical, memorization,
translation and speaking skills. Speaking more than one language increases your
cognitive abilities such as a problem solving, creativity and memory.
Conclusion
In rural areas number of students and teachers are neglecting English
language because they are giving importance to their local language. Even schools,
colleges and universities students are giving importance to their local languages.
Nowadays English has been playing a major role in many sectors including
medicine, engineering, technologies and education. The English language has
become easier to learn than other languages.
Reference
 Annamalai, E. (2001). Managing multilingualism in India: Political and
linguistic manifestations (Vol. 8). SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited.
 Khanna, A. L. & Anandan, K. N. (2012). Our world through English Class
VI. Published by the government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.
Department of School of Education.
 Malone, S., & International, S. I. L. (2005). Education for multilingualism
and multi-literacy in ethnic minority communities: the situation in Asia.
First Language First: Community-based literacy programmes for minority
language context in Asia. Bangkok: UNESCO, 71–86.
 Mohanty, A. K. (1990). 5 Psychological Consequences of Mother Tongue
Maintenance and Multilingualism in India. Multilingualism in India, (61),
54.
 Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic Genocide in Education–or
Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights? Routledge.
Web Reference:
https://owlcation.com/humanities/importanceofenglishlanguages
http://www.efluniversity.ac.in/About.html
Enhancing LSRW Skills: An Experimental Study of High School Students in

Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh
Kandukuri Mariyadas
Abstract
This paper reports the results of an action research on role play to enhance
language skills of ESL learners. In India, particularly in the state of Andhra
Pradesh, the participation of students in English language classrooms is
insignificant. There are various reasons for this, like low confidence level,
improper exposure and practice of language skills and so on. To add to this
situation, a majority of English language classrooms in Telugu medium schools is
teacher centred and its affects the students' participation and thus their role and
sprit are undetermined. Under these circumstances, collaborative language learning
(CLL) methodology is employed by the researcher with the objective to overcome
the existing problems using role play as a tool. Role play is used effectively as a
tool, as it supports students' participation and enriches their social skills.CLL
promotes collaborative discussions , self reflective thinking and systematic phases
of problem- solving .This paper makes an attempt to enhance students'
participation and their ability to use English language is a variety of academic
and professional situations besides integrating LSRW skills.
Introduction
One of the significant observations made by several research studies on
English language teaching and learning in india is lack of students participation in
classroom discussions due to low confidence levels and ineffective exposure to
language skills and ineffective exposure to language skills and practice.several
attempts have been made to address such long standing problems in the context of
second language teaching and learning students inhibitions,shynesss,fear,low

confidence levels and language problems have never been adreesed
appropriatevely and adequately in schools, colleges and universities. Inaddition to
these, the scene of English language classrooms is largely teacher- centered and
consequently the role and spirit of students is undetermined.
Many training programmes and conferences have been conducted to address
and over come such critical issues of ELT in india.such programmes have helped
improve teaching and learning only in certain groups but the benifits have not
reached the school system in general. Moreover, English language, as reported by
chatanya and bhavani (2012), has been taught like a subject rather than as ameans
of expression of one’s inner self and thoughts. Hence, there is aneed to empower
practising teachers with the help continuous professional development programmes
such as collaborative language learning (CLL), which promotes collaborative
discussions, need analysis, series of systemtic problem- solving phases and self
reflective thinking. Such things always become a platform for brain-storming
sessions through research of various problems and their solutions in the process of
effective teaching and learning.
One such attempt which was made by the research collaboratively is the
issue of role play through the methodology of collaborative action research (CAR).
The aim of the research is to increase student participation in and outside
classrooms. It is a small scale research study conducted for three weeks in English
language lab sessions. Since the attempt has attained the intedee objectivesof
research to a great extent,it is decided to share the researcher’s experiences with a
wider teaching community.
Obejectives of the research

 To encourage student’s participation and to reduce their inhibitions
 To integrate listening, speaking, readingand writing skills.
 To improve negotiating skills and to give form to their thoughts.
 To enhance students ability to communicate in real time/ authentic
situations.
Sample of the study
The subjects of the research were 10th standard students of govt high school
in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. 48 students were selected as a sample for the
research. This was a heterogeneous group of students coming from various social,
economic and cultural back grounds.
Research tools
Research tools such apersonal observation and informal students interviews
were used to elicit the response from the students. These tools were used for data
collection and the data gathered was analysed using qualitative methods.
Methodology and procedure of the research

CLL methodology is employed by the researchers with an aim to overcome
and find solutions to the existing problems.the study was conducted in 17 sessions
of English language classrooms and each sessions was of 45 minutes duration
totalling 11 hpurs and 30 minutes spread over a period of two weeks.
Role play and its siginificance in enriching students’ participation

As stated above, role play is one of the essential tools that help encourage
participation and reduce inhibitions. Role play has been successfully used in
ESLclasssrooms across the world. According to Courtney(1974), mechanisms such
as play acting and thought are interconnected; they help students to test out reality,
to minimise personal anxieties and inhibitions, and to hone their fields of
action.role gives a valuebale opportunity to the students to hone their English
language skills (i.e.lstening, speaking,reading and writing) in an integrated way.
For instances,the instructions of teachers on the role play and its relevance in
language classromms.it is followed by briefing on the roleplay used for the session
and discussion with the students on assigning roles to them.this discussion provide
scope for students to interact with their teacher and peer griup, which in turn
contributes to their listeningand speaking skills. This is followed by the teacher’s
advice to go through the relevant material on the intended role play, besides
writing dialogues for the specific roles assigned to them. Such activities as a part of
the role play promote their reading and writing skills. Thus, various phases
involved in role play promote negotiating skills and communicate competence of
the students.
This apart, it helps faculty to demonstrate the delivery of dialogues with
requisite modulation of voice in harmony with appropriate body language
according to Brown (2001) as cited in haung (2008), role play modestly
engagesofferning a role to one or moore members of a group and giving gple or
purpose that participantsmust attain.role play is alearner- centered activity as its
develops students enthusiasm to learn the subject matter and to discussion the
contents there in. Acoording to poorman92002), integrating experiential learning
activities in the classrooms increases interest in the subject matter and
understanding of course content.
Practice of role play

The process of writing dialogues was completed with the final approval of
the faculty.it led to the next step of practising their role play .the praticisg their role
play.the practising sessions were begun in the English sessions were begun in the
English sessions for about a week.during these sessions for about a week. During
thses sessions, students had an opportunity to watch performance of other group
which helped them to know the merits and demirits of the play.
This apart, a majority of the students gained confidence and shed their
inhibitions to a great extent. After a resonbly good performance, suggestions were
given tothem to exchange their roles and practice, as it held them to grasp the total
scene of the role play.then, students were given the suggestions to take up their
own roles and practice again several times. When students gained confidence to
perform role play without any ssistance, they encouraged to take up the role play
before the whole class.
This practice helped students to cope with the dialogues, situation, and
characters in the play and to empathize with character which in turn helped them to
undertake role play in the best manner possible.thus, the practice sessions were
conducted fruitfully and this led to the final phase of performing the role play
before the whole class.
Performance of role play

After two weeks of rigorous rehearsal sessions, a majority of the students
expressed their willingness to act in the final performance. All the students started
off with a sincere approach to give their best by giving life to their roles.they were
quite enthusiastic to undertake the role play. They gathered all articles and
costumes that aptly suited the respective scenes. The costumes, the preparation and
arrangement of articles gave the set a sense of the right ambience as described in
the narrative.
All the six teams each comprising eight students showed interest and
intaition to take part.they had gone through preparation and rehearsals, which was
reflected in their great performance. All the scenes were enacted the way they were
planned. The delivery of dialogues reflected a feel for the characters. The
performance and the enthusiasm of the students stimulated everyone in class; it
was a joyful and memorobale language learning experience for them.
Findings
Research tools such as personal observation and informal student interviews
were great source of help for the research to elicit responses and to arrive at the
findings research were positive and encourageing. Some of the key findings are
mentioned below;
 Role play had given the students the required impetus to
communicate in a variety of authentic situations.
 The whole process had encouraged the students to great extent.
 A majority of the students expressed that their inhibitions had been
reduced.
 It was also evident from the interactions of the shy students that hey
had improved their negotiating skills.
 As mentioned earlier, role playfaciliated the integration of LSRW
skills.
 The procedure of the research and activity had helped give sufficient
exposure for listening skills as students had to interact with faculty
and peer group regularity.
 This research study also provided a number of opportunities for
students to voice their views on various aspects during discussion,
practice and execution of the role play.
 It is required students to read the original text of the role play besides
other available resource on role play to enrich their abilities and
contribution.
 Students got a wonderful opportunity of writing dialogues for various
roles besides editing and redrafting their dialogues. This process
gradually enriched their writing skills.
 Students expressed their willingness to participate in such events to
get good exposure for participating in public speaking activities.
 The activity also exposed students to the necessary social skills and
etiquate to be followed.
 A majority of the students had overcome the barriers of gender and
socioeconomic background.
 Thus the whole process had greatly enriched the interaction between
the teacher and students. In addition to the above findings, such
activities always cheer up the classroom atmosphere; in such settings,
the teaching of the textual unit has also become quite easy for teachers
and for learners to understand.
Conclusion
This is an action research study which aimed at reducing various inhibitions
which a hamper student participation in classrooms.the study had taken role play as
tool and it employed collaborative language learning (CLL) as the methodology to
conduct the research.the findings of the research show that the objectives of the
research have been attained to great extent.the whole experience of the research
substantiates that activities of this kind do always maximise the role of the
learners, boost their morale and develop interaction levels between the teacher and
the taught fotr the process of effective and joyful teaching and learning.
References
 Brown, H.D. (1994) principles of language learning and
teaching.N.J:prentice-hall regents. Courtney,R. (1989).play,drama and
thought: the intellectual background to demonstrate education.4th ed,
revised.Toronto:
 Simon & Pierre. Huang, Irene Y. (2008) Role play for ESL/EFL
children in the English classroom.
 The internet TESL journal, 14 (2) February (2008) from
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Huang-RolePlay.html
A Discourse on the Need to Embed Emotional Intelligence (EI) as an Essential

Component in Teacher Education Programmes
Rukulu Kezo
Abstract
The initiative and drive towards improving the quality of education and
enhancing the classroom experience has been and is the one major concern among
policy makers, educators and researchers throughout the world. The key to
achieving this goal lies with the teacher and therefore there is growing attention on
teacher education and training programs, the focus of which is to equip the
teachers with the competencies and skills needed to become effective. The need for
ongoing development for teachers is a continuing theme in any educational debate
and discussions today. This is simply because of the growing challenges and
demands from the changing times. Teachers today have to take up a lot of roles
besides the role of transmitting knowledge. They are expected to serve as mentors,
facilitators, coach, counselors, and role-models etc. in order to provide conditions
for students to achieve higher levels of learning and development. Within such a
premise, this paper presents Emotional Intelligence as an essential component of
teacher preparation programmes for preparing teachers towards becoming
‘facilitators of learning’ and also as an effective means for continuous professional
development. To support the argument, the paper presents a synthesis and review
of available literature on the significance of an ‘Emotional Intelligence based
teaching’ followed by evidences collected through the use of classroom
observations and questionnaire.
Key Words: Emotional Intelligence (EI), Emotional Quotient (EQ),

Continuous Professional Development, Conservative-Autocratic Teachers, Liberal-
Democratic Teachers,
Introduction
Over the years, there has been a vast development across the field of
education. From theory to practise, the domain of education has undoubtedly
witnessed a lot of innovations and developments in keeping with the changing
needs of the students. As an inevitable consequence of globalisation, there is now a
growing demand and challenge for educators to make learning both relevant and
meaningful. From literacy and content mastery, the purpose and objective of
education now includes making students well equipped with professional skills
such as soft skills like communication, interpersonal skills and problem-solving
skills. The domain of education is now faced with the huge task of preparing
learners towards becoming responsible and independent citizens who can survive
in a fast changing world. With the growing impact of the new economy, the
domain of teaching has also become rather complex and demanding. It may be
stated here that, there is an urgent need to reconceptualise the domain of teacher
training to prepare teachers to effectively facilitate responsible and meaningful
learning among students. There is a growing need for teacher training programmes
to develop and train a new generation of teachers who can encourage and motivate
learners towards responsible learning through setting realistic goals for students
and structuring empowering learning environments. Within such a premise, this
paper presents Emotional Intelligence as an essential component of teacher
preparation programmes for preparing teachers towards becoming ‘facilitators of
learning’ and also as an effective means for continuous professional development.
The paper seeks to raise the contention that Emotional Intelligence is a much
needed component that needs to recognised and embedded in the domain of

teacher training to enhance the quality of teaching and also to impact meaningful
learning. To support the argument, the paper opens with a brief introduction on the
concept of Emotional Intelligence followed by a synthesis and review of available
literature on the significance of an ‘Emotional Intelligence based teaching’. To
further substantiate the contention, this paper also provides two case examples
from actual classroom settings derived through the use of classroom observation
and administering of questionnaires.
Conceptual Understanding of Emotional Intelligence

The concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is relatively a new development
as an important area of research in the educational and psychological domains. As
a concept, it emerged out of the ‘social intelligence theory’ in the works of
researchers like Thorndike and Gardner who studied the importance of emotions in
intellectual functioning. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the term generally related to
feelings and emotions, referring to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate
emotions. It is the ability of an individual to know, feel, use and communicate or
even monitor one’s own or other’s emotions.
Salovey and Mayer (1990) are acknowledged to be the first to conceptualise

and coin the term Emotional Intelligence. They proposed that emotions play an
important role in organizing, motivating and directing human behavior. According
to them, EI involves the “abilities to perceive, appraise, and express emotion; to
access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; to understand
emotion and emotional knowledge; and to regulate emotions to promote emotional
and intellectual growth” (p.10). They viewed EI as consisting of three components:
appraising and expressing emotions, regulating emotions, and utilizing emotional

information in thinking and acting.
Goleman (1995) is however given the credit for popularising the concept of
Emotional Intelligence. He posited that intelligence can come to nothing if
emotions are not in place. According to him, the human mind has two components-
one that thinks and one that feels and a model of mind that does not include both
the components is impoverished. Goleman (1998) argued that it is not cognitive
intelligence but emotional intelligence that guaranteed success in the work place
and opined that Emotional Intelligence consists of five elements: self-awareness,
self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. While emphasizing that
leaders high in emotional intelligence are key to organizational success, Goleman
(2001) stated that leaders should have the ability to sense the feelings of the
employees about their work environments, to intervene when problems arise, to
manage their own emotions in order to gain the trust of the employees, and to
understand the political and social conventions within an organization.
Having briefly outlined the concept of Emotional Intelligence, the sections
below traverses on the role and importance of Emotional Intelligence in the
domain of teacher training both as a tool for teachers’ professional development
and also as a dire need to promote effective and meaningful learning.
The significance of Emotional Intelligence in Teacher Education

Emotional Intelligence is of importance to the teachers not only for
effectively reaching out to the learners but also for their own well being and
success as teachers. The first premise that the paper is built upon is the need for
preparing teachers to be emotionally intelligent which would bring about a
desirable change in their teaching behavior that would consequently lead to
effective learning among the students. With the growing emphasis on education to
be learner-centered, there is a dire need for teachers to be emotionally intelligent so
as to promote a holistic development among the students. In most educational
debates and discourses today, the recurrent theme is the importance of recognizing
the interplay of cognitive and affective dimension in the process of learning.
Recognizing this interplay and implementing it in the teaching and learning
scenario requires the teacher to be emotionally competent.
In a study, Ng (2002), compared and contrasted two kinds of teachers;

conservative-autocratic teachers and liberal-democratic teachers. According to
him, conservative-autocratic teachers believe in the traditional authority of the
teacher, and expect students to respect and obey them. They place little or no
emphasis on developing the individual autonomy of students. Instead, misbehaving
students are scolded or punished to inculcate a sense of discipline in them. As a
result, conservative-autocratic teachers encourage disciplined but inhibited
behaviours in students which cripple their creativity and thereby healthy growth
and learning. In contrast, liberal-democratic teachers believe that every student
has an inner potential to be realized. They strive hard to assist their students to
realize this creative potential, by encouraging them to set their own goals. They
also use reason and moral persuasion to deal with misbehaving students, instead of
scolding or punishing them. In a later study, Ng and Smith (2004) showed that
liberal-democratic teachers are more tolerant of disruptive student behaviours and
are more skilled in managing such disruptive classrooms while conservative-
autocratic teachers are more intolerant. These findings suggest that the liberal-
democratic teachers possess higher emotional intelligence level and are therefore
able to perceive and manage a variety of emotions in self and others. They are
thereby more likely to promote self-direction and develop the creative potential of
learners unlike the conservative-autocratic teachers with a ‘no-nonsense approach’

who emphasises on inculcating moral discipline.
The second premise upon which the paper has been built is the need for
Emotional Intelligence as a tool for teachers’ professional development. The
challenges on the teachers are manifold with the changing times. Teaching is a
profession where there are lots of occupational stress due to the nature and extent
of workload. Teachers experience a wide range of positive and negative emotions
while teaching and interacting with students which can most often become
stressful. Travers (2001) in a study revealed that there is a growing alarm in the
rate of teacher burnout and the adverse implications it has on the learning
environments and thereby achievement of educational goals. Thus, it becomes
important for teachers to be emotionally intelligent to be able to manage their own
stress and to face the frustrations that come along in the course of their profession.
Hayes in his study, “Emotional Preparation for teachers: A case study of

trainee teachers in England” (2003) studied the varying emotions that trainee
teachers have and the impact it has on their teaching. The study indicated a
typology of emotions present in the trainee teachers before their final school
placement. The typology of emotions consists of anticipatory, anxious, fatalistic
and affirming emotions. These emotions play a significant role in their teaching as
revealed by the study. It highlighted the need to inculcate coping strategies in the
trainee teachers as the teaching experience whether good or bad will go a long way
in hampering or enhancing teaching and further proposed the development and
improvement of trainee teachers’ emotional literacy as an important element in
teacher training programs. The study establishes the role of emotions in teaching
and argues that “if emotions are central to teachers’ work and lives they merit a
significant place in teacher training” (p.169).
In another study, Ghanizadeh and Moafin (2010) studied the relation

between language teachers’ emotional intelligence and their success as teachers.
They established that there is a relation between EFL teachers’ Emotional Quotient
(EQ) and their success in language teaching. It also further indicated that there is a
relation between EFL teachers’ EQ and their years of experience and also their age
which suggest that EI is not static but can be trained and improved over time. The
study states that EI is critical in the process of teaching and emphasized on the
need and importance of incorporating emotional literacy program in teacher
development.
Further, Darling-Hammond (2001) stated that stress and poor emotion

management continually rank as the primary reasons why teachers become
dissatisfied with the profession and end up leaving their positions. Moreover,
according to Sutton and Wheatley (2003) teachers who have difficulty regulating
and managing their own emotions (and their classrooms) tend to have students who
experience more negative emotions in class (e.g., sadness, shame, and guilt) which
are potential agents in inhibiting learning. Within such premises, the paper
proposes that emotional skills training for teachers can create a stable, supportive
and productive learning environment while also initiating teachers towards
continuous professional development.
Case Examples from actual classroom settings
To further substantiate the contention of the paper, we present here two case
examples of two teachers in an actual classroom setting (in a school in Kohima).
The author conducted two classroom observations, one observation per teacher to
investigate into whether the different teaching behaviours and their Emotional
Quotient (EQ) had any significant relationships and whether it had any impact on
the learning environment. To find out their EQ level, an adapted version of the
Bar-On EQ-I model (2004), which is one of the three major conceptual models of
Emotional Intelligence and also the most widely used measure was used. For the
sake of anonymity, the two teachers will be referred to as Teacher A and Teacher
B. The observations were conducted in a class 9 classroom in a private school in
Kohima, the capital of Nagaland.
In line with the original model, the questionnaire used consisted of five
major categories- Intrapersonal (ability to recognize, understand and express
emotions and feelings), Interpersonal ( the ability to understand how others feel
and to be able to relate to them), Stress Management ( the ability to manage and
control emotions), Adaptability (ability to manage change, adapt and solve
problems of a personal and interpersonal nature), General Mood (the ability to
generate positive effect and be self motivated). The questions for each of the
categories were adapted from various sources so as to ensure the coverage of all
related themes and were presented in the form of a table with a total of 60
statements on a five point response scale ranging from ‘not true’ to ‘completely
true’ The first two categories ‘Intrapersonal’ and ‘Interpersonal’ comprised of 15
questions whereas the other three had10 questions each. The Emotional
Intelligence questionnaire was administered before the classroom observation.
The table below presents a report on two teachers EQ as elicited through the
use of the questionnaire based on Bar-On model.
Items Teacher A Teacher B

Intrapersonal 45 (Average) 55 (Average)
Interpersonal 69 (Excellent) 64 (High)
Stress management 23 (Low) 44 (High)
Adaptability 39 (High) 41 (High)
General Mood 42 (High) 42 (High)
Total EQ score 218 (Average) 246 (High)
Case Example 1: Teacher A

The table above shows that teacher A has average EI quotient with an
average intrapersonal skills, high interpersonal, adaptability skills and general
mood and a comparatively low score in stress management. We shall now attempt
at correlating Teacher A’s Emotional Quotient with her teaching behaviour in the
classroom. A few samples from the classroom observation transcript are presented
below;
Sample 1: Okay, today I will make you read loud okay? This appeared to be
a little authoritative yet the way she sounded seemed as if she was hesitating. The
teacher seemed to be asserting her own power by announcing what she will make
the students do but she lacked confidence. Some students were excited about it but
most students were grumbling about it. Instead of saying it plainly she could have
said it in a more interesting way that would get the attention of the students. Her
whole class was about making the students read aloud from the text.
Sample 2. Don’t look at me, look at the text and continue This was when a
student was reading. She seemed a little nervous and so her voice was not so loud.
The teacher stopped her halfway and asked her to read loudly. The student already
nervous halted her reading when the teachers’ voice cut in and was looking at the
teacher perhaps for her signal whether to continue or not. We may observe here
that this verbal behaviour of the teacher was harsh, lacking warmth and
understanding. The girl students’ fear was intensified as was made evident in the
way she struggled with some words as she continued reading.
Sample 3: I can’t hear you Reuben, I said loudly!
Sample 4: Some of you are not bothering to look at me also.
Sample 5: The rest of you just look into your text.
The third was again in the middle of the students’ reading, asking him to
read louder and in this case she was louder than the previous one. Here, the first
thing that can be noted would be that she was contradicting herself. At one point
she said the students are not looking at her and in the next she said look into your
text. She seemed to be agitated and it was showing on her body language as she
paced the room. It appeared that her mind was not fixed on the students’ reading
which was observed when she called the next students’ name and asked the
previous one where he/she stopped making it obvious that she did not concentrate
on what they were reading. She seemed easily distracted by the students’
movement and she passed unnecessary comments on the students each time she
spotted a student turning back or picking up a pen etc. The excerpt below shows
how she reacts even to small actions of the students.
Sample 6: You there! What are you eating? Go out and throw it in the
dustbin…….I SAID GO OUT!!!! Don’t you understand English?
A girl student was likely chewing some gum during the session and was
spotted by the teacher. She was highly enraged as we can see the way she reacted
in the sample above. When she emphasized the ‘go out’ to the girl her tone was
differently loud which is signified by the use of capital letters. This reaction of the
teacher seemed unnecessary and totally uncalled for. The researcher’s observation
was that this teacher was totally unprepared for the class and therefore her mind
and focus were scattered, mostly fixed on the students’ movements and behaviours.
Had she been prepared her mind would be focused on how to get her lessons
through to the learners and perhaps she would not have bothered so much on the
students’ petty faults such as chewing and turning back. Moreover, the students’
attention would also have been captured to some extent by the lesson and they
wouldn’t have been as restless as they were by the reading session. Further going
back to her EQ score we have observed that her stress management level is low
and this is evidenced by the observation on her classroom management.
Case Example 2: Teacher B

As already shown in the table above, Teacher B has high EI quotient with an
average intrapersonal skill, high interpersonal, stress management skills,
adaptability and general mood.
In this teacher’s case we see samples of a good balance of emotions which
stands as a huge contrast to what we have seen in Teacher A.
Sample1: “Last night I dreamt that you like this poem very much and my
dreams always come true so I know you are going to like it.” This is how she
began the class, with a sense of humour which evoked choral laughter in the class.
This also sparked an interaction with the students.
S- Miss, is it a love story?
T- Yes it is an interesting love story but we will start only after listening to
your love stories. Anybody interested in telling us your love story?
S- Miss, you tell us yours first!
T- Sure, its’ in the text and we will now read it together, shall we?
The introduction of the lesson was done in a very pleasant manner and it was
clear that the students were interested instantly in what the teacher had to say. This
is an example of how an emotionally intelligent teacher would begin the class. The
humour that she used was not so far removed from the text and also not irrelevant
to the students. It set the whole atmosphere of the class. This is an example of how
humour can be used to create the right atmosphere of the class.
Sample 2. That was fast and smart! Yes ‘wight’ and ‘bright’, that rhymes
perfectly!
This was when she was teaching rhymes to the students. She asked them to
pick up some rhymes from the text. This is a nice way to give feedback to students,
repeating what they said while praising them gives them a sense of pride which is
motivating and healthy.
Sample 3. Sato, do you want to stay back after class and listen to my love
story again?
This is a fine example of how to get the attention of the students. The
student mentioned was looking out of the window as the teacher was explaining.
Instead of acting up like the previous teacher she simply called out his name in a
playful manner and said the above. It did not offend the student but it did bring
back his attention to the class.
This teacher stand as an evidence that the quality and effect of teacher talk
depends hugely on the emotional intelligence level. There are some teachers who
believe and expect that students should revere and fear them without a question but
this is unhealthy for learning and never brings the desired result. Instead like this
teacher, a good sense of humour and a warm temperament is more effective. In
other words, an emotionally intelligent way of teaching is more effective.
Implications of Emotional Intelligence in Teacher Education

The two case examples reveal a clear understanding of how an emotionally
intelligent teacher can better impact curiosity and learning among students by
providing a conducive learning environment. Teacher A exhibited a low stress

management skill which did not only hamper her teaching but also hampered the
learning atmosphere. Teacher A in this regard can be characterised as a
conservative-autocratic teacher who according to Ng (2002) does not encourage
the creative potential of the students. Teacher B on the contrary provided a good
example of how an emotionally intelligent teacher can effectively manage the
classroom while also encouraging effective communication which forms the basis
of learning. We observed that in Teacher B’s classroom, students were more active
and more open for participation. She may be characterised as a liberal-democratic
teacher with high EQ and such teachers as already mentioned above encourage the
creative potential of students. The implication here is that if Emotionally
Intelligent teaching can enhance learning, then it merits a place in teacher
education.
In the light of the discussions contained above, Mortiboys (2005) stated that
there are three components that make teaching effective, they are: subject
expertise, teaching methodology and Emotional Intelligence while pointing out
that the third component is still unrecognized in teaching. Conventionally, the
teacher training world centers more on the two former skills. But it may be stated
that the value of both subject knowledge and teaching methods will be seriously
diminished in the absence of Emotional Intelligence. This paper therefore sought to
make a call for teacher education to acknowledge and include Emotional
Intelligence as the third crucial component in its fold. It should be recognized as an
essential component and introduced in the teacher education curriculums with
emphasis on both theory and practise. For a theoretical and conceptual
understanding of Emotional Intelligence, there are various books and literature
available.
This theoretical learning can be followed by activities through which the

teachers can learn about their own feelings and also about how to deal with
students’ feelings and emotions in the class. Teachers will have to face and solve
demanding situations in the classroom for which training on such situational
problem solving and handling of feelings should constitute an aspect of the teacher
training world. Workshops and seminars on Emotionally Intelligent Teaching can
also be conducted to integrate EI in the Teacher Education programs.
Conclusion
On the whole, this paper has traversed on the need to prepare teachers to be
better equipped for meeting the growing and shifting needs of the students. The
basic aim has been to awaken the teachers and educators to the limitations of the
present system and their current manner of teaching and to make a call for teachers
to be facilitators of learning. Teachers can affect the students in more ways than
they can imagine, they have the ability to define their personalities and who they
become. Therefore it is important for the teachers to be able to manage themselves
and then transform the students. Teaching has been known to be an intensely
psychological process and a teacher’s ability to maintain productive classroom
environments, motivate students, and make situational decisions depends on her
personal qualities and the ability to create personal relationships with his/her
students. These effective attitudes and actions employed by teachers ultimately
make a positive difference on the lives of their students. This is where the
importance of Emotional Intelligence comes in.
We conclude with the words of the Irish poet William butler Yeats,
“Education is not the filling up of a bucket but the lightning of a fire” and Henry
Brooks Adams, “A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence
stops”.
References
 Bar-On, R. 2004. The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory(EQ-i):

Rationale, description and psychometric properties. In G. Geher (ed.),
Measuring Emotional Intelligence: Common ground and controversy.
Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.
 Darling-Hammond, L. (2001). The challenge of staffing our schools.
Educational Leadership, 58, 12–17.
 Goleman, D., 1995. Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More

Than IQ. New York: Bantam Books
 Golman, D. (1998). Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York:

Bantam Books.
 Goleman, D. (2001). Emotional intelligence: Issues in paradigm

building. In C. Cherniss and D. Goleman (Ed's.), The Emotionally
Intelligent Workplace. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.
 Ghanizadeh, A.,& Moafin,F. (2010). “The Role of EFL teachers’

emotional intelligence in their success”. ELT Journal 64(4). 425-435.
 Hayes, Denis. 2003. Emotional Preparation for Teaching: A case

study about trainee teachers in England. Teacher Development, 7(2),
153-171
 Mortiboys, A. 2005. Teaching with Emotional Intelligence- A step by

step guide for higher and further education professionals. London:
Routledge.
 Ng, A. K. (2002). The development of a new scale to measure

teachers' attitudes toward students (TATS). Educational Research
Journal, 17(1), 63-78.
 Ng, A. K., & Smith, I. (2004). Why is there a paradox in promoting

creativity in the Asian classroom? In L. Sing, A. Hui, & G. Ng. (Eds.),
Creativity: When East meets West (pp. 87 112). Singapore: World

Scientific Publishing.
 Salovey, P., & Mayer, J.D. (1990). Emotional

Intelligence:Imagination,Cognition, and Personality,9, 185–211
 Sutton, R.E., & Wheatley, K.F. (2003). Teachers’ emotions and

teaching: A review of the literature and directions for future research.
Educational Psychology Review, 15, 327–358.
 Travers, C. J. (2001). Stress in teaching: Past, present and future. In J.
Dunham (Ed.),
 Stress in the workplace: Past, present and future (pp. 130–163).
Philadelphia, PA: Whurr Publishers.
Morpheme Acquisition Order of Indian ESL Learners: A Comparative Study

Narke Pankaj Ashok
Abstract
Understanding second and foreign language learning has been a crucial mark
in the field of second language studies. Numerous researchers have tried to identify
the patterns of second language learning and provided their own definitions. Some
of the language aspects that they observed are lexis, syntax, semantic, phonetics,
discourse and few others. This present study focuses on morpheme acquisition
order in Indian context as against the western context established by Dulay and
Burt. The purpose of the present study is to explore morpheme acquisition order of
Indian ESL learners by using tasks which target selected grammatical morphemes.
This study finds its theoretical inputs from Dulay and Burt’s morpheme study in
1973.
Introduction
Do second language learners acquire language in the same way as first
language learners do? Is it important to define relationship between L1 and SL to
find the answer to this question?
These questions have attracted a large number of researchers in the field of
Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Morphemeacquisition study is one of the
outcomes in the process of finding answers to these questions. Morpheme
acquisition study in SLA was inspired by Brown’s morpheme acquisition study in
first language. In his longitudinal study, Brown had found a consistent order of
emergence of 14 grammatical morphemes (Mitchell and Myles, 2004). Similar
study was carried out by deVilliers and deVilliers in 1973, which lead them to the
results similar to Brown’s study. Dulay and Burt (1973) conducted a morpheme
acquisition study in the context of second language. They observed morpheme
acquisition order of 8 morphemes from Brown’s morpheme list. The subjects in the
study had different proficiency levels in English. The results showed uniqueness in
SL morpheme acquisition order among all the three groups even though their
proficiency in English was not similar. Sequence acquisition studies dominated the
research in the field of SLA. Researchers were not only interested in finding out
the sequence of morpheme acquisition but also in investigating which sounds are
acquired first (Major, 1994), which syntactic structures are acquired first and
which later ( Zobl&Liceras, 1994, cited by Vivian Cook, 2010). Similar to
developmental psychology, that explored the sequence of developmental stages of
children, morpheme acquisition studies have established the developmental stages
in SL learning; what do children learn first and what later.
This paper includes a similar morpheme acquisition study in the context of
Indian ESL learners. The focus of the study has been narrowed down to three
grammatical morphemes; articles, present progressive –ing and third person –s.
Only written data of the learners, who are selected as samples for the study, has
been observed in this study.The data is elicited through the tasks which aimed at
written production of desired morphemes. The focus was to evaluate grammatical
correctness of the data and not comprehension. The purpose of the study is to find
out the morpheme acquisition order of Indian ESL learners.
Research Question
Numbers of researches have shown that both L1 and L2 learners follow a
natural order of language acquisition. The studies were undertaken to enquire the
morpheme acquisition sequence in L1 and L2 but most of them are pitched in non-
Indian context. This study, therefore tries to answer the following question;
Do the Indian ESL learners exhibit the same morpheme acquisition order as
found by Dulay and Burt in a non-Indian context?
Review of Literature
Brown’s fundamental research in morpheme acquisition study has triggered
many other contemporary researches in the area of language acquisition across the
globe. It was his attempt to find out the natural order of morpheme acquisition in
L1. It was even before when Krashen proposed his natural order hypothesis by
saying that the acquisition of grammatical structures occurs in a predictable
sequence (Krashen, 1987). Brown came up with the list of 14 grammatical
morphemes that are acquired in a particular sequence in L1 by the young learners.
According to Brown’s analysis, some factor or some set of factors caused these
grammatical morphemes to evolve in an approximately consistent order in the
children (Brown, 1973). One of the great contributions of his study to the field of
language acquisition is the method of data analysis for scoring and comparing data
on functor acquisition order. Another famous study in first language acquisition is
of deVilliers and deVilliers. In their study they sought to measure the L1 English
morpheme acquisition order among 21 English speaking children of the age
between 16 to 40 months. They found that the results were consistent with those of
Brown. Despite the fact that both the studies, of Brown’s and deVilliers &
deVilliers, have achieved the similar results, the fundamental difference between
them is the methods used for data calculations. In the first method deVilliers &
deVilliers ordered a given morpheme according to the lowest MLU8 sample at
which it was present in 90% of obligatory contexts. In the second method the
percentage of each morpheme were added across all the subjects and averaged. The
resulting mean percentages were then ranked (Eun-Young Kwon, 2005).
8
Mean length of utterance (MLU) is the average number of morphemes per utterance. It is an index of expressive
language development used beyond the stage of single words, when a child uses two or more words together in an
utterance. It is calculated in 100 spontaneous utterances by counting the number of morphemes in each utterance
divided by the total number of utterances (www.springerreference.com).
Taking up from there, Dulay and Burt applied the same framework of study
in the second language context. They carried out their study in three different
phases. The first study tried to investigate whether the children tend to use the
structures of their native language when trying to speak a second language and
therefore make ‘interference errors’ as predicted by habit formation when the
structures of two languages differ? (Dulay & Burt, 1974).
The second study is similar to Brown’s study in many aspects. The
assumption behind this study was ‘if it is true that certain universal cognitive
mechanisms control the way children organize linguistic input, certain regularities
should appear in children’s L2 speech (Dulay &Burt, 1974). Therefore they
decided to investigate acquisition order of certain grammatical structures. The
research questions of this study was; given interaction with English speaking peers,
is there a natural sequence in Spanish speaking children’s acquisition of certain
English grammatical structures? They tried to investigate acquisition order of eight
English grammatical morphemes (from themorpheme order found by Brown)
among the different SL groups. In this study they observed the natural speech of
five to eight years old Spanish speaking children who are learning English as L2.
The data was collected by using BSM9 (bilingual syntax measure). The eight
functors were selected from the beginning, middle and the end of the L1
morpheme sequence found by Brown. The eight functors included, present
progressive, plural –s, past irregular, possessive, articles, third person regular,
contractible copula and contractible auxiliary. As sample for this study, three
different groups of children were taken from three different places; California,
Mexico and New York. These children differed in terms of proficiency in English
9
Bilingual Syntax Measure (BSM) is an instrument designed to measure young children’s acquisition of English and
Spanish grammatical structure in an L2 situation. (Dulay&Burt, 1973)
and the amount of exposure they had got in English. The philosophy behind the
testing of the learners’ data was drawn from Brown, who says,
One can set an acquisition criterion not simply in terms of output but in
terms of output where required. Each obligatory context can be regarded as a kind
of test item which the child passes by supplying the required morpheme or fails by
supplying none or one that is not correct. This performance measure, the
percentage of morphemes supplied in obligatory contexts, should not be dependent
on the topic of conversation or the character of the interaction. (Brown, 1973 cited
in Dulay &Burt 1973)
The data was analyzed by means of a ratio for each functor, where the total
numbers of correct functors were calculated against the total number of obligatory
occasions. The results showed that though the three different groups of participants
had different proficiency level, the acquisition order of eight functors is the same.
It was also found that the morpheme acquisition order exhibited by the L1 learners
in Brown’s study differ from the acquisition order exhibited by L2 learners in
Dulay & Burt’s study. (Refer to Table 1)
Table 1
L1 Rank L2 Rank order
Order (Brown) (Dulay &Burt)
ing 1 3
Past irregular 2 6
Possesive 3 7
Arcticles 4 1
Past regular 5 5
3rd person 6 8
singular
Copula 7 2
Auxilary 8 4
Note: L2 morpheme acquisition order found by Dulay & Burt (1973)
Dulay and Burt (1973) concluded that the sequence of acquisition exhibited
by the three different groups in this study suggests that the strategies used by the
children to second language acquisition are universal. This sequence also indicates
the learning order of these structures is controlled by the child’s processing
strategies, in the sense that he must be cognitively “ready” in order to acquire any
one of them.
Perkins and Larsen-Freeman (1975) also conducted a similar study. In their
study they tried to investigate progressive -ing, indefinite articles, definite articles,
third person -s, and four other morphemes. They used two types of instruments in
the study: a translation of 15 first language (L1) sentences into English and a short
video without dialogue on which the test subjects had to comment in English. In
the discussion about the instruments the authors pointed out a problem. While
collecting the data the learners were able to avoid the use of target morphemes if
they were unable to use them correctly. They could find the alternative structures
instead of the targeted morphemes which were grammatically correct. Coming
over this problem, they suggested that the instructions have to be planned
carefully. Their study with the Korean learners took this into account while
providing the instructions.
Larsen-Freeman (1976) observed adult ESL learners’ data unlike Brown and
Dulay &Burt. She conducted a study in which she administered five tasks on 24
adult ESL learners who belonged to different L1 backgrounds. The tasks included:
Bilingual Syntax Measure (BSM), a picture cued sentence petition test, a listening
comprehension task, a multiple choice reading cloze test and a writing test
involving filling in the blanks. The morpheme acquisition orders exhibited by the
participants were found to be consistent across the different L1 backgrounds. In
case of oral tasks the results matched with Dulay and Burt’s results, but the results
of written tasks there were differences such as a rise in the rank order of plural –s
and third person –s (Eun-Young Kwon, 2005). Ellis commented on this study
saying that speaking and writing are influenced by different socio-linguistic and
psycho-linguistic conditions. He predicted that the differences observed by Larsen-
Freeman may be a function of production condition rather than a natural order
(Eun-Young Kwon, 2005). In another study Larsen-Freeman (1975) presented two
different morphemes acquisition orders in two different context; monitored and
unmonitored. In the monitored context, as an instrument, a ‘discrete-point pencil
and paper grammar test’ was used. On the other hand in the unmonitored context,
Bilingual Syntax Measure (BSM) was as the instrument (Krashen, 1982). In both
the context the acquisition order was exhibited differently. The results were
interpreted by stating that when performance focuses on form they can increase
accuracy in unacquired but learned parts of grammar (Krashen, 1982).
Method
Participants
This study attempted to explore the morpheme acquisition order of three
grammatical morphemes by ten native Indian speakers. The participants were class
VIII English medium students from Govt. High School, Hyderabad (India). All the
subjects were selected randomly from the class. The age of the subjects ranged
between 11 to 14 years old. The sample consisted of two female and eight male
participants. All the participants were learning English as a second language and
they were from the similar L1 background. English was the medium of instruction
in the school but out of the school they did not have any exposure for English.
Since the subjects were not proficient in English and they were in SL
developmental stagestill. They were found perfect as the sample for the study. It
was a complete voluntary participation by the participants.
Materials
To track learners’ use of the targeted morpheme three picture description
tasks were designed. Since the similar picture description tasks were used in the
same kind of morpheme study (Timothy Schuwerk, 2004) and tested successfully
before, the validity of the tasks was not tested separately. However the tasks used
in this study differ from the tasks used in the above mentioned study. The first task
aimed at eliciting the use of articles, both definite and indefinite. Seven obligatory
occasions were created by giving seven pictures. The participants had to write a
simple sentence about what they see in the picture. (Appendix) In the second task
there were four pictures which were in progression action. The participants were
expected to describe the action in the picture in not more than one sentence. This
task was to track the use of present progressive –ing morpheme. The third task
consisted of a series of pictures. There were six pictures and all of them were
interrelated. It was a series of day to day actions or habitual actions. The
participants had to describe those day to day actions of a character named John.
While describing his routine they were supposed to use the third person singular –
s. While giving the instructions care was taken that there won’t be any use of the
desired morphemes in the written instructions, which the participants were
supposed to use. For the first section which focused on the use of articles the
instruction was, “Describe what you see in the given picture”. This instruction
does not consist of any use of definite or indefinite article. The second task, which
focused on present progressive –ing, included the instruction, “Describe the
activities in the given pictures”. The third task focused on the use of third person –
s, for which the instruction was, “Following are the pictures which show John’s
daily activities. With the help of these pictures describe his daily activities”. To
ensure that the participants produce the desires morphemes, they were provided
with a prompt in the few initial items of the tasks. This was done in order to avoid
complexity in understanding the objects in the pictures and to bring uniqueness in
their descriptions. For example, in the first task, which focused on ‘articles’, right
below the picture the name of the object was written in the bracket and the prompt
was “This is…..”. The participants were supposed to write “This is a car”. In the
second task, which elicited present progressive –ing forms, the action pictures were
given and the action verbs were provided in the brackets to avoid the complexity in
understanding. The prompt was, “They are….”.The participants were supposed to
write “They are cooking”. In the third task, to elicit third person –s, a series of
pictures was given and at the bottom of every picture the action verbs were
provided. No prompts were given in this task but descriptive instructions were
provided. (Refer to Appendix )
Procedure
Ten participants were selected for the study from class VIII English
medium. Since there were many potential subjects in the class, they were selected
randomly based on voluntary participation. The tasks were administered at a time
with all the participants during their class time. To avoid any effect on
participants’ performance, they were not informed about the purpose of the study.
Also, in order to avoid anxiety and other affective factors there was no time limit
to perform these tasks.No specific seating arrangement was done in the classroom
therfore the participants had choice to sit wherever they wanted. The participants
were given time to look at the tasks and ask the doubts if they had. For example, a
participant came up with a doubt regarding the task three (on third person –s),
whether the picture sequence presented there is jumbled. The data evaluation
process included identifying both the correct and incorrect use of targeted
morphemes. Since the focus of the study was on grammatical accuracy of the
targeted morphemes, the comprehension aspect of the data was not taken into
consideration.
Data Analysis
Data was analyzed by using GSM (group scoring method) which was
previously used by Dulay and Burt (1974) in their study on finding the natural
sequence in child second language acquisition. In their paper they define GSM as;
it bears this name because it analyzes the data of a group. In this method the group
score for a particular morpheme is obtained by computing a ratio whose dominator
is the sum of all obligatory occasions of that morpheme across all the subjects and
multiplying the resulting quotient by 100 (Dulay and Burt, 1974). In this study the
same method was used to find the group scores of every individual targeted
morpheme. All correct uses of the target morphemes were calculated against all the
obligatory occasions and the percentage score of correct use was drawn. The
formula used for the analysis is,
Number of correct use of the target morphemes
X100 = Percentage of morpheme acquisition

Total obligatory occasions
The results obtained through this calculation were transformed to bar graph
in order to find out the acquisition order. The calculations for each morpheme are;
Table 2
Score occasions
Participant 1 3 7
Participant 2 0 7
Participant 3 0 7
Participant 4 5 7
Participant 5 2 7
Participant 6 3 7
Participant 7 5 7
Participant 8 1 7
Participant 9 5 7
Participant 10 7 7
Total 31 70
31/70X100= 44.28571429%
Note: participants’ score on the task1. Articles
Table 3
Sc Occ
ore asions
Participant 1 4 4
Participant 2 4 4
Participant 3 4 4
Participant 4 4 4
Participant 5 4 4
Participant 6 4 4
Participant 7 4 4
Participant 8 4 4
Participant 9 4 4
Participant 10 4 4
Total 40 40
40/40X100= 100 %
Note: Participants’ score on task 2. Present Progressive –ing.
Table 4
S Occ
core asions
Participant 1 1 6
Participant 2 0 6
Participant 3 0 6
Participant 4 1 6
Participant 5 1 6
Participant 6 1 6
Participant 7 0 6
Participant 8 0 6
Participant 9 0 6
Participant 10 0 6
Total 4 60
4/60X100=6.666666667 %Note: Participants’ score on task3, Third Person –s
Results
The study tested each participant’s performance on the tasks very closely
and analyzed it through the statistical measures. The data analysis showed that the
highest number of correctly used morpheme is the present progressive –ing. As a
group score, out of 40 obligatory occasions the participants performed all of them
correctly. The results in percentage showed that the participants have acquired
present progressive –ing completely. Present progressive –ing is followed by
‘articles’, where the data analysis shows that it is the second highest morpheme
acquired correctly by the participants in the study. As a group score, out of 70
obligatory occasions the participants have acquired 31correctly which is just below
the half of the total percentage. The statistical representation of the data shows that
it is 44% on hundred. The least scored morpheme out of the three is ‘third person –
s’. The data analysis shows the instance of correct use of this morpheme is just 4
out of 60. In percentage the score is 6.6% which is too less than the other two
morphemes. The graphical presentation of the data can be as following,
Percentage of morpheme acquisition
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Present Progressive -ing Articles Third Person -s
Fig.1 Percentage of morpheme acquisition

From the above bar-graph the results can be interpreted as followings. The
morpheme acquisition order exhibited by the Indian ESL learners differs from the
acquisition order found by Dulay and Burt in their second study with the ESL
learners from different groups. Table 5 presents the difference between the
acquisition orders found in two different studies.
Table 5
L2 L2 Rank order in
Rank order Indian ESL Learners
(Dulay
&Burt)
Articles 1 2
-ing 2 1
3rd person singular 3 3
Note: Difference between L2 rank order by Dulay& Burt’s and L2 Rank

order in Indian ESL Learners
Although there is difference in the acquisition order of some grammatical

morphemes, ESL learners across the globe do exhibit a natural order of morpheme
acquisition.Some of the effective factors for different morpheme acquisition order
might be different L1 backgrounds, lengths of exposure and cultural
diversity.Similar results were found by Perkins and Larsen-Freeman (1975). They
reported that the Spanish speaking children in their study on morpheme exhibited
the similar morpheme acquisition order, present progressive -ing, indefinite article
and at last third person –s. Bailey, Madden and Krashen (1974)also presented the
same morpheme acquisition scores.
Limitations
Though the study has come up with concrete results, some limitations of the
study should be taken into consideration. First of all, the participants in the study
are ESL learners and therefore English grammar is a part of their school
curriculum. There might be an influence of the classroom instructions on the
responses produced by the participants. Another possible limitation of the study
can be, since the scope of this paper is very limited, it was decided to focus on only
three morphemes. On a broader scale, including maximum numbers of morphemes,
the results may vary. There might be a slight change in the position of morphemes
according to their acquisition order. Considering the scope of the study it was not
possible analyze the reasons behind the performance of the participants. Why do
they score high in a particular morpheme and why low in another can be answered
in a study with a broader scope. Reaching to the reasons behind this morpheme
acquisition order exhibited by the participants will have rich classroom
implications therefore it can be the scope for further study.
Implications
Morpheme acquisition studies have been taken up right from 1970 till the
present day in the various contexts. This area of research has gained immense
popularity in the field of second language research. Real life implicationof these
studies is one of the solid bases for its popularity. Starting from the pioneering
study of Brown (1970), his methodological insights into grammatical morpheme
analysis facilitated the development of analytical methods for L2 research (Dulay,
Burt & Krashen, 1982, cited in Eun-Young Kwon,2005). Dulay & Burt (1973),
through their study on second language morpheme acquisition, expressed the need
to expose the children to a natural communication situation. They extended their
argument further by saying that exposure to natural communication would be
sufficient to activate language learning process. This view can be connected to the
classroom condition, because it is language teacher who will initiate such natural
communication by creating communication opportunities. Apart from the research
perspective, morpheme studies can be very effective in the context of second
language teaching and learning for several reasons. First of all, it informs the
teachers about the order in which their students acquire the language. It will help
them concentrate more on un-acquired or difficult to acquire morphemes. This
research will also help the teachers modify their instructions and teaching method
according to the needs of the learners.Designing teaching materials is another field
that can be influenced by morpheme studies. Instructional materials can be selected
according to the language learning progress of the learners. The teachers can adapt
supporting materials in order to emphasis more on children’s weak areas in
language learning. Language transfer process of children can be understood better
through the morpheme studies.
Conclusion
The study aimed at finding out if the Indian ESL learners follow the same
morpheme acquisition order as found by Dulay and Burt in their morpheme study
in a non-Indian context.After the data analysis and interpretation it was foundthat,
there is a slight change in the acquisition order of some grammatical morphemes.
ThereforeIndian ESL learners do not follow the same morpheme acquisition order
of selected grammatical morphemes as found by Dualy and Burt in their
morpheme study. Despite the difference in the acquisition order it can be said that
the ESL learners across the world follow a natural order in morpheme acquisition.
This difference can be attributed towards the different levels of proficiency, varied
lengths of L2 exposure, different L1 background and the socio-cultural differences.
These results corroborate the natural order hypothesis proposed by Stephen
Krashen (1987). Second language learners do follow a natural order while
acquiring the structures of the language. In case of the Indian ESL learners this
hypothesis can be confirmed again by conducting a large scale research which will
include maximum numbers of morphemes.
References
 Bailey, N., Madden, C., & Krashen, S. (1974). Is there a “natural
sequence” in adult secondlanguage learning? Language learning: A
journal of applied linguistics, 24, 235-243.
 Brown, R. (1973). A first language.Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
 Cook,V. (2010) The relationship between first and second language
learning revisited.in E. Macaro (ed.)The Continuum Companion
toSecond Language Acquisition,Continuum, 137-15
 de Villiers, J., & de Villiers, P. (1973). A cross-sectional study of the
acquisition of grammatical morphemes in child speech. Journal of
Psycholinguistic Research, 2, 267-278.
 Dulay, H. C., & Burt, M. K. (1973). Should we teach children syntax?

Language Learning, 23, 245-258.
 Dulay, H. C., & Burt, M. K. (1974). Natural sequences in child second
language acquisition.Language Learning, 24, 37-53.
 Dulay, H. C., & Burt, M. K. (1974b).A new perspective on the
creative construction process in child second language
acquisition.Language Learning, 24, 253-278.
 Eun-Young ,K. (2005) The “Natural Order” of morpheme acquisition:
A historical survey and discussion of three putative determinants.
TESOL & Applied Linguistics, 2005, Vol. 5, No. 1
 Hatch , E and Lazaraton, A. 1991. ‘THE RESEARCH MANUAL
Design and Statistics for applied Linguistics’ New York, Newbury
House Publishers.
 Krashen, S. (1987).Principles and practice in second language

acquisition. New York: Prentice-Hall, International.
 Larsen-Freeman, D. E. (1975).The acquisition of grammatical
morphemes by adult ESL students.TESOL Quarterly, 9, 409-419.
 Melisma,C. (2005). L2 English morpheme acquisition order: The lack
of consensus examined from a case study of four L1 Chinese pre-
school boys. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics.20/2, 59-78
 Mitchell,R &Myles,F. (2004).Second Language Learning Theories.
London. Hodder Arnold
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Learners.Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Central Florida.
Appendix
Name:__________________________________________Age:
Name of the School:___________________________
Class:_______________________
Write answers to the following questions in the provided space.
Task No. 1
Describe what you see in the given pictures
(Car)
This is _______________________________________________
(Sun)
This is ___________________________________________________
(gift box)
This is _______________________________________________
(computer)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Elephant)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(TajMahal)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------
(Umbrella)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Task No. 2
Describe the activities in the given pictures
(Cook)
The man and woman are ----------------------------------------------------------
(Dance)
The man and woman are ----------------------------------------------------------
(Run)
_____________________________________________________________
(Play)
_____________________________________________________________
Task No. 3
Following are the pictures which show John’s daily activities. With the help
of these pictures describe (write) his daily activities.
get up take shower brush teeth
floss teeth Shave get dressed

Lokaratna Treasure Trove (Lokaratna Khazana)
Collaborative Reflective Practices: A Self-Reflective Journey From Planning

to Implementation
Amit Kumar
Abstract
This paper attempts to explore how a group of trainee teachers can
collaborate, reflect and implement solutions to classroom issues during the one-
month contact programme of the course ‘Post Graduate Certificate of Teaching
English’ at EFL University, Hyderabad. The programme includes a well-structured
Practice Teaching component of three weeks’ duration, which demands the
trainees to collaborate and teach in a short-term Proficiency Course. During this
period, an attempt is made to analyze the self-reflective journals of the teachers
and researcher’s notes, to find out how far collaborative reflective practices foster
teachers’ professional development. Positive effects of collaborative and reflective
teaching are known to a few as very few institutes like EFLU promote this.
Teaching in collaboration involves planning, material selection, classroom
teaching, assessment and finally reflection. The study involved 8 teachers
including the researcher. As a participant, the researcher actively participated in the
collaborative teaching where the impact of reflection on teaching was keenly
observed. Here, ‘reflection’ is hypothesized as one of the effective approaches and
an outstanding learning experience. With this view, my fellow teachers were
requested to write self-reflective journals based on self-evaluation checklist, and
peer-assessment checklist. Further, teachers’ self-reflective journal and semi-
structured interviews were used to understand teachers’ perception on collaborative
reflections. Analysis of data indicated that collaborative reflection fosters
professional development in trainees. Data analysis involved the identification of
the problems such as inappropriate planning, unsuitability of materials and others
faced by the teachers between planning and reflection. To sum up, the study finds
that collaborative reflective practices lead to professional growth, and
improvement in teaching style and efficacy of the teachers.
Key words: Collaborative Teaching, Reflective Practices, Professional
Development
Introduction
With the emergence of innovative approaches, methods, and techniques
of teaching English in the present scenario where classroom has been used as
the foreground for teachers’ development, incorporation of teaching practices
such as reflectionand collaboration are not hyperbole. Of late, it has been
widely acknowledged that collaborative learning and reflective practices are
conducive in helping teachers develop a positive attitude towards exploring their
teaching for innovative approaches that empower them to lead their professional
development. With this view, a study has been conducted toexplorethe
effectiveness of collaborative reflective practiceswhere trainee teachers are
given anopportunity to teach students in an English proficiency course through
collaboration with other trainee teachers of the same course.
However, in the traditional pedagogical setup, majority of the potential

English language teachers are accustomed to take teacher centered classes due to
lack of appropriate training in how to teach English effectively. The current
training practices in most of the teacher training colleges in India adopt craft or
applied science model. In both the models teacher educators assume these potential
teachers to be in a state of blank slate or empty vessel waiting to be filled before
they embark on teacher training programme. The role of the trainee teachers is to
listen to teacher educators and follow their instructions closely. Trainee teachers
have little to contribute and may not be provided any opportunity to voice their
views and ideas. Similarly, very few teacher training institutes provide opportunity
to the trainee teachers to get systematic and constructive feedback on their teaching
with the incorporation of innovative and effective approaches in order to make
teaching of English more interactive and learner-centered. Most of these teachers
work individually and in isolation. They do not collaborate with their ideas, views,
understanding of their teaching with their colleagues and other teachers. Moreover,
they do not feel comfortable to take feedback from their fellow teachers that may
help them reflect upon their practices and generate new ideas, plan and organize
their teaching. Specifically, many trainee teachers are not aware of the positive
effects of self-reflective practices and continue to teach the way they are trained
that lead to ineffective teaching strategies. Most of the English teachers either
trained or untrained confine their knowledge and skills to themselves due to sense
of competition rather than cooperation. There is wide gap between theory and
practice as they may not be aware of the positive effect of collaboration and
reflective practices that can efficiently be used as one of the most innovative
approaches for their professional development.
Therefore, keeping these drawbacks in mind, the proposed study targets to

foster reflective practices and develop teachers professionally while being trained
in pre-service and in-service teacher training programme like‘Post Graduate
Certificate in the Teaching of English’ (PGCTE), a programme offered by EFL
University, Hyderabad, India for professional development of Pre and In-service
teachers of English. The present study also attempts to discover how far
collaborative reflective practices are feasible and can be implemented to address
some of the classroom issues in a teacher training programme.
Significance of the Study

Of late, teacher’squality hasbeenagrowing concernofall stakeholders
ineducation that demands adequate investigation into other forms of teacher
professional development. The outcome of this present study will provide
relevant information in relation to the benefits of collaborative and reflective
practices. This study signifies mainly the effectiveness of collaborative teaching,
self-reflection and collaborative reflective practices with the incorporation of
these innovative approaches in the module or curriculum of pre-service and in-
service teacher training programme to develop professionally.
Research Questions
The following are the issues explored in the study:
 How teachers can collaborate in a group from planning to
implementation phase in order to teach various language skills?
 To what extent self-reflection help the teachers to identify their
limitations and improve their own teaching?
 How far collaborative reflective practices help teachers in their
professional development?
 How do the teachers perceive the effect of collaborative reflective
practices on their teaching?
Answers to these questions were to be found through an exploration of

how teachers can individually develop professionally, if collaborative
environment is provided where teachers have the opportunity to reflect on their
own teaching based on the feedback given by others and through self-
evaluation as well.
Theoretical perspectives
Fundamentally, collaborative teaching, reflective practices and professional
development are the three important strands thatprovide the theoretical framework
to this present study.Before conceptualizing ‘collaborative teaching’, it would be
useful to define the term ‘collaboration’ which can be referred to as a process. As
Matttessich, Murray-Close and Monsey (2001) explain that “collaboration is a
mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship entered into by two or more
people to achieve common goal. The relationship includes a commitment to
mutual relationship and goals; a jointly developed structure and shared
responsibility; mutual authority and accountability for success; and sharing of
resources and rewards. Further, the role of collaboration in association with
language teaching has been defined this situation inearlier studies“when two or
more professionals jointly deliver substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended
group of students in a single physical space” (Cook and Friend, 1995). In another
study, the context of collaborative teaching is referred as co-teaching and has been
defined as“When two (or more) educators take a contract to share instructional
responsibility of a single group of students primarily in a single classroom or
workspace for specific content (objectives) and work with mutual ownership,
pooled resources, and joint accountability(Cook & Friend, 2004). The above
mentioned definitions suggest the role of collaborative practices into education and
itspossible benefits. In order to interpret the vitality of collaboration in teaching,
Friend (2008) in his study moves a step furtherwith his recommendation that
“Given the increasing popularity of collaborative teaching and implied legislative
stimulus for it, educators should not only be aware of collaborative teaching, but
also enhance their knowledge regarding this practice”.
Furthermore, the process of ‘collaboration’ leads to another strand i.e.,

‘reflection’ which are conceptually interlinked. In 1987, the concept of ‘reflective
practice’ was introduced by Donald Schon, who recommended it as “a way for
beginners in a discipline to recognize consonance between their own individual
practices and those of successful practitioners. Later, a framework of ‘reflective
practices’ on various dimensions by Zwozdiak-Myers (2010) defines it as “a
disposition to enquiry incorporating the process through which the student, early
career and experiences teachers structure or restructure actions, beliefs, knowledge
and theories that inform teaching for the purpose of professional development”.
Furthermore, the concept of ‘reflective practices’ connects to collaboration as
process, and createsan alternative model ‘collaborative reflective practice’, that
becomes more effective, as Mattessich et.al.(2001) points out “the contexts for
professional practice change based on collaboration, facilitate individuals’ action
plans and develop a systematic review process. Consequently, developing
understanding is embedded in the social process of knowledge construction
rather than a solitary endeavour”. This kind of collaborative model of reflective
practice enriches students’ personal reflections on their work and provides students
with suggestions from peers on how to refine their teaching practices (Syrjala,
1996). Now, in associating these models with the levels of reflective practices,
Ojanen (1993) explores that reflective practice is used at both the pre-service and
in-service levels of teaching, whereas at the level of in-service teaching, studies
have shown that critical reflection upon experience to be an effective technique for
professional development which is considered the third vital strand for this present
study. Moreover, through his study, it is also evident that how trainee teachers
develop the necessary skills for reflective teaching during field experience through
effective use of teachers’ personal histories, dialogue journals, and small-large
group discussions about their experiences to help them reflect upon and improve
their practices. Likewise, the present study too, incorporates personal diaries, self-
evaluation checklist, peer-evaluation checklist, and interview followed by an hour
long collaborative reflective session after the actual classroom teaching. Kettle and
Sellars (1996) in a study with third-year teaching students after analyzing the
students’ reflective writings and conducting an intensive interview on reflective
practices, found that the use of peer reflective groups encouraged student teachers
to challenge existing theories and their own preconceived notions of teaching while
modeling for them a collaborative style of professional development that would be
useful throughout their teaching careers.
Thus, the abovementioned literature provides useful insights as to how
collaborative reflective practices can be implemented to pre and in-service teacher
training which help the trainee teachers develop as better professionals.
Methodology
The methodology adopted in this study is of a mixed-method in nature i.e.
both quantitative and qualitative methods are used for data collection and analysis,
though large part of the data is qualitative in nature. The methodology largely deals
with the context of the study, sample, tools used for data collection, and research
design of the study in details.
Context of the study

Through this study, learning experience of collaborative teaching where
reflection is considered as one of the most important tools for teachers’
professional development has been shared by the researcher being one of the active
participants for the study. As one of the aims of the study is to explore how a group
of trainee teachers can collaborate, reflect and implement solutions to some of the
classroom issues, the study has been contextualized at a renowned Pre and In-
service teacher training programme in distance mode ‘Post Graduate Certificate in

the Teaching of English’ (PGCTE) at The English and Foreign Languages
University, Hyderabad, India with a course duration of a year that can be extended
up to two years. The programme promotes English teachers who look forward to
update their knowledge of English grammar, pronunciation, and recent methods of
language teaching by putting emphasis on both theoretical and practical aspects.
Both the necessary aspects help the participants improve their efficiency and
confidence in teaching English. The curriculum consists of seven courses where
six of them belong to the theoretical aspects such as Phonetics, Grammar,
Linguistics, Literature, Methods of Teaching English and Materials of Teaching
English whereas the seventh course ‘Practice Teaching’ emphasizes on the
practical aspects. The contact-cum-examination programme includes a well-
structured ‘Practice Teaching’ component of three weeks’ duration which demands
the trainees to collaborate and teach in a short-term ‘Proficiency Course’ to teach a
class of approximately 30-35 students of heterogeneous background who intend to
develop their proficiency in English. The practice teaching session of the course
PGCTE is divided into three phases.The first phase includes collaboration of
trainee teachers from planning to implementation where those 8 teachers after
being sub-divided into two groups share the responsibility to plan for 120 minutes’
class on a specific theme, prepare appropriate materials, and prepare a lesson plan
where each teacher is accountable for his/her segment focusing on one of the four
basic skills such as listening, speaking, reading or writing. The second phase deals
with self-reflection phase of the teachers after every class, whereas the third phase
includes collaborative reflection with proper feedback session in presence of
minimum two experienced ELT practitioners who after a detailed analysis of
teachers’ classroom performance and feedback session evaluate their
performances. During this phase, the trainee teachers share their personal
experiences, collaboratively reflect on their planning, analyze the feasibility of

self-designed or developed tried out materials, discuss classroom management
issues, and ascertain the effectiveness of the criteria to evaluate the performance of
the students during classes. In fact, this session provides an opportunity for the
trainee teachers to reflect on each segment from planning to implementation in
collaboration with other teachers and improve their own teaching by incorporating
their valuable comments given during feedback session.
Sample of the study

The sample included eight trainee teachers from various academic
backgrounds where majority of them were well qualified for teaching at secondary
and tertiary level. Out of eight trainee teachers, three of them were pursuing Ph. D
either in English Literature or English Language Teaching; two of them were
engaged in school teaching while other two were college teachers. The remaining
one trainee was currently pursuing this course where the study had been done. In
fact, some of them had joined PGCTE as pre-service teachers as they were novice
and did not have any teaching experience in the real classroom situation whereas
some of the trainee teachers hadadequate teaching experience and had joined this
as a refresher course for teachers. The detailed information of each participant is
shown in the table given below:
Table-1
Teaching Current
Name of the Qualifications Experience Academic/Professional
Trainee (In Years) Status
Teacher (2014)
Teacher-1
1 M.A, B.Ed 02 Pursuing Ph. D
M. Phil (ELE)
Teacher-2
2 M.A, B.Ed, 02 Pursuing Ph. D
M. Phil (Lit.)
Teacher-3
3 M.A, B. Ed 01 Teaching in College
Teacher-4
4 M.A, B. Ed 03 Teaching in College
Teacher-5
5 M.A, B. Ed 03 Teaching in School
Teacher-6
6 M.A, M. Phil 00 Pursuing PGDTE
(ELE)
Teacher-7
7 M. A, M. Ed 03 Teaching in School
Teacher-8
8 M. A, B. Ed 00 Pursuing Ph. D
Tools used for study

In order to explore how trainee teachers in this particular context reflect both
individually and collaboratively on their own teaching, these are the following
tools used for the purpose of the study:
 Self-reflective Journal
 Self-evaluation Checklist
 Peer-assessment checklist
 Semi-structural Interview
In addition, some of these tools were also intended to know the perceptions
of the trainee teachers on the advantages and disadvantages of collaborative
teaching, collaborative reflective practices that help them develop professionally.
Research design
The research design comprises three significant stages through which the
present study was conducted. Firstly, all the teachers working in collaboration to
teach in an English proficiency course were requested by the researcher to write
self-reflective journals with the aims to reflect on their own strengths and
weaknessesof teaching English. The process of self-reflective journal writing was
based on the aspects pointed out through self evaluation checklist designed by the
ELT experts and providedby PGCTE programme to assess teachers’ own teaching.
During the second stage of data collection, like self-evaluation checklist, the
PGCTE programme also provided peer-evaluation checklist to assess the peers’
performance form planning to implementation stage which basically
includedgeneral aspects such as planning, selection of materials, classroom
management, and assessment or evaluation pattern followed by the teacher, and so
on. Finally, the third stage intended to explore and gather teachers’ perception on
collaborative teaching, self-reflective practices and finally on collaborative
reflective practices. Data was collected also through semi-structured interview
which comprises almost 15 comprehensive questions where most of the questions
were open ended to elicit their perception on these aspects. Whereas, some of the
questions were structured in a way that they can collect teachers’ direct responses
in yes or no supported by some justification or rationale as well.
Data analysis and Interpretation

This section of the study covers the analysis and interpretation of the data
collected during each phase of the study through various tools. The collected
datawas analyzed using both Quantitative and Qualitative methods. In this regard,
some part of data collected through theitems incorporated in each toolwhich
elicited responses from trainee teachers either in Yes/No or factual information
such as name of the teacher, theme of the lesson, aims and objectives of each
lesson, their perception on the effectiveness of various stages of practice teaching
and so on, have been analyzed quantitatively through graphical mode. The graph
comprising quantitative data has been shown below.
Graph-1
TEACHERS' RESPONSES ON EACH ACTIVITY

10
No. of Teachers
9 Yes No 1 1
8 0 0 1 1 1 0 1
7 2 2 2
6
5
4 8 8 7 7 7 8 7 8 8
3 6 6 6
2
1
0
Activities
It is quite evident from the graphical presentation of the data that all the
eight teachers agreeto the fact that collaboration with other teachers helped them in
planning their teaching, designing or developing materials, addressing the
problems occurred during the whole process, and the most importantly, teaching
through collaborative approach helped them develop professionally. Moreover,
seven out of eight teachers felt that collaboration helped them in addressing
classroom management issues during actual classroom situation, assisted them in
assessing or evaluating students’ performances, and found reflection on their
teaching beneficial to grow as a professional. Whereas, six teachers of the
collaborative group opined that most of the planning executed well, and
interestingly preferredto adapt collaborative approach rather than teaching
individually. Not only these, viewing its effectiveness, some of the teacher’s
feltinspired to the extent to change their attitude and behaviour in order to work
efficiently in a collaborative situation in future.
From the qualitative analysis of the data where most of the items of each
tool used in this study were open ended, responses of all the trainee teachers on
each stage from planning to implementation in collaboration were compiled
through the following points:
 Collaboration in planning the lessons: Majority of the teachers
participated in the study viewed that ‘two brains are better than one’ which assist
in bringing democratic views while planning the lesson. It was also found that
ideas develop more while working in mixed ability group where responsibilities
are shared and distributed looking at the expertise of an individual.
 Collaboration in designing and developing materials: Most of the
teachers found convenient to locate resources and selecting materials aiming the
group performance chiefly. Additionally, they viewed that ‘more people gather
more ideas’ which could help them to choose materials in an appropriate way.
 Collaboration in classroom management: From the study, it was
observed that some teachers could keep track of timing, assist the fellow teacher in
circulating materials, extend technical help and demonstrate a difficult activity, and
so on while other teacher was engaged in teaching actively.
 Collaboration in Students’ Assessment and Evaluation: From the

findings of the data, it was witnessed that collaboration in teaching assist the
teachers to learn various assessment and evaluation technique using different
criteria while teaching various language skills fromfellow teachers. Certain
techniques used by the fellow teachers to provide proper feedback to the students
were also learnt.
The results of the analysis were presented and interpreted with respect to the
research questions which seem to be addressed to a large extent.
Teachers’ perceptions of collaborative teaching

From the analysis and interpretation of the data, teachers’ perceptions
towards the effectiveness of collaborative teaching were discovered. The analysis
also explored the problems faced by the learners and how those were sorted out
collaboratively. In spite of these, this section also includes teachers’ views on the
distinction between the effectiveness of individual and collaborative teaching and
ultimately concludes the discussion with their overall perceptions of collaborative
reflective practices. In this way, firstly, most of teachers feltthat sometimes it was
difficult to adjust the emotional needs of other teachers due to lack of coordination
or improper planning. Some of them found time constrain, teachers’ negative
attitude, unfeasibility of plans as some of the drawbacks. However, most of the
problems were handled democratically with true cooperation, through self-
reflection, by identifying strengths and weaknesses of each members of the group,
having realized the scope for improvements and finally working on these with
positive attitude. Secondly, comments and feedback provided by the fellow
teachers were found more objective, more relevant and more accurate in teaching
collaboratively rather than teaching individually. Majority of them claimed that
‘group work is more beneficial than individual’. Finally, teachers’ perceptions on
collaborative reflective practices claimed that the present approach helped them to
provide immediate feedback which they were unaware of and provided more
opportunity to observe others and learn, prepare well, motivated and encouraged
them to grow as better professionals.
Conclusion
Like other similar studies, the present study has some limitations. The study
confines itself to a small sample and shortcourse duration that limit the
generalizability of the result. Moreover, having the researcher as a part of the
sample may have affected the objectivity of the study to some extent. Despite these
limitations, the study concludes by providing some insight to different stakeholders
on the benefits of collaborative reflective practices as such:
 For the trainee teachers, collaborative practices may foster reflection
that may enable them to perform better than earlier.
 For in-service teachers, collaborative practices may give an insight to
form an association to become reflective practitioners and life-long learners which
helps them for CPD.
 For teacher educator and teacher training department, the research
may provide an insight to train the teachers by adopting collaborative and
reflective practices and create positive atmosphere.
 For the material designers, it may provide an insight to incorporate
tasks that require collaborative reflective practice.
References
 Cook,L.& Friend,M. (1995). Co-Teaching:Guidelines for Creating
Effective Practices. Focus on Exceptional Children, 28(3).
 Cook, L. & Friend, M. (2004).Co-Teaching: Principals, Practices

and Pragmatics.New Maxico Public Education department
 Friend, M. (2008). Co-Teaching: A Simple Solution That Isn’t Simple
After All. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 2(2), 9-19.
 Kettle. B., & Sellars, N. (1996). The Development of Student
Teachers Practical Theory of Teaching. Teaching and Teacher
Education, 12(1), 1-24. EJ 526 790
 Mattessich, P. W., Murray-Close, M. and Monsey,B.R., Wilder
Research Centre (2001). Collaboration: Whatmakes it work
(2ndEd). Saint Paul Minnesota: Fieldstone Alliance.

 Ojanen, S. (1993). A process in which personal pedagogical
knowledge is created through the teacher education experience.
Paper presented at the International Conference in Teacher
Education, Tel-Aviv, Israel. ED 398200
 Schon,D.A.(1987).EducatingtheReflective Practitioner.USA:Jossey-
Bass.
 Syrjala, L. (1996). The teacher as a researcher. In Childhood
Education: International Perspectives. Ed. EevaHujala. Finland:
Association for Childhood Education International, Oulu University.
ED 403 069
 Zwozdiak-Myers, P. (2010). An analysis of the concept reflective
practice and an investigation into the development of student teachers’
reflective practice within the context of action research, London:
Brunel University. PhD Thesis.
Appendix-1
Self-Evaluation Report (PGCTE)
1. Name of the Teacher:

2. Roll No.:
3. Date and Time:
4. Lesson Plan Topic:
5. Specific Aim:
6. Overall Team’s Aim:
7. Skill Focused:
8. Supervisors:
9. Reasons for selecting the lesson:
10. Stage-wise summary
 Planning of the lesson:
 Preparation/selection of Material:
 Actual classroom Teaching:
 Assessment and evaluation of the Students:
 Reflection on overall teaching performance:
11. Learners’ Participation:
12. What went well and why?
13. What did not go well and why?
14. How could I do better?
15. How does the self-reflection help me in improving my teaching and
develop professionally as a teacher?
16. Did collaboration with other teachers help me in doing well from
planning to implementation of a lesson? If yes, how?
Appendix-2
Peer Evaluation Checklist
1. Name of the Teacher :
2. Roll No. :
3. Date and Time :
4. Lesson Plan Topic :
5. Specific Aim :
6.. Overall Aim (Team) :
7. Skills/Functions being taught :
8. Reasons for selecting the lesson :
9. What was the teacher trying to achieve?
a. The place of the individual lesson in the overall integrated lesson,
objectives of the lesson vis-a-vis the team’s integrated lesson:
b. Appropriateness of the instructional strategies used:
c. Teaching strategies (e.g. explanation, elicitation) used by the teacher:
d. The teacher’s pacing of the lesson:
e. Appropriateness and effectiveness of learner activities:
f. The nature of the interaction between the teacher and the learner’s
(e.g. rapport with learners, responsiveness to learner queries, problems, needs):
g. Any instances of incidental teaching:
h. Any instances where the teacher needed to deviate from his/her plan.
What was the justification (as seen by the teacher/or you) for this? What, according
to you, were the consequences (both good/bad) of this?
i. The teacher’s use of materials/black board. The appropriateness and
effectiveness of the materials used for the desired instructional outcomes:
10. What were the learner roles planned by the teacher? What was the nature
of learner participation and involvement? What was their contribution to the
lesson?
11. What were the roles assumed by the teacher during the lesson and what
was their relative appropriateness?
12. What were the classroom management techniques used by the teacher
during the various steps of the lesson?
13. What went well and why?
14. What went less well and why?
15. What did you like about the lesson and why?
16. If you had to teach this lesson, what would you have retained and what
would you have done differently? Why?
17. What will you take away as a teacher? (What lessons have you learned
and by observing this lesson and what can you incorporate in your own
teaching?)
Appendix-3
Semi-structural Interview of Teachers on Collaborative Reflective
Practices
1. Name of the teacher:

2. How many teachers were in a group when you were engaged in
collaborative teaching?
3. How was the group organized (e.g. by supervisor, self-selection, etc.)?
4. How were roles to ‘each individual’ assigned or did group members
have equal responsibility?
5. Does collaboration with other teachers to teach in a class help you in
planning your teaching? If yes, how?
6. Does collaboration with other teachers help you in designing or
developing materials for your teaching? If yes, how?
7. Does collaboration with other teachers help you in classroom
management while taking the class? If yes, how?
8. Do you find collaboration with other teachers plays any role in

evaluating or assessing students’ performance during your teaching in the
classroom?
9. What worked well and what didn’t?
10. Did you face any problem from planning to implementation in order
to teach students? If yes, can you list them?
11. How did your group deal with problems faced by you or other
members, if any?
12. Do you feel reflection with other members of your group in presence
of your supervisor benefit you in addressing the issues you faced throughout
teaching?
13. Do you think that you have learned more as part of a group than you
would have worked individually?
14. Is there anything you would change about your own behaviour or
approach in future collaborative teaching situations?
15. Based on the experience, do you feel collaborative approach of
teaching helps you develop professionally as a teacher?
Participatory Action Research (PAR): A Strategy to Work with the

Marginalized
Noel Anurag Prasanth
Abstract:
This paper focuses on the issues that arise while researching the
marginalized. Its overall aim is to provide with information, tools, skills and
assistance on research and evaluation methods that are appropriate for doing
research with and for the marginalized learners who are disadvantaged when
compared with learners in the mainstream. The process of marginalization is both
related to economic and political subjugation, education alone is not likely to bring
the marginalized into the epicentre where the powerful stake holders exist.
However, it can brighten the chances of the marginalized and enable them to gain
control over their lives and livelihoods. The ‘participatory action research’ or PAR
developed by researchers whose primary concern was with the lives of those on the
margins, and how research could work to transform lives or at least change them
for the better, as an approach suitable to conduct research with the marginalized
will be highlighted. The principle aim of PAR is not just gaining a better
understanding of the problems which arise in everyday practice, but actually
working out a feasible solution to alter the situations, and to do so as part of the
research process, rather than simply tagging it as an afterthought. Further, for any
research to bring about meaningful change, it must involve those, whose lives are
being changed as participants in the research and not just subjects of it. Research
thereby becomes part of the process of social transformation bringing about
change, rather than standing spaced out from it.
Introduction
Researching with the marginalized is an important area of research because
of the fact that governments and organizations around the world, look to design
methods and approaches to solve the problem of how to reach potential learners
who are on the margins of their societies. Conventional approaches depend on
bringing learners together in schools or on campuses, for daily lessons, with a
teacher with whom they are face-to-face. Unfortunately, these approaches are not
reaching people who cannot afford to attend a school, who live far away from such
institutions and cannot leave their families and communities to relocate, or who are
discriminated against because of their ethnicity, gender, religion, or some physical
disability. Enabling people to study in their own communities, rather than requiring
them to travel to a major centre or even to live there would be the main aim of
conducting such a research. Researchers, thus have to play a supporting role by
providing institutions and organizations with the information on what kinds of
programming and support, work best for these learners by using systematic
research methods.
Defining the term marginalized

“The term ‘marginal’ necessarily reflects the point of view of those who are
dominant, economically or politically. And the concept has come into use to
describe a reality of increasingly polarized life chances. The ‘marginalized’ are the
poor and powerless, too busy with life at the edges of survival to be able to acquire
the skills or material supports that would let them get out of the trap they were
born into, or have been pushed into.” – Molteno, M. (1998)
There is no single agreed definition of marginalization, the Education for All
Global Monitoring Report 2010: reaching the marginalized defines it as “a form of
acute and persistent disadvantage rooted in underlying social inequalities”. Often
many different forms of marginalization interact described as inter-sectionality,

which refers to “multiple systems of discrimination operating simultaneously”. For
example, a young man from an indigenous population may face discrimination on
account of his color, ethnicity and socioeconomic status/class. The multi-
dimensionality of marginalization – that is, its complexity plagues policy-makers.
There is little agreement in the academic literature or in policy networks on how to
understand the “real problem.” Therefore, it becomes essential to define who is
marginalized and why according to one’s own context, as it has multiple
characteristics such as poverty, unemployment, not having enough skills, etc.
The approach to research that will be discussed in this paper has been
labelled ‘participatory action research’ or PAR, which came into existence when
researchers used theory and research to solve immediate social problems. This is
research not for its own sake, but rather the purpose of PAR is to bring about
change. The principle at work here is that research should not only be used to gain
a better understanding of the problems which arise in everyday practice, but
actually strive to alter things, and to do so as part of the research process, rather
than to tag it on as an afterthought. Furthermore, for this type of research to bring
about meaningful change, it must involve those, whose lives are being changed as
participants in the research and not just subjects of it. Research thereby becomes an
integral part of the process of social transformation, rather than appearing to be
distanced from the reality existing on the ground.
PAR can best be described as a strategy for research rather than as a specific
method. It is concerned with the aims and the design of the research, but is not
constrained when it comes to the tools for data collection, leaving a scope for
improvisation depending on the requirement of that particular context.
Questionnaires, interviews, observation, documentary research, one or many
different combinations can be used while conducting PAR. The major difference
when compared with other types of research is that the tools for conducting the
research are developed in collaboration with the people, whose ideas, perceptions
and behaviors are under scrutiny. The data is collected with the help of the
participants who not only participate but also act as co-researchers themselves. All
the research related documents are scrutinized by people who are insiders to the
lives and circumstances portrayed in those documents and the perspective followed
is that of an ‘insider’ known as ‘emic’ perspective.
Literature review
The origin of PAR
The historical roots of PAR can be traced back to the nineteenth and early
twentieth century political activists Karl Marx, Fredrik Engels, and Antonio
Gramsci. Marx’s infamous claim that “The point of philosophy is not to understand
the world but to change it” serves as the key point of reference to these
revolutionary thinkers, writers and activists. In order to understand the political
crises which characterised the mid-nineteenth century Europe, Marx and Engels
used the ‘Participant Observation Method’ (POM) of research, aligning themselves
with the oppressed through participating in their strikes and other actions rather
than assuming the detached, allegedly value-free stance of the traditional
researcher. PAR as we know it today, however, has its deepest roots in Latin
America, where it emerged into its present form. The work of Brazilian educator
Paulo Freire, among others, was fundamental in the development of PAR. In
‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ (1970), Freire introduced the concepts of
‘conscientization’ and ‘critical reflection’. By conscientization, he meant the
identification and critical analysis of social, political, and economic contradictions,
leading to an organised action to solve immediate problems and to counter the
oppressive aspects persistent in the society. Freire advocated a research approach
that involved a change in the traditional role of the researcher, who in addition to
being an educator, gets transformed from being an ‘objective’ external researcher
to a ‘committed’ co-investigator. The role of the target population will hence be
converted from the objects being studied to active participants and co-researchers
in the research process (Selener 1997:14).
The professional origins of participatory research focused on the inability of
the dominant research paradigms and approaches to promote social change, as was
evident in the excerpts from Marion Molteno’s paper “Education at the margins”
presented as a keynote address at an Educational conference. Researchers such as
Hall (1975, 1979), Gaventa and Horton (1981) and Tandon (1982) argue that the
emphasis of these conventional approaches on quantitative analysis type of
research that tends to be associated with numbers as units of research – reduces the
complexity, meaning and richness of human life to mere scores and tabulations.
Hall (1977:4-8) in particular argues that such an approach oversimplifies reality
and produces results which are inaccurate in at least three ways:
1 Research in the dominant tradition extracts information from
individuals in isolation from one another and then collapses it into a single set of
figures, thereby diminishing the complexity of human feeling and experience.
2 In extracting information through structured interviews or multiple-
choice questionnaires, researchers oblige respondents to choose a response that
might not reflect their perceptions.
3 The surveys compiled by researchers in this dominant tradition suffer
from a lack of context, and present reality as a static snapshot of individuals rather
than a picture of social beings, which has a past and a future.
Methodology
Conducting participatory action research
Daniel Selener gives us an account of the four phases of participatory action
research and describes every stage of the research clearly (Selener 1997:39-42).
The four major phases according to him are:
1. Organizing the research project and gathering knowledge of the working
area.
2. Definition of the problem by project participants.
3. Critical analysis of the problem.
4. Planning and implementing a plan of action.
Phase 1: Organizing the research and gathering knowledge of the

working area
This phase includes establishing relationships with the various stakeholders
involved in the research. This phase also involves defining the framework of
concepts and methods that will shape the research. The following tasks contribute
to the fulfilment of these objectives:
 Defining the objectives of the research, the methods that will be used
to achieve them, and the assumptions that underlie the research.
 Defining the population of the study.
 Setting up the research team: selecting and training the members
involved.
 Drafting and approving the budget.
 Drawing up a tentative timetable for the project.
 Setting up a structure for monitoring and evaluating the research; that
is, ensuring that the research is on track towards meeting its objectives, and then,
evaluating the outcomes in terms of the extent to which the objectives have been
met.
This phase also involves gathering basic information about the group that is
the primary focus of the research by:
 Collecting and assessing relevant information about the socio-
economic, political and technological context to aid the process of identifying the
problem jointly with members of the group.
 Discovering as much as possible about how the members of the group
view the world in which they live and the role that education plays in their lives.
Phase 2: Definition of the problem
This phase involves the joint identification, by the research team and other
members of the group, on the topic or the focus of the research, i.e. the most
significant problems that the group would like to address.
Phase 3: Critical analysis of the problem
In this phase, the task is to critically scrutinize the problems that have been
identified, to look at them from a number of perspectives – local, regional, national
and in a number of dimensions such as social, political, economic and technical.
The following steps are involved:
 Describing current perceptions of the problem: Participants,
working in discussion groups, state how they perceive and formulate
the problem they want to solve, and their ideas towards finding
solutions.
 Questioning the representation of the problem: Participants are
encouraged to question these perceptions and understandings of the
problem by looking at the problem from a number of different
perspectives, including those of the educational provider and other
organizations that may be involved in the education project.
 Reformulating the problem: With these new perspectives,

participants should now be able to formulate the problem in a more
objective manner. This includes:
 Describing the problem: Identifying different aspects and points of
view; listing, classifying and comparing information; identifying
contradictions among different elements of the situation; relating it to
other problems; and so on
 Explaining the problem: Eliciting not only immediate causes of the
problem but other, deeper causes, and relationships among various
problems
 Offering strategies for action: Formulating hypotheses for action
and speculating on likely results; identifying short- and long-term
solutions, both would be made available to the participants and also
those which would require action at another level; examining the
collective action and cooperation necessary.
Phase 4: Definition of the plan of action

In this step, the plan of action is designed by the participants together with
the research team, based on the problems identified and analyzed. The
implementation of actions will change the reality initially analyzed, new issues will
arise, and these in turn will require further analysis and new solutions. In other
words, the broad phases of participatory action research constitute a continuous
and on-going process.
Example of such a study: The adult education component of the Nigeria
Community Education Programme which was conducted for a period of five years
i.e. between 1997 and 2002.
Conclusion
Researchers, who need an approach that reflects the reality of the poor, and
who are willing to work in order to help change that reality, may consider PAR. By
involving the people whose problems are being studied as co-researchers in all
stages of the process, there is a possibility that this might positively affect the
results and help people solve practical problems, both in their immediate daily
lives and in the long term effectively.
According to Selener, ‘Participatory research assumes that returning the
power of knowledge generation and use to ordinary, oppressed people will
contribute to the creation of more accurate, critical reflection of social reality, the
liberation of human creative potential, and the mobilisation of human resources to
solve social problems’ (Selener 1997:28). Thus participatory researchers promote
empowerment of the community by encouraging ordinary people to participate in
knowledge generation and to use the knowledge created to improve their life-
situation.
References:
 British Council. 2002 Nigeria Community Education Program,
London: British Council (extract: Success in adult education, pp 9-13)
 Denscombe, M. 2013 The Good Research Guide: For Small-scale
Social Research Projects, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom: Open
University Press.
 Freire, P. 1970 Pedagogy of the oppressed, New York: Seabury Press
 Hall, B. 1975 ‘Participatory research: an approach for change’
Convergence 8, 2: 24:32
 Hall, B. 1979 ‘Knowledge as a commodity and participatory research’

in Prospects: Quarterly Review of Education 4, 393-408
 Horton, D., Peters, J. and Gaventa, J. 1991 We make the road by
walking, Philadelphia: Temple University Press
 Molteno, M. 1988 ‘Education at the margins’, keynote paper
presented to the International Extension College conference
Education at the Margins, Cambridge, 15-16 June (extract: II
Marginalisation and poverty, pp 2-5)
 Molteno, M. 1988 ‘Education at the margins’, keynote paper
presented to the International Extension College conference
Education at the Margins, Cambridge, 15-16 June (extract: IV
Research – who? and how? pp 9-18)
 Selener, D. 1997 Participatory action research and social change,
Ithaca: Cornell Participatory Action Research Network
 Tandon, R.1982 ‘A critique of monopolistic research’ in B. Hall., A.
Gillette and R.
Linguistic expressions and Functional utilities in Diplomacy with reference to

Treaties and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs)
A. K. M. Mohiuddin Kayes
Hemanga Dutta
Abstract
The present study analyses linguistic expressions and functional utilities
involved in Diplomatic policies of Bangladesh with reference to Treaties and
Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs). Diplomacy and International Relations
are interlinked (Sagini, 2015). Diplomacy is the art and practice of
conducting negotiations between representatives of states. The sudy
examines the functions of diplomacy with reference to Treaties and MOUs and
their significance in diplomatic policies. There are main four functions in
diplomacy. They are representation, negotiation, reporting and the protection of
the nationalinterests (Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961).
Treaties and MOUs are considered as the outcome of diplomacy. A treaty is an
agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law,
namely sovereign states and international organizations. This is a legal binding
instrument. On the other hand, a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
describes a bilateral or multilateral agreement between two or more parties. It is
known as non-binding legal instrument (Aust, 2013). The present study draws
a major line of demarcation between Treaties and MOUs on the basis
of political and foreign ethos. In addition, this research draws insights
on linguistic differences involved in the drafting of Treaties and MOUs. Proper
and judicious usage of linguistic items and vocabularies in treaties and MOUs
is of crucial importance for the successful implementation of the diplomatic
policies. A treaty adheres to a particular format and a set of vocabularies where

as an MOU does not have such strict conformity to such patterns.
Key words: Diplomacy, Linguistic expression, Treaty, MOU

1.0 Introduction:
Diplomacy is the conduct of a state’s formal relations with other states as
well as with regional, multilateral and international organizations for the promotion
of its national interests (Woods, 2011). National interests could be political,
economic, commercial, cultural, educational, scientific, technological,
environmental defense and many more. Diplomacy is, therefore, multi-dimensional
in nature. Diplomacy is the application of intelligence and tact in the conduct of
official relations between the governments of independent states, extending
sometimes also to their relations with dependent territories, and between
governments and international institutions; or more briefly, the conduct of business
between states by peaceful means (Roberts, 2012).
The main tool of diplomacy is negotiation. So, generally diplomats are

considered as negotiators. They draft a wide variety of bilateral and multilateral
treaties and Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) as outcome of negotiations.
It is found that United States concludes over 160 treaties and 3500 executive
agreements anually. In the age of globalization, each and every country is involed
with cooperation engazements with other country. No country will be found in the
world who does not have bilateral or mulilateral arrangement with reference to
treaties and MOUs with other countries or mulateral organizations (Kim, 2015).
So, functional utilities in diplomacy with reference to treaties and MOUs are
invaluable.
Over the past centuries, State practice has developed a variety of terms to
refer to international instruments by which States establish rights and obligations
among themselves (UN Treaty Collection, 1999). The international instruments
binding at international law refer to treaties, agreements, conventions, charters,
protocols, declarations, memoranda of understanding. In spite of this diversity of
terminology, no precise nomenclature exists. In fact, the meaning of the terms used
is variable, changing from State to State, from region to region and instrument to
instrument. Some of the terms can easily be interchanged: an instrument that is
designated "agreement" might also be called "treaty"(UN Treaty Collection, 1999).
In this connection, the success of diplomacy and diplomats in particular does not
rely not exclusively on the functional utilies embodied its Treaties and MOUs but
also on the proper and judicious usage of linguistic items and vocabularies. A
sound and appropriate linguistic expression is instrumental in achieving the
optimal goals set by the diplomatic missions.
This paper based on diplomatic tools and strategies of Bangladesh seeks to

draw the significance of both treaties and MOUs. In addition, an attempt has been
made here to draw a line of demarcation between the two based on political and
linguistic ethos. Section 2 of this paper highlights the theories related to
Diplomatic strategies in the context of Bangladesh and its foreign relations.
Section 3 is devoted to the research questions related to the functional and
linguistic implications involved in the drafting of the treaties and MOUs which is
followed by a brief discussion on methodology involved in writing this research
paper in section 4 of this paper. In section5, the authors discuss the functions of
diplomacy in various spheres along with a discussion on the differences existing
between Treaties and MOUs both at the level of foreign policy ethos and linguistic
ethos as well. Section 6 focuses on the limitations which is followed by a summary
of the findings and future implications of research on this line in section 7 of the
paper.
2.0 Diplomacy and Bangladesh:
It is considered that the origin of diplomacy in Bangladesh started from the

fourth century BC when sailor Buddha Gupta sailed from Chittagong port for
Malacca. According to Malayan history, Buddha Gupta was instrumental in
establishing relations between Bengal and Malacca in fourth century BC. Fa-Xien,
Chinese great monk traveller, undertook visits to India, including Sonargaon of
Bengal from in 411 AD (Hossain, 2015).
From the fifteenth century till the arrival of the British Raj there had not
been much activities of worth mention in diplomatic arena in Bengal. Following
the partition of British India, professionalism of diplomacy had taken shape.
Competitive examination requiring high educational standard had been introduced.
However, there was wide disparity in recruiting from East Pakistan which became
part of Pakistan during partition of British India in 1947. A few had been inducted
diplomatic service from East Pakistan at the initial stage which became an
independent and sovereign country through bloody war of liberation in December,
1971 (Hossain, 2015). Since independence in 1971, the country has stressed its
principle of friendship towards all, malice towards none in dictating its diplomacy.
At present, Government of Bangladesh has set a highly inspirational foreign

policy vision-“to establish the country globally as influential self-reliant and
knowledge-based nation, with a democratic, secular and inclusive identity,
contributing to global peace, progress and prosperity.” Ministry of Foreign Affairs
has been pursuing this Foreign Policy vision into reality with proactive diplomatic
engagement bilaterally and multilaterally through 74 Bangladesh Missions abroad.
In order to enhance diplomatic engagement bilaterally and multilaterally,
Bangladesh involves in making Treaty, MOU, Agreement, Convention, Charter,
Protocol and Declaration among the countries. A short description of these
instruments is given below:
Treaty
The word ‘Treaty’ is derived from the French word traiter (Roberts, 2012),
which means to negotiate. The term ‘treaty’ can be defined in both a general and a
restricted sense’. In general sense, ‘treaty’ is a binding instrument. The instrument
must be written and concluded by States or international organizations with treaty
making-power and it has to be governed by international law (Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties, 1969). In restricted sense, the term ‘treaty requires
signatures which are usually sealed and they normally require ratification. Typical
examples of international instruments designated as ‘treaties’ are Peace Treaties,
Delimitation Treaties, Extradition Treaties and Treaties of Friendship, Commerce
and Cooperation.
Memoranda of Understanding
MOUs are not legally binding instrument. In the United States, an MOU is
the same as a letter of intent which is a nonbinding agreement. MOUs are most
often used as part of multinational international relations because, unlike treaties,
they are quick and can be kept secret (Investopedia, 2014). There are documents
that are not legally binding even if they are drafted by a lawyer and signed by
witnesses. Such a document is called a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and

is actually just a means for two parties to reach a decision. It is used to gauge the
intention of the transacting parties before a deal is officially signed between them
and doesn't grant either of them any rights. So, in some cases, it may make more
sense to opt for a softer, non-legal document than a legally binding one (Babwani,
2013)
Other Forms of Treaties include
The term treaty is used generically to describe a variety of instruments,

including conventions, agreements, arrangements, protocols, covenants, charters,
and acts (Shaw, 2004). In the strict sense of the term, however, many such
instruments are not treaties. The key distinguishing feature of a treaty is that it is
binding. For example, the United Nations (UN) Charter (1945) created a binding
agreement and is thus a treaty (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 2014).
.
Agreements
Agreements" are usually less formal and deal with a narrower range of
subject matter than "treaties". The term "agreement" can be applied both bilateral
and restricted multilateral treaties. It is employed especially for instruments of a
technical or administrative character, which are signed by the representatives of
government departments, but are not subject to ratification. Typical agreements
deal with matters of economic, cultural, scientific and technical co-operation.
Agreements also frequently deal with financial matters, such as avoidance of
double taxation, investment guarantees or financial assistance.
Conventions
The term "convention" is synonymous with the term "treaty". "Convention"

was regularly used for bilateral agreements but now it is generally used for formal
multilateral treaties with a broad number of parties. For example, United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties of 1969.
Charters
The term "charter" is used for particularly formal and solemn instruments,
such as the constituent treaty of an international organization. For example, the
Magna Carta of 1215 and the Charter of the United Nations of 1945.
Protocols
The term "protocol" is used for agreements less formal than those entitled
"treaty" or "convention". The term could be used to cover the following kinds of
instruments:
(a) A Protocol of Signature is an instrument subsidiary to a treaty, and drawn

up by the same parties. e.g. the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees to
the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
(b) An Optional Protocol to a Treaty is an instrument that establishes

additional rights and obligations to a treaty. The Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 is a well-known
example.
Declarations
The term "declaration" is used for various international instruments.

However, declarations are not always legally binding. Some instruments entitled
"declarations" were not originally intended to have binding force, but their
provisions may have reflected customary international law or may have gained
binding character as customary law at a later stage. Such was the case with the
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Declarations that are intended to
have binding effects could be classified as follows:
3.0 Research Questions:
1. What are the functions of diplomacy with reference to Treaties and

MOUs?
2. Why are both MOUs and Treaties significant in diplomatic policies?
3. How is it possible to draw a major line of demarcation between
Treaties and MOUs based on political and foreign ethos?
4. What is the constitutional and statutory provision adopted by
Bangladesh on Treaties and MOUs?
5. Is there any linguistic difference involved in the drafting of Treaties
and MOUs?
4.0 Research Methodology:
Descriptive method is used in this study. Information is mainly collected

from various sources, i.e. relevant books, journals and scholars’ articles. Moreover,
few treaties and MOUs have been used in order to draw practical examples for a
better understanding. In addition, Bangladesh’s perspective on Treaties and MOUs
is brought in to penetrating light of scrutiny here.
5.0 Functions of Diplomacy with reference to Treaties and MOUs:
There are many functions performed by a diplomat, some of these

include: diplomatic representation, protection of his nationals, exchange of roles
on matters of mutual interest, political and parliamentary negotiations, and
most importantly, preservation and projection of the national interests of his
country generally. The work of a diplomat may be broken down into four basic
functions:
(i) representation (ii) negotiation (iii) reporting and (iv) the protection of the
interests of the nation and of its citizens in foreign lands. These functions are
closely interrelated.
Most of the International legal instruments are conducted forward through

negotiation between the foreign offices by the use of ordinary diplomatic channels.
But the major international agreements are usually negotiated directly by Head of
the State/Governor or foreign ministers or their special representatives often at
international conferences. That’s why functions of diplomacy is interconnected to
Treaties and MOUs (Discover Diplomacy, 2015).
5.1 Significance of both MOUs and Treaties in diplomatic policies:
The final result of negotiations is usually a formal written communiqué or

agreement that spells out the actions and responsibilities of each side. That’s why,
diplomatic achievement/success is measured by the number of Treaties and MoUs
signed between/among the countries. For example:
 The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, H.E. Shri Narendra Modi paid a
State visit to Bangladesh on 6-7 June 2015 at the invitation of our Hon’ble Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina. This visit epitomized the existing friendly relations
between the two countries. The two leaders discussed the entire gamut of bilateral
relations between the two countries. As many as 22 MOUs/treaties were
signed/exchanged between the two countries.
 Bangladesh and China on 14 October 2016 signed 27 agreements and

Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) during the landmark visit of Chinese
President Xi Jinping. Here signing 27 agreements and Memorandum of
Understanding (MoUs) between Bangladesh and China are considered as one of
the biggest diplomatic achievement of both the countries.
The significance of both MOUs and Treaties in diplomatic policies is as

follows:
a) The need for treaties/MOUs has increased due to globalization and
technological advancement. As a result, one country to other is signing
treaty/MOU for the promotion of trade and commerce, economic cooperation,
sharing know how and cultural development.
b) International legal instuments make international bodies uniter for
bringing world’s peace and prosperity. For example, adoption of Sustainable
Development Goals 2015, Convention on Climate Change 2016.
c) Treaties also provide for international cooperation on law
enforcement, such as in relation to drug trafficking; establish resource management
regimes to encourage sustainable development, and enhance global and regional
security.
d) National interest is related with treaties/MOUs signing. So

Government's decision is important before signing the instruments.
5.2 Major line of demarcation between Treaties and MoUs—political and

foreign ethos:
Generally politics is the process of making decisions applying to all
members of each group and ethos is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals
that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. Based on political and foreign
ethos, there are some similarities and dissimilarites between Treaties and MOUs.
The similarities are-
a. Both consist of an offer, acceptance.
b. There must be two or more parties.
c. Consensus ad idem i.e. the parties should agree on the same thing in
the same manner.
d. The common objective of the parties.
The difference between a treaty and a MOU is shown below:
Binding Instrument Nonbinding Instrument
(Treaty) (MOU)
Meaning A treaty is an A Memorandum of
international agreement Understanding or MoU is a
between states in written legal document which
form and governed by describes the terms of an
international law for a arrangement between the two
common objective or more parties forming a
bilateral or multilateral
agreement.
Clarity This is final There should be a clear

definitive document mention of another
detailing the terms and agreement that will be drawn
conditions of the deal. up at a later stage.
Elements Offer, Acceptance. Offer, Acceptance,
Intention and Consideration.
Enforceability A treaty can be A Memorandum of
enforceable in the court of Understanding cannot be
law. enforceable in the court of
law.
Binding nature It is always binding It is binding upon the

on the parties to the parties, if the memorandum
agreement. is signed in exchange for
monetary consideration.
Collateral Rights It grants substantial It does not grant

rights to the parties. substantial rights to the
parties, just captures the
intentions of all parties.
(Siteadmin, 2015)
5.3 Bangladesh constitutional and statutory provision on Treaties and

MOUs:
The position of Bangladesh, in relation to the domestic application of

international law, is characteristised by the constitutional and statutory provision.
There are two main provisions (articles 25 and 145A) in the Constitution of the
People's Republic of Bangladesh regarding international law and relations.
The definition of 'treaty' is very relevant to understand the constitutional
position of treaty in Bangladesh. According to article 145A of the Constitution of
Bangladesh, “all treaties with foreign countries shall be submitted to the President,
who shall cause them to be laid before the Parliament”. Article 145A is very
specific by categorically saying that only treaties (either bilateral or multilateral)
with foreign countries, but not with any international organisations, are needed to
be submitted to the President who is constitutionally head of the executive branch
of the State. Since treaty making in a common law country is an authority of the
executive, hence this provision of the Constitution shows the way of authorising
the head of the executive for making treaty (Azad, 2015). Nevertheless, article
145A lacks to prescribe the process of taking either approval or disapproval from
the Parliament for ratifying a treaty (Islam, 2015).
Being compatible with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the
definition of 'treaty' under this proposed Act means “a written bilateral or
multilateral treaty, convention and agreements with other states or inter-state
organisations”. This definition not only clarifies the constitutional position of
treaty in Bangladesh, but also extends a greater possibility of applying treaty law in
case of local issues with global relevance.
In negotiating treaties, the Act obligates the government to be bound by the
fundamental principles of state policy and the fundamental rights, which have been
ensured in the Constitution. In that sense, it can be said that the mandate given in
article 8(2) of the Constitution, i.e. the applicability of FPSPs in the making of
laws, and article 25, i.e. promotion of international peace, security and solidarity,
has been reflected in the proposed Act.
5.4. Linguistic expressions and diplomacy:

A question arises if it is possible to draw a line of demarcation between
Treaties and MOUs from a linguistic perspective at the level of vocabulary and
syntactic usage.
As for instance we would like to explore if certain usage of lexical items and
syntactic patterns are used exclusively for a treaty & a MOU and if there is any
common ground of usage between the two domains. Certain formal, stylistic and
linguistic features are associated with agreements binding under international law.
With respect to the title of a non-binding document, negotiators should avoid using
the terms “treaty” or “agreement.” While the use of a title such as “Memorandum
of Understanding” is common for non-binding documents. Negotiators should
avoid using the term “Parties” in non-binding documents and it is encouraged to
use “Participants” for binding documents in consideration to linguistic
perspective.
United States practice on non-binding documents may differ from that of other
countries. For example, the mere fact that a document is called a “Memorandum of
Understanding” does not mean that the document automatically is considered non-
binding for the United States. Also, for the United States, the use of the verb “will”
in the text does not necessarily mean that the commitment at issue is not legally
binding under international law. Because the use of the term “will” may lead to
confusion as to the intention of the participants (US Department of State).
5.4.1. Vocabulary and diplomacy
A treaty is a legal binding instrument. Generally vocabularies relating to law

are used in the treaty. For instance, lexical items of a treaty are- article, agree,
agreement or undertaking, authoritative or authentic, clause, continue in force,
mutually agreed, obligations, Parties, Preamble, rights, terms, undertake and so on.
On the other hand, a MOU is a non-legal binding instrument. Here the word
‘arrangement’ is used instead of ‘agreement’ and the word ‘understanding’ is used
instead of ‘undertaking’. The lexical items of a treaty are paragraph, accept,
approve, decide, arrangement or understanding, equally valid, continue to have
effect, signed, jointly decided, commitments, Governments or Participants,
benefits, carry out, provisions etc. Sometimes it is seen that some vocabularies of a
treaty are being used in a MOU but vocabularies of a MOU is not used in the
treaty.
Ideally, the following lexical items in the table are used in a treaty and a
MOU:
Treaty MOU
‘article’ ‘paragraph’
‘agree’ ‘accept’ ‘approve’ ‘decide’
‘agreement’ or ‘undertaking’ ‘arrangement’ or
‘understanding’
‘authoritative’ or ‘authentic’ ‘equally valid’
‘clause’ ‘paragraph’
‘conditions’ ‘provisions’
‘continue in force’ ‘continue to have effect’
‘Done’ ‘signed’
‘enter into force’ ‘come into operation’ or ‘come
into effect’
‘mutually agreed’ ‘jointly decided’
‘obligations’ ‘commitments’
‘Parties’ ‘Governments’ or ‘Participants’
‘Preamble’ ‘Introduction’
‘rights’, ‘have the right’ ‘benefits’, ‘be permitted to’
‘shall’ ‘undertake to’ ‘agree to’ ‘will’ or ‘decide’
or ‘undertake’
‘terms’ ‘provisions’
‘undertake’ ‘carry out’
(Surbhi, 2014)
5.4.2 Syntactic structure and Diplomatic tools
Syntactic structure indicates the study of sentence structure. Beyond

linguistics, Syntactic Structures has a big impact on the study
of knowledge, mind and mental processes. Similarly, syntactic structure has impact
with reference to treaties and MOUs. Syntactic pattern of treaties and MOUs is a
bit different from general writing. Sample structures of a treaty and an MOU have
been shown in the appendix 1 and 2.
5.4.2.1 Treaties:
Since the late 19th century, most treaties have followed a fairly consistent
format (Roberts, 2012). A treaty concluded in heads of state form can be broken
down into the following parts:
 Preamble: A treaty typically begins with a preamble describing the

contracting parties and their joint objectives in executing the treaty.Modern
preambles are sometimes structured as a single very long sentence formatted into
multiple paragraphs for readability, in which each of the paragraphs begins with a
verb (desiring, recognizing, having, and so on).
The end of the preamble and the start of the actual agreement is often
signaled by the words "have agreed as follows."
 Articles: After the preamble comes numbered articles, which contain
the substance of the parties' actual agreement. Each article heading usually
encompasses a paragraph. A long treaty may further group articles under chapter
headings.
 Final Clauses: A series of articles generally known as the ‘final
clauses’ which deal with such matters as the territorial application of the treaty,
signature, ratification, accession, entry into force, amendment, denunciation
(withdrawal), and duration.
 Execution Clause: The end of a treaty is often signalled by a clause
like “in witness whereof” or “in faith whereof,” the parties have affixed their
signatures, followed by the words “DONE at,” then the site(s) of the treaty’s
execution and the date(s) of its execution. The date is typically written in its most
formal, longest possible form (Roberts, 2012). For example, the Charter of the
United Nations was “DONE at the city of San Francisco the twenty-sixth day of
June, one thousand nine hundred and forty-five.” If the treaty is executed in
multiple copies in different languages, that fact is always noted, and is followed by
a stipulation that the versions in different languages are equally authentic.
Signature:The signatures of the parties' representatives follow at the very
end.
5.4.3 Level of intelligibility from the perspective of public:
Generally it is expected that Laws should be clear, comprehensible and

certain. But practically laws are found difficult in understanding because of
ambiguity. The main barriers to the intelligibility of a particular law are, in my
view, are excessively involuted sentence structure, the use of language other than
in its plain or ordinary sense, and recursive drafting techniques that require the
reader to interpret one section by reference to another (Siteadmin, 2015). Similarly
it is not very easy to understand treaties and MOUs for the common people. The
treaties are widely used between the states. Under a treaty, many MOUs may be
made. So, language of treaties is very important and carries more meanings.
Sometimes general people can not understad the intrisic meaning of treaties. On
other hand, MOUs are widely used by the states and different organizations too.
Language of an MOU is easier that that of a treaty. In some cases, explanation of a
treaty is given in the additional protocols and MOUs. But an MOU does not bring
additional instruments for explanations.
6.0 Limitations of the study
The study is likely to have following limitations:

 The present data is based exclusively on the secondary sources.
Primary data has to be collected to make our claims more realistic, feasible,
authentic and transparent.
 Only treaties and MOUs have been discussed broadly here in this
paper but other legal instruments involving diplomacy such as convention,
protocol, declaration, charter to mention a few have to be taken into consideration
for a broader understanding of the theme.
 An extensive fieldwork can provide a better picture of the reality.
7.0 Conclusions
Earlier diplomacy was used for enhancing foreign relations among the
countries only. Now a days Diplomacy is used for bringing peace, security,
prosperity and solidarity in the world. Both MOUs and Treaties have a great
significance in diplomacy. The outcome of diplomacy is measured by the number
of treaties and MOUs signed. Promotion of trade and commece, cooperation
engagements, cross culture relationship and sollution of diputes and conflicts are
done under treaties and MOUs.
Based on political and foreign ethos, there are some similarities and
dissimilarites between a Treaty and an MOU. A treaty is a legal binding instrument
where as an MOU is a non-binding legal instrument. Certain lexical items and
syntactic patterns are used exclusively for a treaty and an MOU. Vocabularies of a
treaty are related with law. Sometimes it is seen that some vocabularies of a treaty
are being used in an MOU but vocabularies of an MOU is not used in the treaty.
Syntactic pattern of a treaty and an MOU is a bit different from general writing. A
treaty follows a particular format but an MOU does not follow such kind of strict
format.. From the perspective of the public, the level of intelligibilty of a treay is
less than that of an MOU.
The definition of 'treaty' is very relevant to understand the constitutional

position of treaty in Bangladesh. Article 145A of the Constitution of Bangladesh
has clearly stated that only treaties (either bilateral or multilateral) with foreign
countries, but not with any international organisations, are needed to be submitted
to the President who is constitutionally head of the State. The study also presents
the constitutional and statutory provision adopted by Bangladesh on Treaties and
MOUs. It is important to say that diplomats, government officials and businessmen

should have a lucid understanding of different types of treaties and MOUs before
making any deal with foreign countries.
Glossary
 Acceptance and Approval

The instruments of "acceptance" or "approval" of a treaty have the same legal
effect as ratification and consequently express the consent of a state to be bound by
a treaty. In the practice of certain states acceptance and approval have been used
instead of ratification when, at a national level, constitutional law does not require
the treaty to be ratified by the head of state. [Arts.2 (1) (b) and 14 (2), Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969]
 Accession
"Accession" is the act whereby a state accepts the offer or the opportunity to
become a party to a treaty already negotiated and signed by other states. It has the
same legal effect as ratification. Accession usually occurs after the treaty has
entered into force. [Arts.2 (1) (b) and 15, Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties 1969]
 Entry into Force

Typically, the provisions of the treaty determine the date on which the treaty enters
into force. Bilateral treaties may provide for their entry into force on a particular
date, upon the day of their last signature, upon exchange of the instruments of
ratification or upon the exchange of notifications. In cases where multilateral
treaties are involved, it is common to provide for a fixed number of states to
express their consent for entry into force. [Art.24, Vienna Convention on the Law
of Treaties 1969]
 Exchange of Letters/Notes
An "exchange of letters/notes" is a record of a routine agreement, that has many
similarities with the private law contract. The agreement consists of the exchange
of two documents, each of the parties being in the possession of the one signed by
the representative of the other. [Art.13, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
1969]
 Full Powers
"Full powers" means a document emanating from the competent authority of a
state designating a person or persons to represent the state for negotiating,
adopting, authenticating the text of a treaty, expressing the consent of a state to be
bound by a treaty, or for accomplishing any other act with respect to that treaty.
Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs are
considered as representing their state for the purpose of all acts relating to the
conclusion of a treaty and do not need to present full powers. [Art.2 (1) (c) and
Art.7 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969]
 Ratification
Ratification defines the international act whereby a state indicates its consent to be
bound to a treaty if the parties intended to show their consent by such an act. The
institution of ratification grants states the necessary time-frame to seek the required
approval for the treaty on the domestic level and to enact the necessary legislation
to give domestic effect to that treaty. [Arts.2 (1) (b), 14 (1) and 16, Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969]
References
 Aust, A. (2013). Modern Treaty Law and Practice. Cambridge

University Press
 Azad, E. (2015). Making and applying treaties. [online] The Daily

Star. Available at: http://www.thedailystar.net/law-our-rights/making-
and-applying-treaties-155995
 Babwani, S. (2013). How a memorandum of understanding differs

from an agreement - The Economic Times. [online] The Economic
Times. Available at:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-02-
04/news/36743089_1_mou-document-parties
 Discover Diplomacy, (2015).What are the tools of diplomacy?

[online] state.gov. Available at:
https://diplomacy.state.gov/discoverdiplomacy/diplomacy101/issues/1
70614.htm
 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (2014). Treaties and Memoranda

of Understanding (MOUs), Guidance on Practice and
Procedures.[online] Treaty Section, Legal Directorate, Foreign and
Commonwealth Office. Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file/293976/Treaties_and_MoU_Guidance.pdf
 Hossain, M.(2015). Bangladesh in Diplomatic History: Experiencing

an Inherent Discipline. [online] FAIR. Available at:
http://fairbd.net/bangladesh-in-diplomatic-history-experiencing-an-
inherent-discipline/
 Investopedia, (2014). Memorandum of Understanding – MOU.

[online] Investopedia. Available at:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mou.asp
 Islam, M. (2015). Absence of legal regime to apply treaties. [online]

The Daily Star. Available at: http://www.thedailystar.net/law-our-
rights/absence-legal-regime-apply-treaties-139354
 Kim, S. (2015). China, the United Nations and World Order,

Princeton University Press
 Roberts, I. (2012). Satow's diplomatic practice. Oxford University

Press
 Sagini, M. (2015). Globalization: the Paradox of Organizational

Behavior: Terrorism, Foreign Policy, and Governance. University
Press of America
 Shaw, M. (2004). Treaty. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available

at:https://www.britannica.com/topic/treaty
 Siteadmin (2015). Treaty vs Memorandum of Understanding. [online]

Organization for the Study of Treaty Law. Available at:
http://www.treatylaw.org/treaty-vs-memorandum-of-understanding/
 Surbhi, S. (2014). Difference Between Agreement and Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) (with Similarities and Comparison Chart).
[online] Key Differences. Available at:
http://keydifferences.com/difference-between-agreement-and-
memorandum-of-understanding-mou.html
 The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
 The Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relation, 1961
 UN Treaty Collection,(1999). [online] United Nations Treaty

Collection. Available at:
www.gc.noaa.gov/documents/gcil_treaty_guide.pdf
 US Department of State. Guidance on Non-Binding Documents.

[online] Office of Legal Adviser, Treaty Affairs. Available at:
https://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/guidance/
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United Nations Treaty Collection. Available at: https:treaties.un.org
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Organizations and International Relations, UBC Press
Appendix: 1
A specimen of a signed Treaty between Bangladesh and India is shown

below:
TREATY OF PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT

OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH
Dacca, 19 March 1972
INSPIRED by common ideals of peace, secularism, democracy, socialism and
nationalism,
HAVING struggled together for the realisation of these ideals and cemented ties of
friendship through blood and sacrifices which led to the triumphant emergence of a free,
sovereign and independent Bangladesh,
DETERMINED to maintain fraternal and good-neighbourly relations and
transform their border into a border of eternal peace and friendship,
ADHERING firmly to the basic tenets of non-alignment, peaceful co-existence,
mutual cooperation, non-interference in internal affairs and respect for territorial integrity
and sovereignty,
DETERMINED to safeguard peace, stability and security and to promote progress
of their respective countries through all possible avenues of mutual cooperation,
DETERMINED further to expand and strengthen the existing relations of

friendship between them, convinced that the further development of friendship and
cooperation meets the national interests of both States as well as the interests of lasting
peace in Asia and the world,
RESOLVED to contribute to strengthening world peace and security and to make
efforts to bring about a relaxation of international tension and the final elimination of
vestiges of colonialism, racialism and imperialism,
CONVINCED that in the present-day world international problems can be solved
only through cooperation and not through conflict or confrontation,
REAFFIRMING their determination to follow the aims and principles of the
United Nations Charter, the Republic of India, on the one hand, and the People’s
Republic of Bangladesh, on the other,
HAVE decided to conclude the present Treaty.
Article 1
The high Contracting Parties, inspired by the ideals for which their respective
peoples struggled and made sacrifices together, solemnly declare that there shall be
lasting peace and friendship between their two countries and their peoples, each side
shall respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the other and
refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of the other side.
The high Contracting Parties shall further develop and strengthen the relations of
friendship, good-neighbourliness and all-round cooperation existing between them, on
the basis of the above-mentioned principles as well as the principles of equality and
mutual benefit.
Article 2
Being guided by their devotion to the principles of equality of all peoples and
states, irrespective of race or creed, the high Contracting Parties condemn colonalism and
racialism in all forms and manifestations and are determined to strive for their final and
complete elimination.
The high Contracting Parties shall cooperate with other states in achieving these
aims and support the just aspirations of people in their struggle against colonialism and
racial discrimination and for their national liberation.
Article 3
The high Contracting Parties reaffirm their faith in the policy of non-alignment and
peaceful co-existance as important factors for easing tension in the world, maintaining
international peace and security, and strengthening national sovereignty and
independence.
Article 4
The high Contracting Parties shall maintain regular contacts with each other on
major international problems affecting the interests of both States, through meetings and
exchanges of views at all levels.
Article 5
The high Contracting Parties shall continue to strengthen and widen their mutually
advantageous and all-round cooperation in the economic, scientific and technical fields.
The two countries shall develop mutual cooperation in the fields of trade, transport and
communications between them on the basis of the principles of equality, mutual benefit
and the most-favoured nation principle.
Article 6
The high Contracting Parties further agree to make joint studies and take point
action in the fields of flood control, river basin development and the development of
hydro-electric power and irrigation.
Article 7
The high Contracting Parties shall promote relations in the fields of art, literature,
education, culture, sports and health.

Article 8
In accordance with the ties of friendship existing between the two countries each
of the high Contracting Parties solemnly declares that it shall not enter into or participate
in any military alliance directed against the other party.
Each of the high Contracting Parties shall refrain from any aggression against the
other party and shall not allow the use of its territory for committing any act that may
cause military damage to or constitute a threat to the security of the other high
contracting party.
Article 9
Each of the high Contracting Parties shall refrain from giving any assistance to any
third party taking part in an armed conflict, against the other party. In case either party is
attacked or threatened with attack, the high contracting parties shall immediately enter
into mutual consultations in order to take appropriate effective measures to eliminate the
threat and thus ensure the peace and security of their counties.
Article 10
Each of the high Contracting Parties solemnly declares that it shall not undertake
any commitment secret or open, toward one or more States which may be incompatible
with the present Treaty.
Article 11
The present Treaty is signed for a term of twenty five years and shall be subject to
renewal by mutual agreement of the high Contracting Parties.
The Treaty shall come into force with immediate effect from the date of its
signature.
Article 12
Any differences in interpreting any article or articles of the present Treaty that may
arise between the high Contracting Parties shall be settled on a bilateral basis by peaceful
means in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding.
DONE in Dacca on the nineteenth day of March nineteen hundred and seventy
two.
Sd/- Sd/-
(Smt) INDIRA GANDHI SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN
Prime Minister Prime Minister
For the Republic of India For the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Appendix :2
MOUs
An MOU signals a legal contract is imminent. However, an MOU itself is
not legally defensible but should still clearly outline specific points of an
understanding. An MOU should describe who the parties are, what the project is
they are agreeing on, the scope of the document, each parties' roles and
responsibilities and more. While an MOU is not legally binding, it can help two
parties move in the right direction toward an agreement.
There is no strict format of MoU. However, the format of treaties is used for
drafting MOUs. The general format of an MOU is as follows-
1. Name of the parties
2. Purpose and objectives:The end of the preamble and the start of the
actual agreement are often signaled by the words "have reached the following
understandings."
3. General Provisions: Nowadays it is observed that the name ‘article’ is
used instead of using the name ‘paragraph’, which contain the substance of the
parties' actual agreement.
4. Tenure, enforcement date and termination date have to be mentioned
in the MOUs.
5. Locality and date (signed in ....orginals in ......day of.....)
6. Signature without seal.
A specimen of a signed MOU between Bangladesh and India is shown

below:
Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the Republic of

India and the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on Conservation
of the Sundarban
The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People’s
Republic of Bangladesh hereinafter referred to as "Parties”:
Considering that both the Governments are parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity 1992 and are contracting parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
1971;
Recognizing that the Sundarban of India and Bangladesh represent a single

ecosystem divided between the two countries;
Acknowledging that the wildlife sanctuaries of the Sundarban located in both

countries is recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site and in Bangladesh as
Ramsar site as well;
Have Reached the Following Understanding:

ARTICLE I
Both Parties recognize the need to monitor and conserve the Sundarban,
which is home to rich biodiversity consisting of large variety of rare species of
flora and fauna, and acts as a vital protective barrier protecting the mainland from
flooding, tidal waves and cyclones.
Article II
Both Parties, with a view to exploiting the potential of the Sundarban for
development and alleviation of poverty, agree to undertake, but not limited to, the
following endeavors:
1. consider and adopt appropriate joint management and joint monitoring
of resources;
2. explore the possibility of implementing conservation and protection
efforts, encourage mangrove regeneration, habitat restoration and rehabilitation
programs, which would eventually increase the potential for carbon sequestration;
3. develop a long term strategy for creating ecotourism opportunities for
both countries, which will create synergy and generate greater revenue.
Article III
The Parties are in agreement that the Sundarban ecosystem is greatly influenced by
human use and the human beings living around the Sunderban. The Parties will
map and delineate these human settlements on respective sides so that a better
understanding emerges of the relationship between human settlements and the
ecosystems. The Parties will further develop a management plan that utilizes this
information to address issues of livelihood, deprivation by flooding and other

climate related disasters, man-animal conflict, pollution, resource depletion, etc.
The Parties will through the management plan, also identify opportunities for
livelihood generation that do not adversely affect the Sundarban ecosystem.
Article IV
Both Parties agree that an exercise needs to be conducted to identify and catalogue
the diversity of flora and fauna that are found in the Sundarban along with their
spatial distribution across the countries of Parties. Through this exercise, Parties
will determine what areas and species are under pressure including those facing
threat of endangerment and extinction. The Parties will develop a comprehensive
plan to tackle these threats along with a detailed action plan to adapt against
perceived threats.
Article V
Both Parties will carry out research to develop a common and shared
understanding of the impacts of climate change along with adaptation strategies
that can be implemented.
Article VI
The Parties, in order to contribute to strengthening the management of the
Sundarban across the two countries, are committed to the advancement of
collaboration in the following and other areas:
1. Share relevant information between the concerned officials, forest and
otherwise, of both the countries;
2. Explore the possibilities of joint research and management projects;
3. Share technical knowledge with the common goal of conservation and
management of biodiversity of Sundarban;
4. Organize joint tiger estimation at regular intervals;
5. Execution of patrolling exercises by the Forest and other relevant
Officials of both the Parties along the respective borders to prevent poaching or
smuggling of derivatives from wild life;
6. Promote capacity building exercise and exchange visits of Forest
Officials of field level in order to better understand and share ideas and problems
of management, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and
promotion of sustainable socio-economic development, and ecotourism;
7. Exchange personnel for training and promotion of education in
forestry, including at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun financed by the
Government of India.
A Working Group will be set up to define activities, responsibilities, time, and

resources involved, according to the activities established as per this
Memorandum.
Article VII
The Parties further agree that:
Should changes of national policies in either country result in difficulties in the
further development and implementation of this Memorandum, both countries will
do their utmost to ensure a reconciliation vis-à-vis the difficulties raised.
This Memorandum is non exclusive, allowing both Parties to enter into similar
agreements with other countries. This Memorandum does not constitute any legal
obligations for either Party in any international forum and it does not conflict with
any other treaty to which either country may be a party to.
Article VIII
The Memorandum may be modified by mutual written consent of the Parties. The
period of this Memorandum will be 5 (five) years and shall be extended
automatically at the end of each period unless terminated by mutual consent by
either Party by serving written notice 90 (ninety) days prior to the date of
termination.
Termination of this Memorandum shall have no effect on other similar agreements
or projects entered into by the Parties.
Termination shall not affect the programmes under implementation.This

Memorandum will come into effect on signature and will continue in operation,
until terminated by either Party as stated in this Memorandum. Signed in two
originals in Dhaka on the Sixth day of September 2011 in English Language.
For and on behalf of For and on behalf of

the Government of the Government of the
the Republic of People’s Republic of
India Bangladesh
Eco Peace: Reconstructing Pedagogy and Teaching in Literature

Deepa Dass
Abstract
The 21st century is booming with new knowledge, technology and super machinery gadgets, prepared
to take the mankind towards a techno-dominated society. But every day the newspaper and the news
bulletin reports of huge calamities, war, crime and human grief's. We talk about peace but we do not
know where the roots of human peace lie. We all talk about religion ,religious scriptures, take thousand
oaths to practice them ,yet we couldn’t bring them into practices because our text books ,literature and
schools do not have place for the universal truth which criticizes violence ,crime, most importantly harm
to nature. Nature includes man woman, plants and animal and the land we live in.
The research paper points out that the problems, chaos, war we face in the world are just the
reflectionary echo of the various misdeeds (Karma) of human beings done in ignorance, greed and
violence. These ignorance and cunningness of human society brings about unlimited and innumerous
calamities and grief consequencing great wars occasionally and masses of such people get killed in
battlefields, ((Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 24.251, purport) and many natural hazards. Pythagoras
has warned century back that “those who kill animals for food will be more prone than vegetarians to
torture and kill their fellow men." On one hand we keep pets for our security and living on the same
time we kill them mercilessly for our ego gratification and self -interest. Our education lacks the right
kind of pedagogy and teaching and the human will to create an eco-balance in the society and nature
which can really reconstruct eco-peace in mind and can re-build a peaceful society.
Keywords: Eco-peace, Textbook, Pedagogy, Teaching, Religious Scriptures.
Introduction
The planet we live in is at the dangerous peak of disaster and we are all of
suddenly going back to probe into literatures related to environment or
environmental literatures, commonly known as omnibus term eco-
criticism. We all are looking for a solution to stop the universe from
further damage and bring back the ecological balance and peace which
once dwelled on earth and “back to nature “as historians suggests.
The 21st century is booming with new knowledge, technology and super
machinery gadgets, prepared to take the mankind towards a techno-
dominated society. But every day the newspaper and the news bulletin
reports of huge natural calamities, climate change ,war, crime and human
grief's. It seems nature too is at war with us to save the earth and
demolishing everything which are against peace.
We talk about peace but we do not know where the roots of human peace
lies. We all talk about religion ,religious scriptures, take thousand oaths to
practice them ,yet we couldn’t bring them into practices because our text
books ,literature and schools do not have place for the universal truth
which criticizes violence ,crime, most importantly harm to nature.
Nature includes man woman, plants and animal and the land we live in
and it’s a creation of God .God is a religious embodiment differing religion
to religion but do have a common understanding that he is the creator and
“since the roots of our (environmental) trouble are so largely religious, the
remedy must also be essentially religious.”(White, L. 1973).Many available
scriptures and literatures idealizes and propagate the theory of inter-
connection between religion and nature. (Tucker, M.E. & Williams, D.R.
(Eds.) 1998).
More important of all, in-spite of all scientific and technological

development we cannot create a single living thing on this earth or any
part of natural pastoral the human kind is blessed with and therefore we
do not have the right to destroy, pollute or kill .This is a simple law of
nature and when we are not compassionate towards them we meet the
consequences. This is the gist of all religious scriptures and all of them
directly and indirectly tells us the same.
A brief Review of literature on Literature, Religion and Environment
The Eco critical collections show that Literature and environment studies
have evolved significantly overtime still there is a gap which needs to be
connected. All our religious scriptures invoke one common thought that
we the religious practitioners must abide by the moral framework
(Buddhism and Ecology. Catalan Pyrenees: Nick Day. Retrieved February
18, 2010) of nature and every religion has given importance to the
environment which constitutes of the flora and fauna as well the human
species.
In Judeo-Christianity (a part of Christian tradition) there is a dichotomy

between people and nature. The first of myths (Genesis Chapter 1) is that
God creates humans as his previous five days’ work. With Divine blessing
they are granted dominion over the rest of creation: Then God said “Let us
make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the
earth.” (Gen. 1: 26). The term “dominion’ was opined as if every creature of
the earth has been created to serve a human necessary and there is no need
human beings to serve them back. The human intelligence has made
superior from other species and his intelligence has better purpose to serve.
It is human beings duty termed as dharma to protect the nature, to respect
the nature of law and protect others rights of living.
In Hinduism, dharma signifies behaviours that are considered to be in

accord with the universal order that makes life and universe possible and
includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and ‘‘right way of living’’.(
The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed.,2013).Mostly people associate dharma
to religion but it is not restricted to that and in Buddhism it is termed as
Dhamma.
Dhamma represents the ethical laws of the universe like the law of
nature. The universe is also governed by laws of Dhamma for the sake of
individual and social good. Thus Dhamma includes all good and sensible
behaviours and actions.
The nature follows cause and effect relationship and therefore the
deteriorating behaviors of human being are leading to the deteriorating
condition of nature. Nature can fulfill am man’s need but not his greed.
Human excessive need and greed are the root cause of exploitation of
nature and Buddhism is based on ethical structure and a devout Buddhist
must own nothing beyond the basic necessities and this is his Dhamma.
Buddha wanted to see that there exists harmony in everything, even in

nature. Man could only maintain this by his sensible non-greedy
behaviours and follow the path of nonviolence and peace. To practice that
there must be co-existence relation between man and nature in order to
safeguard all kinds of imbalances in the nature and human society. The
Buddhism philosophy preaches eco-centric ethics. It stresses on an
environment friendly attitude.
In Hinduism each and every tree, fruit, occasion has a religious

connotation and even the seasons are worshipped and celebrated as
festivals .Thus the brief literature on religion validates that nature will
always had and will always remain the source of our deepest spiritual
sustenance and for sustainable ecological balance we must follow the
religious guidelines.
Based on the above literature, the following objectives were set:
1. To study the religious literatures / scriptures and list the themes

wisdom which provides guidelines of universal global peace.
2. To reconstruct pedagogy and teaching in school literatures to
develop eco peace.
3. To inculcate peaceful behaviours in us with regards to self, others
and the environment?
Research Questions:
1. Historically and geographically which countries/religious scriptures

provides details on how to create a global ecological balanced
society?
2. Do the non –violent, criminal or otherwise, killing act have an

adverse effect on the law of nature and what the religious scriptures
says about them?
3. Can school teach students to be supportive of non-violence and
peace building internally and externally?
4. Do the scriptures suggest any strategies of eco-peace building across

the world?
Methodology:
The research is qualitative in approach and due to limitation of words only

few content analysis of the qualitative data has been presented. The data
were collected from secondary resources. The textual analysis of the data
available from secondary resources was done.
The steps followed in the content analysis are:
1) Reading through the transcript and making brief notes of relevant

information as per the objective and research questions.
2) Listing the different types of information found.
3) Read through the list and categorize each item in a way that offers a
description of what it is about.
4) Identify whether or not the categories can be linked any way and list
them as major categories (or themes) and / or minor categories (or themes).
5) Compare and contrast the various major and minor categories.
6) Collecting the categories or themes and examine each in detail and

consider if it fits and its relevance
7) Categorizing into minor and major categories/themes, review in order

to ensure that the information is categorized in sequence.
Limitation of the study –The study is limited to the Vedic literature

available in Hinduism and preaching of Vaishnava saints.
Definition of related terms:
1. Content Analysis :Content analysis is a research methodology that

utilizes a set of procedures to make valid inferences from text. (Weber,
1985).It is a technique for making replicable and valid inferences from
themes, texts and documents.
2.Religious Scriptures- BhagwatGita, Chaitanya Shikshamrit, and

Shreemad Bhagwatam are the Indian religious scriptures of Hinduism
used as secondary data.
3.Textual analysis – In this process of the use of words and phrases within
a text - and the consideration of if and how words and phrases may be
used to influence the reader is analyzed.
Results and Discussion
The themes /content studied are discussed below:
Karma (our action) of human beings is the root of every consequence we

face in this earth. Karma is one of those topics that many people know
about, but few understand the intricacies of it. In literal terms, “karma”
means “activity” and the law of karma regulates the reactions to our
activities. If we act in good or pious ways, we reap good reactions. If we act
in impious, sinful, or destructive ways, we reap bad reactions in the future.
Christian theology explains, “As ye sow so ye shall ye reap” while in
physics karma is expressed by Newton’s Law, “For every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction.”The problems, chaos, war we face in the
world are just the reflectionary echo of the various misdeeds (Bad Karma)
of human beings done in ignorance, greed and violence. These ignorance
and cunningness of human society brings about unlimited and
innumerous calamities and grief consequencing great wars occasionally

and masses of such people get killed in battlefields, ((Chaitanya
Charitamrita, Madhya 24.251, purport) and many natural hazards.
Pythagoras has warned too century back that “those who kill animals for
food will be more prone than vegetarians to torture and kill their fellow
men."Even Bible validates that "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his
blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man” Bible Genesis
9:6 .
Therefore, the nature of law is just like Newton’s third law and if we want
that there is an external peace , internal peace and environmental peace
than our text books must acknowledge these universal laws create an
environment where children are taught to develop positive behaviours
towards self ,others and environment and reverse the bad karmic cycle.
Even killing of animals and meat eating have an adverse effect because the
Vedic theory says “whatever we eat it has a very delicate impact on our
mind. The material world is itself a place always full of anxieties, and by
encouraging animal slaughter the whole atmosphere becomes polluted
more and more by war, pestilence, famine and many other unwanted
calamities. At the present age we talk about mercy but as scriptures says
we find that there is no mercy around as we are exploiting nature , flora
and fauna both and the status of women and children are not so good
across the world.
There the Vaishnava sects, followers of Saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

abandons meat eating and goes for vegetarian diet. Men do not understand
that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they will be also
slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in the
Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without
restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in
which countless people are slaughtered even more cruelly than the
animals. Sometimes during war, soldiers keep their enemies in
concentration camps and kill them in very cruel ways. These are reactions
brought about by unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse and by

hunters in the forest. Proud, demoniac persons do not know the laws of
nature, or the laws of God. Consequently, they unrestrictedly kill poor
animals, not caring for them at all.
Violence of any kind whether through words or action brings more

violence and that is why the saints of India preached about non-violence –
ahinsa. Gandhijee followed the same path and it’s his non-violence
movement which changed history. Diplomatic issues and cultural ethical
issues do not reveal the reasons behind certain activities sometime but they
at times generate more confusion, chaos and misunderstanding. Religious
scriptures should be understood as it is and from true spiritual masters and
moral code of conducts should be made in consultation with them.
Bhagwat Gita provides the art of living and code of conduct of life but it is
seldom taught in classroom teachings.
We can bring peace only through love: Love thy neighbor as you love thee,
and not only we must love and care the environment we are handed over
too so that we can hand it to our future generations .Love(prema) is even
greater than the concept of non-violence (ahimsa). To 'not harm others' is a
negative; that is to say, it means to refrain from doing something rather
than doing it. On the other hand, love is a positive action; it is the effort to
do well towards others. Similarly Buddhism expresses love and
compassion for all beings. It stresses on a non-exploitative, non-aggressive,
gentle attitude towards nature.
The prema- bhakti movement initiated by ChaitanyaMahaprabhu preaches

God –Krishna is God is the very center of everything that exist in this
material world. “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds.
Everything emanates from Me”and if anyone do not believe in oneness and
unity then it is inevitable that love for the body, family, society, province
and country will clash with the body, family, society, province and country
of others.
Today we all are facing the same problem. We love our own country but
we do not learn to respect others country and for caste, creed and so many
reason we become violent in our actions resulting accumulated violence to
be faced.
History repeats but we seldom learn. But to cherish mankind we will have
to relearn the simple basics of life which is universal and can protect
mankind.
Conclusion
Research question 1.The research paper suggests that historically and

geographically India in its vedic literature and scriptures – Bhagwat Gita ,
ChaitanyaShikshamrit ,Shreemad Bhagwatam, Mahabharat ,Ramayana are
religious scriptures which provides details on how to create a global
ecological balanced family , society and healthy war free environment.
2.The research paper also points out that the violent, criminal or otherwise,
killing act have an adverse effect on the law of nature and the great
masters like Shrila Prabhupad of International Society of Krishna
Consciousness(ISKCON) has given plenty of discourse on that and have
suggested vegetarian diet to lead a peaceful and higher spiritual life.Today
in USA 23% have turned vegetarian and all the international devotees
practice the prema-bhakti movement.
3. School can teach students to be supportive of non-violence and peace

building internally and externally and to the global environment by
making consensus on non-violence issues, include chapters on what the
true path of saving mankind and his environment and by teaching
Vasudeva Kutumbakam meaning we all belong to one family of the same
lord and we all are here to achieve higher goals like self -realization and
help each other in getting so. This mother earth is a learning organisation
where we are supposed to learn higher mode of behaviours and conduct.
4. The research paper points out that the universe is a home and habitat
created by the supreme entity-God, for human beings and other forms of
life, but in all living beings there exists the same kind of soul, be it a man or
a rabbit. All are his children and everyone has a right to live as it is part of
the nature. There is no discrimination of caste, race and gender in this
cosmos and all are part of a universe with a specific and significant role to
play in it.
The nature is formed of all the five elements air, fire , water ,earth and
space(sky) and all the plant ,trees ,earth are made of these five elements ,so
is the body of human beings.
If we want our environment to be peaceful, for that we need to nurture

peace behaviours in our children, society and environment. Our religious
scriptures not only teachers us to worship the moon and sun but every
deity of Hinduism is attached with one animal .And at the end of the
research paper here is a small incidents taken for Mahabharat which
provide the very essence of developing eco-peace in our world.
The Mahabharata war was all set and the day before the war was to begin, Lord
Krishna’s eyes fell on the nest of two birds which came into the vicinity of the war
field .He went to the nest and found two little birds in the nest. He took the nest
and the two birds far away to the woods where the birds could be safe from the
destruction going to happen in the war.
The incident has a strong message .The innocents should not be made victim of
the war, whether it’s animal or people or the nature,. Each and every individual
and living entity should be given the same right to live and let live whoever lives in
this universe or part of this universe. Even a trivial incidence of saving the
innocents and vulnerable can help in peace building in mind through action. But
in this most modern technology driven society one never thinks of for a second of
the numerous innocents who might get killed in political/racial /or in anti-social
acts.
Small stories with good morals and peace messages provided in literatures
and religious scriptures must be included in textbooks.
School should encourage in developing thinking skills for peace making

environment and society.
Positive behavioral reinforcements should be given in schools.
There is a dire need to reconstruct the pedagogy and teachings in the text
books , curriculum and the modern literature around us.
References
Bible,Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 26
Bible, Genesis, Chapter 9, Verse 6
Buddhism and Ecology. Catalan Pyrenees: Nick Day. Retrieved February

18, 2010)
Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 24.251, purport.
The Bhagavad Gita, trans. Franklin Edgerton (new Ed.). Harvard

University Press, Harvard: 2005. ISBN: 0674069250
The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed. (, 2013).
Tucker, M.E. & Williams, D.R. (Eds.). (1998). Buddhism and Ecology: The
Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
White, L. 1973. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” inLen

Beabour, editor. Western Man and Environmental Ethics, pp. 18-30.
Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
Book Reviews
Future Past and Other Sci- Fi short Stories

Written by Mr. Subrat Sahoo (IAS)
Publisher: Frog Books, Leadstart Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

Bandara Kurla, Frog Books, Mumbai
Reviewer: Shibaram Mishra
“Future Past” the title itself triggers the imagination of a reader before you start
reading the book. One thing to be noticed about the book is, it does not have a
preface, and thus it keeps the reader wondering what the book is all about and
creates a curiosity to go through the book.
As a Sci-Fi reader, you need to create a space of your own while being with the
context of your story and allow things to happen around you in your imagination.
Future Past has nine such stories, which takes you to an all together different
domain and you become a part of the story.
IN AN OUTSIDE is a story drooling with science, mysteries, possibilities and

positivity. First of all “we don’t know what we don’t know yet”. There is another
space, possibility and much more beyond our knowledge and imagination. The
story starts as a typical science fiction, a battleship trapped inside an unknown
barrier in outer space, trying to break out. Slowly they realize the barrier might be
a huge living being which has engulfed the ship, and in the process of finding a
way out they first try with firing the barrier with mild ammo instead of going all
out and using the deadliest weapons. Meanwhile, one of the crew members falls
sick as his abdomen bursts, and has a lot of bleeding internally, when they check,
they don’t find any blood inside his stomach, he recovers, and again after
sometime he bleeds and they find blood inside his stomach. They find it is very
much similar to the barrier behaving, oozing blood, blood vanishing and then the
ship inside the pool of blood.
Suddenly they realize the ship is inside the officer, Mark’s belly, and Mark is
inside the ship. They map it with the multidimensional planes within the human
mind, the telescoping of one or more dimensions into another in a coinciding time
frame.
NEVER A NEXT is a story of a robot, a loyal robot, built by its master, destined
to perform certain predefined tasks and functions, put to test, fails and is set to be
reprogrammed. The point to wonder is, was it his fault?
RITES OF PASSSAGE starts with a plot where people from two different planets,
Allene and Suryakant meet for a common research purpose. Allene travels her way
from Pylee, earlier a part of planet earth. Off late the colonies have developed
differences and the colonies don’t see planet earth in a healthy manner. Facts apart,
when both of them meet and start working on the research project and spend time
together Surya develops some kind of attraction/infatuation towards Allene, which

he knows is forbidden as per federal laws. As the story proceeds we come across
twists and turns of events, Surya showing his feeling, federal court punishing
Surya with death penalty and finally a brief passage beyond his memory and turn
of events.
Things are not always predictable, and do not always follow the laws. The title
story FUTURE PAST revolves around time-singularity where the unimaginable
happens. During the course of the story, the focus revolves around technology,
myth, probabilities, predictabilities and time travel, all leading to a conclusion that
one can reactivate the history, same way future has some link with the present and
the past. There is a saying, “the future influences the present, just as much as the
past (Friedrich Netzche)”, and the story says it all.
The past and present have met once, so will the past and future will meet; hence,
future past. I will leave the liberty of the readers to imagine and interpret the
essence of the story in their own way.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE GONE is a very simple yet, thought
provoking story, revolving around a child and his scientist father who works on
evolutionary life forms. The plot is very simple, yet needs detailed attention. As a
scientist, Steve experiments with various species, and his son Vinn requests him to
allow him to take one of the species as a pet an play with him. But later Vinn sets
the “pet” free. As the story proceeds, Steve finds himself captive in a lab in another
planet, as a subject. What happens next is an interesting turn in the story, which
will compel the reader to think about it.
Confucius has said “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it
complicated”.
SIMPLE PHYSICS as a story is not as simple as it seems from the title, to be

honest. Its takes some time for the reader to enroll in to the plot, as it revolves
around traction mechanism, force shield, quantum entanglement and so on which
are not so easy theories of physics. Prof Dunston an expert in his own area of
research was discussing with a group of students about the challenges, come across
various views and queries from the students. Suddenly one of the students comes
with a solution which relates to basic theories of physics. And Prof finds things are
not so complicated, it’s Simple Physics.
MASTERING GOD is a very nice version of an innovator / scientist about God.

It’s about Man -> Created God -> Created Man -> Created Robot -> Created Man
and the circle continues.
REPRIEVE is a beautiful story which shows the beauty of humanity and kindness.
While someone working for a leader like Yius, who is in search of stars and
planets where living forms are present, so that he can acquire and experiment on
them, use the resources available there, Jibiki, who works for Yius in fact finds two
planets with living forms in them but does not inform him so that the living forms
in the planet can buy some time and escape before Yius finds them. What brings
this thought in Jibiki is the point to ponder.
THE STORY OF THE GREATEST EVENT THAT NEVER HAPPENED is a

piece of story that leaves you pondering about the mystery and unknown aspects of
the time flux or the flow of time. A series of events that happens with the ship and
it crews makes you think that we are stranded in the space and do we really exist?
Whatever we experience or experienced, did it happen, or yet to happen? Are we

really in the present? Or are we living our past? Or we haven’t happened yet???
While most of the stories keep you enrolled to the plot, my personal opinion, few
stories are lengthy and distract you from the plot, or at point of time you get
engrossed in something else, other than the main plot. The stories are brain teaser
and this piece of creation is not just easy going Sci-Fi, this needs all your attention
and involvement. Some stories make you wonder what is going to happen next and
that’s where the beauty of imaginations the climax and anticipating the next comes
in.
A simplified and versions in regional languages will attract the young readers, they
will definitely enjoy it.
My congratulations to the author and look forward for his new creations.
Multilingual Education in India: The Case for English

by Mahendra K. Mishra (Author), Anand Mahanand (Author)
Reviewed by Jayanta Kumar Das

Published by Viva Books, New Delhi
Page: 301
Price : Rs 999/-
Multilingualism is a unique cultural and historical feature of India. lndian

thinking looked at the world as a family and respected differences and identities.
While monolingual nations considered multilingualism a problem, it remained the
natural condition for various domains of life in India. In recent times,
multilingualism has come to be recognized as an invaluable asset and resource by
educationists and policymakers paving the way for a new educational approach
that is in harmony with local traditions. Some perceive English language education
as a hindrance to the growth of lndian languages and allege that it causes a social
divide. The arguments of this book convincingly correct this uninformed notion
and prove that English has been a tool of empowerment and a driver of social and
economic mobility. The contributors demonstrate that local languages and cultures
can be revived by integrating them into English language education. Compensating
the lack of organized ideas on multilingual education, this book aims to introduce a
trendsetting change in the lndian perspective on education. It will be a source of
direction for teachers, teacher trainers, policymakers, and those with an interest in
education and sociolinguistics.
Given the current state of affairs where globalization has taken a central
stage, multilingualism as an offshoot of it has become more of a norm rather than
an aberration. There are many countries in the world which practise
multilingualism, India being one of them. Multilingualism in Indian context bears
unique characteristics compared to other contexts where, if we delve into the
historical facts, it has come into existence because of immigration and mass exodus
in the past. In India, however, multilingualism is largely a result of the presence of
two prominent language families known as Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian
languages, and their subsequent changes over the time owing to various
geographical and cultural factors. Highlighting these issues and many more
centring multilingualism, Multilingual Education in India: The Case for English
makes out a strong case for integrating multilingualism into Indian education in
general and English language education in particular.
Multilingual Education in India: The Case for English is a compilation of
scholarly papers and articles contributed by Emeritus Professors, practising
teachers and research scholars. The book has a collection of twenty two academic
papers which are divided into three parts based on such themes as
Problematization, Practices and Possibilities. Multilingualism as a subject has
numerous facets to it. Having divided the papers under various themes, the editors
of the book have provided an organization to the book which invariably would help
the reader choose the paper which they wish to read based on their area of interest
in multilingualism.
The book has a Preface which rightfully introduces the contributors and
gives a sense about the nature of the book in addition to throwing some light on
multilingualism in India. The Preface also highlights the focus of the book by
talking about the three broad themes which form the three sections of the book and
the papers included under each theme.
The first theme, i.e., Problematization of the book has five scholarly papers
under it. These papers help in understanding the broad and varied multilingual
contexts, and the theoretical inputs on multilingual education. The papers under
this theme are though not data driven, nevertheless, they provide a solid
background to understand multilingualism in its varying and multitudinous forms,
and the issues and challenges involving multilingualism. To give an example, the
paper by David discusses multilingualism by exploring how multilingual education
(MLE) programmes for indigenous peoples in Nepal and worldwide can benefit
from adapting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into their
national language and planning structures.
Practices constitute the second theme of the book. There are as many as
eleven papers under this theme. As the title suggests, the papers included under this
theme highlight MLE and its practices in multilingual contexts with reference to
English language education. Unlike the papers under the first theme, most of the
papers under this theme are data driven focusing on various issues that are
involved with multilingual teaching practices. To enumerate a few such papers,
Mishra’s paper explores ‘Multilingual Education’ and ‘Srujan’—two community-
based programmes—and their effectiveness in multilingual contexts. Mohanraj and
Uma’s paper investigates how translanguaging can be tapped to realize its
pedagogic potentiality in a multilingual teaching-learning practice. Barik’s paper
reports an experimental study in a multilingual classroom using chain story writing
in L1 to improve L2 writing. Nanda’s paper explores the possibility of using L1 to

teach L2 from the teachers’ perspective.
The third organizing theme of the book is Possibilities. There are six papers
under it of which five are position/theoretical papers with evidences gathered from
authors’ observations and/or from the literature, and one paper is data driven.
These papers in addition to highlighting the issues pertaining to multilingualism,
propose and suggest teaching models and techniques in a multilingual framework
to meet the future challenges that come with the ever changing times. To cite a few
examples, Mohanraj’s paper along with underlining some of the existing problems
that we observe in a typical multilingual classroom, suggests a few measures that
could be adopted to overcome the problems. Durairajan’s paper presents a
theoretical justification for a futuristic cross-lingual evaluation, and examines the
feasibility of such an evaluation by discussing its various practical possibilities.
Mukhopadhyay’s paper argues in favour of exploiting L1 knowledge as a cognitive
aid to make L2 writing meaningful, natural and accessible. To this end, the paper
presents tasks and feedback-strategies to develop bilingual moving on to L2
writing skills.
The range of topics that is covered in Multilingual Education in India: The
Case for English will surely provide a reader who is new to multilingualism a solid
background knowledge on multilingualism, and someone who already has some
knowledge of multilingualism, a deeper understanding on multilingualism. This
book has a universal appeal for it has not only included papers from the Indian
authors but beyond. Considering the range of issues that the papers in this volume
have covered/addressed, it can be said that the book is an invaluable contribution
to multilingual education and the teaching of English in India equally. A book of
this nature can be prescribed to be included in the ‘course of study’ of any teaching
program on bi/multilingualism.
Interviews
Being a Bilingual: Issues and Perspectives

An Interview with Prof. G. Rajagopal
Subhasis Nanda
Amit Kumar
Professor G. Rajagopal is one of the first scholars to have taken Bilingual
education as a subject of study in India. He worked on bilingualism in relation to
English Language Teaching for his doctoral degree. He has been active in
conducting and supervising research in this area. He had held various academic
and administrative positions such as Head, Dept. of ESL Studies; and, Dean,
School of English Language Education before his retirement in 2012 from EFL
University, Hyderabad. In addition to these, he has been associated with premier
educational bodies such as NCERT, KVS, and RIEs.
Q- 1. You are a pioneer of in the study of bilingualism in ELT context in India

and have perceived the development of studies in Bilingualism from close
quarters. Would you like to share your view on this development?
Answer- Sure. I don’t know if I am the pioneer. I am definitely somebody
who has thought about and worked on it here and it is a concept which has affected
me very deeply. I treat bilingualism primarily as an important concept, which what
it is for me. Now understanding any “ism” is not very easy. It is very complex and
very deep rooted. To me bilingualism is a factor which is pervasive all over India. I
will not talk about other countries where it exists, but I will talk about my country.
As you are aware, primarily since we are multilingual, a multilingual country
bilingualism and multilingualism as “isms” are there. It is been there always
everywhere. Now, if I look at it very carefully, I feel very personally that first of
all, human mind is attuned, built in to this notion of bi/multilingualism. I strongly
believe that anybody can be a bilingual; anybody can be a multilingual. All human
beings on this earth can, and this is my strong belief number one. Number two, to
me bilingualism particularly in our country, is first and foremost a societal
phenomenon. Now why do I say that, because, an individual can survive in our
country as a monolingual and there are many who have survived for years and
probably still surviving as monolinguals. So it is not a surprising factor. But, I say
that bilingualism is a social phenomenon because it is the society which makes an
individual to become a monolingual or multilingual. For example, if you look at a
family, a child begins as a monolingual and if the child discovers the environment
as predominantly monolingual, the child can continue to be a monolingual.
Whereas, if a child discovers once its cognitive faculties grow - that in fact it is
surviving in a multilingual context, then it’s thinking- cognitive thinking
immediately switch over to bilingualism. In a certain context, even if the child
discovers that there is a big difference between the home language and language
outside the home, there is where the child shifts to a bilingual accent. If for
example the child discovers that the parents speak two different languages and the
caretaker speaks a third language, and society speaks the fourth language, a child
knows how to switch from one language to another. In other words, in India, if I
look at the context the factor called bilingualism is there because it is an inbuilt
system in the cognition of the child and it is prevalent there. So, to me this
distinction is more than adequate to pursue in this role etc in our country.
Q- 2. What advantages Bilingual approach has on language learning?

Answer- There are many advantages. Now, language and learning a
language is primarily a purpose of survival; survival of oneself, survival in society
and survival in the world. Now, bilingualism is, as I told you, something which is
not absent at all. In any individual, in every individual on this earth, every
individual I strongly believe is capable of triggering this particular faculty in
him/her when the situation arises. Now, in certain cases, may be certain attitudinal
factors might prevent an individual from triggering this faculty and not becoming a
bilingual, for example. But that’s a different aspect altogether, because it’s a kind
of social consciousness or individual’s consciousness. I am not going to talk about
that. To me, being a bilingual is a factor which enables one to become a bilingual.
And becoming a bilingual has its own profits, lots of profits. So it has a positive
effect on language learning.
Q- 3. Where do you place bilingualism in relation to teacher education?

How can teacher educators use it effectively?
Answer- Bilingualism as an “-ism”, is an extremely complex phenomenon.
If you want to know as an “ism”, one needs to understand its implications. For
example, what do you mean by ‘implications’? By this we mean, this is a facility
which is there in the human cognition. How do we use this facility, how do
teachers get to use this facility? In teacher education, for example, teachers need to
know that it is not just an existence of two languages but its how one utilizes this
available existence. Now this utilization of this available existence could be related
to language teaching or teaching of two languages or language learning- that is the
learning of L2 or L3 for example. Now, it can therefore be related to the concept of
a bilingual teaching approach. A bilingual teaching approach does not have any
fixed procedural detail. It means it is an approach which, as its strong principle,
utilizes two languages. How you utilize the two languages to what extent and in
what proportion is a matter that the teachers need to know. Now bilingualism does
not simply mean translation. It does not either mean, simply using two languages,
in whatever fashion you like. No, it has a certain pattern to it. There has to be
certain eclecticism to that. Now, how does it affect teacher education is, you see,
the teachers need to be made aware of all these conceptual factors. Once they know
the conceptual factors, how they operate in human mind, how they operate in a
certain society, how they can incorporate it to their own teaching, how they can
improve the conditions of language learning using this as a very broad approach
should form a part of teacher education, which is a very complex activity but needs
to be done.
Question- 4.Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is being seen

as an asset for teachers. Does bilingualism have any role to play to in CPD?
Answer- now, Continuous Professional Development is something which
goes on even to this stage to me for example. I also continue to know, continue to
learn. There is no end to it, simply because, teachers encounter several stages of
progress. If there is continuous development in the profession, then CPD has its
own role. A teacher needs to understand where and how to begin bilingual
education, for example. Now it’s a very careful planning first and foremost, no
doubt. But it is a long term planning simply because the teacher is attempting to
use two language or whatever, and needs to monitor the progress of learning. Now,
in order to understand the progress of learning, to assess the progress they also
need tools for assessment; tools for introspection and in addition the techniques to
modify whatever the processes s/he is doing. It means, eventually, that a teacher
should be able to ensure why using two languages in a classroom, of whatever the
purpose it is, for that the objectives are achieved, eventually. I strongly believe that
in any educational plan, when we look at the CPD of the teacher, I suppose
bilingualism is something which is almost like an “Immersion” concept. So, which
means there is a certain stage where bilingualism is introduced in language
teaching and progressively it will be withdrawn because, its aim is to go into the
target language. So, that is the CPD a teacher needs to be aware of and we need to
build in teacher’s own mind.
Q- 5. Though most of the teachers are bilinguals themselves, how
trained are they to use L1; and what is the general perception among them
regarding use of L1 in classroom?
Answer- See, not just the teacher, a teacher is after all is trained to do a
certain kind of job and they have been given a word or a few instructions. Now,
that is what it forms as thier perception. Now, in this particular case, as long as
there are people who do not have a detailed or precise or in-depth knowledge of the
role of two languages in which human mind operates which can be utilized in a
certain manner in the teaching of another language and as long as people do not
have a perception that language teaching in particular, in two languages in a
classroom in the minds of vast number of teachers who have met and not just the
teachers alone, but even so called experts also have, I am sorry to say, a half-baked
knowledge. What it means is that a lot of information, a lot of technical
knowledge, a lot of in depth perception need to be incorporated into the training

programme of the teachers. A lot of myths have to be removed and people should
be told that there are these positive factors in pursuing bilingual teaching which
they must incorporate into their teaching.
Question- 6. How much support, vision and encouragement do teachers
get from other stake holders like teacher educators, NCTE, NCERT and/or
various boards of education?
Answer- ahhh… For a number of reasons, may be some of them, I am also
guilty of this, the stakeholders perhaps are not fully aware of the implications of
using two languages in a classroom. Many people who I have come across say “oh
yes, it is very important to use first language in the classroom. We must use first
language at primary level”, and you ask them why, you don’t have answers. Which
means somewhere that a campaign needs to be carried out for example, through
brochures, through charts, through booklets and people with knowledge of all these
implications need to talk about it, you know, very firmly and knowledgeably, at
many of these training programmes which also should include the stakeholders.
Mind you, the older stakeholders are not always very pleased with this, and you
cannot challenge them, they feel they know everything. Probably at one stage we
may have to shift attention to the training programmes where some kind of a major
instruction in this particular field needs to be carried out. And, such alternative
ways of using two languages in a classroom with full knowledge of implications
should be brought to the notice of the stakeholders. So, it is at a volatile stage at the
moment and I think it needs a campaign of some sort.
Question- 7. According to you what is the future of Bilingualism in
India? Do you perceive any possible paradigm shift in bilingualism?
Answer- ahhh, you see, bilingualism exists, it is there. Like monolingualism
it is also there. Now mind you, in our country where there are these English
medium schools, they would like to follow a mono-lingual approach. I won’t say
“direct method” as a method but as an approach, monolingual approach despite
knowing that children who come to those schools are bilinguals, and the classroom
is bilingual as much where the teachers themselves are bilinguals. Despite knowing
all these, as a policy matter they would like to follow monolingualism. So as far as
that is concerned you see, that is another dimension we see. But a very large
majority of our schools do have a need for the perception of bilingualism because
on the one hand, a teacher needs to use the first language in a classroom while
teaching English as second language. There are cases where English is taught
totally through the first language. So, I have come across many such schools, even
the teachers are more comfortable in the first language than English. And the end
product of teaching English is simply where the child is asked to rote-learn a few
things in English that will be the best outcome. So given such a scenario there is a
very strong future, in fact there is no way bilingualism can disappear from our
country. In my perception in fact it has to be stronger and needs to be strengthened.
For example, in the teacher training programmes I do, and if I ask them, would you
like to use mother tongue in your classroom, if the principal is sitting there, the
teacher would say no, if the principal is not there, they would like to say yes, in
fact, for most of the time. Then we should discuss how should we use Mother
tongue, for what purpose, how much, when do we start, when do we stop and what
would be the outcome and how do we keep that in practice? Mind you I see a very
large presence of bilingualism in our country. But I only hope it will be structured
and knowledge-based and the practice will be beautifully structured in our country
and I hope there will be a proper help in this regard.
Question-8. From your vast experience in the area of bilingualism,
please share your vision to help out learners from marginalized, rural and
deprived contexts in terms of English language learning?
Answer- Thank you very much for asking this question. If that is the vast
population in our country, now, leave aside the urban centers. Even within the
urban centers there are marginalized schools, marginalized localities, apart from
that you go into the semi-urban, rural, semi-rural, highly rural and the tribal and the
interior, agency areas and so on, my God, it’s actually very much necessary that all
these, particularly in these areas for the marginalized, for the rural, for the deprived
community, deprived context and so on, there is a need for very strong teacher
education programme. For example, in our country, even if you go into these
contexts, what do I mean by that marginalized and the deprived and the tribal and
other contexts, remember we have two major issues here; one is the dominant
language and the second is the learners’ language. Now the learners’ home
language may have virtually no role to play at all in a society for the marginalized
and deprived and the tribal child. They are confined to their own homes and as the
children get educated even that language will disappear in that it gets confined to
the parents and grandparents. So, the language which they need to adopt is
extremely complex. However, when they need to go through formal academic
instructions, they have to pick up the majority language, whether it is for the
survival inside the classroom or outside the classroom. There is an enormous
pressure on the marginalized and deprived or tribal children. We have no business
to put them under this academic pressure, under no circumstances. I strongly
believe that they need to be put at ease, when they learn something. How can we
do this? Mind you all languages in our country the dialectical variations vary to
this extent where an idiolect is a different format altogether. Now, the
marginalized, deprived and the tribal community will need to be helped
enormously and how do we do this? It could be using charts, it could be using
multilingual books, it could be a multilingual classroom teaching methodology.
Now, who will do all these – apart from the language teacher? It’s only the
teachers who can do that. But the teachers can’t do it on their own because it’s
possible that the teacher does not speak the child’s language or may not know the
child’s language. But, the teacher has a job to do. And therefore, all those above
the teacher- the stakeholders- we need to sit together and help them to develop
teaching materials and these materials in other format also for example the schools
where children go to, should be loaded with multilingual charts and students
should be able to see them and feel thatthey arte true to their experience and so on,
and mind you, cultural factors also are very important and whatever it is, any
number of the additional factors. Basically, in my mind, in response to your
question, the marginalized, deprived and tribal child will need a lot more help from
the rest of the stakeholders. There teachers need lot more help from the senior, the
elder stakeholders.
In Conversation with Dulal Da
By Mahendra Kumar Mishra
Dr Dulal Kanti Chaudhury is an erudite scholar in folklore and Indian culture,
with a pleasing personality. Active and experienced teacher of languages and
literature. Keen interest in Yoga, Meditation, and Indian folk medicine.
Participated in social service and youth leadership development programs. He has
been sharing his knowledge as a researcher and professor in many ace universities
of India and abroad in the field of folklore. He has also extended his service in
many research organizations to enrich and enhance the knowledge on folklore and
literature.
Mahendra: How did you enter into the field of folklore?
Dulal: I was a scholar of Bangla literature, and it is enriched with the trend of folk
literature since pre independence era. Tagore, Guru Sadaya Dutta, Lal Bihari Dey,
and many other noted scholars were engaged in revitalizing Bangla folk literature
for their national identity. Tagore wrote lok sahitya essays during his Russia visit.
Besides his book on lok sahitya & Chhele Bhulona Chhada, including many
other genres are the source of inspiration in my journey to folklore.
Mahendra: Which genre of folklore was your first research project?
Dulal: Folk festival of Bengal was the first project I undertook from the UGC
during 1964-67, after that I went to Bangla academy Dhaka during 1973-74 to
study on Chakmas of Bangladesh, a survey. After that I wrote Chakma Prabad in
Bangla.
After that I got a research project on Chakmas of Tripura from the ICSSR for two
years and wrote books on migrant folklore and their identity.
There after I took a project on wall paintings of West Bengal on Lalit Kala
Academy New Delhi. I also got fellowship from Govt. of India for Chhau Dance of
India.
Mahendra: Besides research where did you teach?
Dulal: I was the Associate Professor in F C College, served as Dist. Youth

Cordinator in Vardhaman Dist. (1986-88). I became the programme officer in the
NSS scheme in the FC college under Calcutta University. All these activities
helped me in understanding the community culture during 1986-90.
Mahendra: I understand that you introduced Lokaratna Award in your

Academy of Folklore Calcutta. As the founder director what was your
experience in heading a subject like folklore which is neither supported by the
government, not the academics?
Dulal: We the group of folklorists of Calcutta introduced the award of Lokaratna

and we have awarded it to Devendra Satyarthi, Kunjabihari Das, Krishnadev
Upadhyaya, and many other who have contributed to the folklore research in India.
Heading a cultural organization in India is a very challenging task, we have faced a

lot of problems to run this academy but it is also true that without funding we have
been able to generate lot of human resources, scholars, PhDs, and writers on
Bangla folklore and Indian folklore as well.
Mahendra: What is your experience about Indian Folklore Congress?
Dulal: I and Mr Jawaharlal Handu started IFC in 1977. I was the general secretary
and he was the permanent president of IFC. We conducted annual seminars in
many parts of the country and popularized folklore studies in India. As the
unregistered organization, it was dependant on Universities and CIIL Mysore.
Since last 30 years it has created a lot of folklorists old and new. But after year
2000, I opted out because of some personal reasons. I took my own research
activities on South Asian Folklore after that.
I bring out Lok Sanskriti Patrika, theory and methods on folklore research in
Bangla and English.
Mahendra: What about the books and publications you have contributed to
Indian Folklore?
Dulal: I have authored around 24 books and numerous articles on folklore, folk
medicine, literature, mythology, and methodology of fieldwork etc.
Mahendra: Lets us know about your participation in various seminars and

conferences
Dulal: I have attended and participated in numerous International(USA, Canada,

England, Turkey and Bangladesh) and National conferences and seminars in
folklore and allied matters.
The creative mind : Illustations by child artist Omkar
Omkar has an artistic mind. His emotions come out in the form of lines and curves
and most of the incidents he depicts through his drawings.
He is comfortable with pencils and crayons. Also he loves water and acrylic colors.
Whenever he comes across a story or he plays a new game, he makes it as a

storyboard with proper character sketches. He brings down entire narrations in the
storyboard scene by scene. Sometimes he includes dialogues too. In fact he starts
new stories, jokes and small incidents with the same characters.
His imagination is unmatched and unique.
He is studying at Class – IV now, and the following images are his drawings
between the ages 3-6 years.
As Krishna on Janmastami
As Rama on Rama navami
His art works:
It was women's day. I wanted to host a party for my mother. I wanted to organise
the party by setting dress code for girls was colored dress and for women it was
saree. My akka (sister) was my co- host.
It was summer holiday and I wanted to swim. But I din know how to swim. My
mother helped me in getting into water and learn swimming.
As usual I was enjoying my shower with my buddy Snakey. I could see my mother
capturing me in her camera. After a while, after the bath I draw the scene.
During summer holiday I try many recipes along with my mother. I saw lemonade
in cookbook and tried. It came out very well.
A scene from Ra-One where G-One is attacking Ra-One with his powers
Sri Ram and Laxman
My Homeworks
Angry Birds
A fish having his lunch!
Lokaratna Khazana:
Treasure Trove of Folklore
Three Stories from Abolkara Kahani
(Re-told by Anand Mahanand)
Abolkara Kahani is a treasure trove of stories stored in the memories of
many legendary story tellers who tend to present these unique stories to their
listeners in many different unique ways. These stories are from unique Odia story
telling traditions and not available elsewhere in such tone and style. It is worth-
mentioning here how did the Abolkara stories originate.
Once there was a learned Pandit in Odisha. As he become aged, he wanted
to go on a pilgrimage by travelling to may pilgrimage centres such as Ganga,
Gaya, Kashi, Mathura, Vrindavan and so on. He wanted to take a young helper
with him. He arranged a young chap called Makara for the purpose. Makaras was
the village young barber boy. He was chosen as the Pandit could accept water from
his caste. How Makara did become Abolkara?
The Pandit travelled a few miles and as he reached to a village, he would
like to rest and spend the night near the village temple or in a dharamshala. He
would send Makara to the village to buy some cereal and vegetables so that he
would cook food. Makara would see something strange and won’t understand it.
He would come back to the Pandit and ask about it and request the Pandit to
explain through a story . He would put a condition saying, “if you explain me this,
I would obey you or else, I would become disobedient (Abolkara). He was not
always obedient or readily obedient (bolakara) but often acted as disobedient
(Abolkara). So he was called Abolkara by the Pandit and the stories are called
Abolkara Kahani in Odisha.
Here, we would like to present three stories from the larger collections of
Abolkara Kahani.
One
The Story of the Flowering Tree
Once, Abolkara and the Pandit were travelling. After travelling for a long
distance in the forest, they reached near a village. It was almost evening time. They
decided to take rest in a temple that was near the village. There was a pond
adjacent to the temple. The temple complex had space to cook food and take rest.
The Pandit asked Abolkara to go and get some cereal, vegetables and edible oil
from the village shop. Then he had his evening prayers and set the fire to cook
food. Abolkara walked towards the village. As he was approaching the village, he
came across a beautiful palace complex at the entrance of the village. It was well-
decorated. There was a beautiful gold statue of a flowering tree and a beautiful
gold statue of a queen. There were six stone statues of senior queens around the
golden statue. Abolkara saw these statues and wondered about them. He stood
there for a while with his mouth wide open in wonder. He was curious to know
about the statues. He forgot about the provisions and ran back to the Pandit to ask
him about the golden statue and the flowering tree.
The Pandit had just finished the evening prayers and getting ready to boil
water for cooking rice. Then he saw Abolkara come running towards him with an
empty bag. He asked Abolkara, “What’s the matter, Abolkara? Have you got the
provisions? Abolkara replied, “Pandite, I have seen something very unusual. Let
me tell you what I have seen first. You have to tell me the story of the thing I have
seen, and then I will get the provisions. The Pandit told him, “Alright. You tell me
what you have seen. I will explain you!” Then Abolkara said, “I had almost
reached the village. Near the village, I came across a beautiful palace. It was a
beautiful space and very beautifully decorated. There was beautiful golden statue
of a flowering tree placed at the centre .There was also a golden statue. It looked
like it was that of a beautiful queen. Around the statue of the queen, there were six
other golden statues. They looked like other queens. Now tell me, who were these
people? What is the story behind them?”
The Pandit then said, “Alright, Abolkara. Listen to the story of the statues.
In this kingdom, there lived a God fearing and righteous king. He was very rich
and powerful but he had one lack. He had six queens but nobody had a child. The
king was worried for a heir. He called and consulted the pundits of the kingdom
and prayed to Goddess Durga. One night, Goddess Durga told him in his dream
that he should marry a young princess called Satarupa who had been growing up as
a young princess in the neighbouring kingdom called Kanakpur. She is endowed
with many arts and skills. “If you marry her you will get a child.” The king
followed the Goddess’ advice and arranged for his marriage. He went to the
kingdom with his ministers and people and married the beautiful princess Satarupa.
She was a devout lady. She had acquired the blessings from Goddess Durga and
endowed with many arts. The king was happy with her. She conceived and gave
birth to a son called Krishna Kumar. The king was very pleased with the queen.
The other six queens felt ignored and annoyed with the seventh queen, Satarupa.
The other six queens hatched a plot to kill her as they were jealous of her.
They went to her and said, “Dear little one. You have proved yourself to be a
blessing to the kingdom. With the birth of your child, the kingdom has got a heir.
Without you and without a child, it would have been a curse! We are grateful to
you for being such nice and benevolent. You are also blessed with a lot of arts and
skills. We heard that you can turn yourself to a flowering tree and come back to
human shape after that. Can you show us how you do all this?”
Queen Satarupa heard all these and blushed at the praise. She said, “I see,
you know about all this. The maidservant might have told you all about this. It is
very simple. I will show you the process. See, this is the water mixed with my
mantra. If you pour some of it on me, I will become a flowering tree. If you pour
rest of the water, on the tree again, I will come back to my original shape. But if
you pour the water somewhere else, I will become a golden statue and you will
also become stone statues. The six senior queens were looking for an opportunity
to punish the youngest queen. So eagerly said yes and asked her to show the skills.
Then Satarupa took a pot of water, applied her mantra and sprinkle some water on
her and gave the rest of water to the senior queens. Soon she turned into a
flowering tree. The six queens, however, did not pour the rest of water on the tree
but put it elsewhere. As a result, Satarupa remained as a tree of statue and the six
queens remained as statues of stone. The king came to know about it and was
inconsolably sad. In the memory of his beloved queen, he built the beautiful spot
and the golden flowering tree and the statues have been there since then. Abolkara
listened to the story and went to the shop to get the provisions. Both of them had
their food and slept peacefully. The next day, they started their journey again.
Two
Story of the Clever Maid Servant
As the Pandit and Abolkara reached near another village, they came across a
temple complex. The Pandit decided to take rest in the dharamshala that was near
the temple. As they entered the dharamshala, the Pandit asked Abolkara to put
down the bundle, umbrella and the blanket he was carrying. He asked him to go to
the nearby pond and wash his hands and feet. As Abolkara finished all that, the
Pandit asked him to go to another temple and get some Prasad for both of them to
eat in the night. Abolkara followed his order and went towards another temple. As
he was going near the temple he came across a big hall. Inside the hall, he saw the
statue of a beautiful gold cage. Inside the cage, he saw a silver statue. He also saw
that many people were standing before the bird and praying to the bird that was
inside the golden cage. But people were not able to explain much to his
satisfaction. So he came running to the Pandit to find out about the statue and the
cage. The Pandit was surprised to see Abolkara back. He asked him, “What is the
matter? Have you got the Prasad?” Abolkara replied, “I have seen something very
unusual. Please explain it to me.” The Pandit then enquired about what Abolkara
had seen. Abolkara said, “In the big hall near the temple complex, there is a
golden cage and in the golden cage there is a silver statue of a bird. People are
praying the bird to fulfil their wishes. I was told that the bird could fulfil fill their
wishes. Please explain me how it is possible.” Then the Pandit told the following
story to Abolkara.
In the kingdom of Pratappur there lived a powerful king called Bikram
Kesari. He was very notorious and ill-mannered. His subjects were not happy with
him. He had a beautiful daughter called Swapna Sundari. She was very religious
and God-fearing. She was a devout person. She worshipped the presiding deity of
the kingdom and was very pious. The Gods and Goddesses were pleased with her.
As the king became old, he assigned the responsibility of his kingdom to his
daughter princess- Swapna Sundari. The neighbouring kings observed this and
attacked the kingdom of Pratappur suddenly. Princess Swapna Sundari was brave.
She prayed the silver bird that was there in the golden cage and got swarms of
powerful armies with their help, she could defeat the attackers. After the death of
the king, she became the ruler of Pratappur. The Minister’s son was interested to
marry the princess. He approached her and offered to marry her but she refused o
marry him. Then he thought of a plan to punish her. He took the maid servant’s
help in this plot. On the advice of the minister’s son, the maid-servant went to the
princess one day and said, “You have been asking so many things to the bird in the
golden cage. Have you thought how beautiful you would look if you stand in the
golden cage? You should ask the bird to allow you to be there in the golden cage as
the silver bird.” The princess could not understand the plot and did the same. She
requested the bird to let her go inside and be there as a golden bird. The bird
allowed her to be inside the cage and disappeared. As the princess went inside, the
maid servant locked her from outside and the princess became a silver statue of the
bird. Since then the minister’s son became the ruler. He kept the silver statue in
the hall. People of the kingdom respected the princess. So they gathered and pray
for their wishes. The boy was happy to listen to the story. Then he went and got the
Prasad from the temple. Both of them had thee Prasad in the evening and slept
peacefully. They started their journey again towards Vrindavan in the morning.
Three
The Story of Sati Sautuni Temple
As they were making their journey, the Pandit and Abolkara came near the
river Yamuna. They wanted to rest near a village near the river. The Pandit asked
Abolkara to go to the village and get some provisions. As he went, he came across
a temple. He saw people crowded at the temple. They were waiting for their turn to
pray to a beautiful statue f a woman. Abolkar was taken aback. A woman was
being worshipped! He had not seen anywhere people praying to such a beautiful
woman like that.
He came running to the Pandit to ask about it. He asked the Pandit,
‘Pandite, I have really seen a strange scene today. I found that people were in
queue to worship the statue of a woman. It was not the statue of a goddess or
anything but bust a beautiful woman. Please tell me the story of the woman they
are worshipping.” The Pandit said, “Alright, I know you will not do anything
unless I tell you the story.”
In a kingdom called Chandrapur there lived a powerful king called Pratap
Singh. He was very rich and pleasure loving. He married as many as seven
queens. All his six queens were quarrelsome and of bad character. They were not
loyal and committed to their husband, but the seventh queen Subhalakshmi was a
devout lady. She was honest and committed to her husband. She was the daughter
of a sage. So she grew up with prayers and meditation. She was educated and
knew many arts and skills. The other six queens were jealous o her. They wanted
to banish her from the kingdom. So they brought false allegations against her
saying that he had an illicit relationship with the commander of the army. She
urged the king to banish her from the kingdom. The king believed in what his
senior queens said and banished Subhalakshmi and her son Govind Ballbhav to the
jungle. The queen and her son left the palace and lived in the jungle with the forest
dwellers. They were helped by the forest dwellers because of their good nature.
Soon they discovered a gold treasure in the forest and became very rich. Govind
Ballabh could establish a small kingdom in the jungle was chosen as the king of
the small kingdom. Slowly he expanded his kingdom and became very powerful
and famous. His fame went far and wide.
King Pratap Singh on the other hand was discarded by the queens and the
army leaders. He came to Govind Ballabh’s kingdom to seek appointment as a
minister. Govind Ballabh could not recognize him, but offered him to keep him as
a minister. But queen Subhalakshmi could recognize her husband. She asked her
son to make her husband the king. Govind Ballabh was happy to make his father
the king of the new kingdom and three of them were happy. The king was grateful
to his queen Subhalakshmi and got a statue of her made and people worship her
like a goddess since then. She is calld sati sautuni or the honest sister-in-law and
her temple is called Sati Sautuni temple. Abolkara liked the story very much. His
doubts were cleared. Then he went to get the provisions from the village shop.
They prepared the evening meal, had it and in the next morning continued their
journey again...
Shah Abdul Karim: The Ecstasy of Unfulfilment
Amitendu Bhattacharya
Shah Abdul Karim (1916-2009) is the preeminent Baul singer and
songwriter of recent times. All his life he lived in Ujan Dhol village by the Kalni
river in Sylhet division of Bangladesh. Born to poverty and hardship, he earned his
living by becoming an agricultural help. As a shepherd he had ample time to jot
down his passing thoughts and emotions. Nobody exactly knows the number of
songs he had composed but the figure is estimated to be around fifteen hundred. He
received his spiritual and musical training from Shah Ibrahim Mastan Baksh. In
2001, Shah Abdul Karim was honoured with the Ekushey Padak, the second
highest civilian award in Bangladesh, for his contributions to folk music and
culture.
Baul Shah Abdul Karim
Picture Courtesy: <http://alchetron.com/Shah-Abdul-Karim-1025557-W#->
A whore drifting without a shore
I’m a whore10 drifting without a shore
Don’t touch me any of you, my dears
10
This metaphor of the seeker of god as whore is not uncommon in South Asian devotional poetry. Compare with
the utterance of Janabai, the Marathi bhakti poet of the thirteenth century, in one of her compositions: “Jani says: I
have become your whore, Keshava. / I have come now to wreck your home.” (Pinto, Jerry, and Neela Bhagwat,
trans. “I have let my veil drop”. Eating God: A Book of Bhakti Poetry. Ed. by Arundhathi Subramaniam. New Delhi:
Penguin, 2014. 133. Print)
Loving the person after my own heart
Grief has made my life fall apart
Weeping go my days and nights
To love is the sport of heaven
Separation the punishment of hell
My soul knows it only too well
Tell me, my dears, what recourse do I have?
The hardships Baul Karim braves
Will follow him to the grave
This splendid world has no use for me
If I can’t possess the one I’m obsessed with
This multihued life has no meaning for me
Love’s lunacy has robbed my peace
A homeless whore I’ve nowhere to go
To love I surrendered my soul, mind and body
Didn’t foresee what I wished for would never be
I’ll be back, said he and left
All I now have are tears and torment
Baul Abdul Karim says, I sing not songs of glee
This splendid world has no use for me
Why did you allow love to grow
Why did you allow my love to grow?
When you knew someday you’d go
How should my mind await your return, my friend?
When the situation at home is inconvenient
The neighbourhood has turned my foe

Sick at heart, I shed tears of woe
To whom should I relate my story when I’m the guilty one?

Crying the whole time I’ve made my eyes like rivers run
Baul Abdul Karim asks, what’s this malady?

For all my sufferings you are the only remed
What was destined has struck
Why ponder things of the past?

What was destined has struck
Family, clan, youth now all maligned

Losing my life for him is next in line
In love with the dark one, I’m stung by a black serpent

The one which can pour out venom in torrents
Love, love, love, proclaim those who’ve been in love

I know the ones who’ve really been charred by love
Actual fire is no match for the fire of love

Undying, escape from it one can’t think of
What’s there to fear when people speak ill about family’s honour?
Says Abdul Karim, to be united with my friend in life or in death

is the only thing that matters
You haven’t come, O friend
You haven’t come, O friend

You have driven me insane
In this season of idyllic spring
Peace of mind you can’t bring
Stricken by incomparable extreme desire I’m, O friend

This keen pain of separation never before I’ve experienced
Wear the garland of scandal round my neck

None loves me, O friend
What good will the clan’s pride do?
When I can’t be one with you
Bereft of familial honour is Abdul Karim

Don’t you know, O friend?
A good friend in good times
Haven’t seen you in a long while
Without you I’m distraught
Without you I’m distraught

Want to step across the threshold more often than not
Listen, O friend, don’t erase me from memory

To you this is my only entreaty
Sacrificing the clan’s pride

To you I’ve offered my body, soul and mind
All my treasures I’ve delivered at your feet
Friend, don’t erase me from memory
If you ever leave me behind

If ever you make me cry
Swear that the tears you shed would equal mine
Blemishing the clan’s pride, what do I stand to lose?

Without you I won’t survive, what should I do?
In your ocean of love Karim plunges and dies
i
Ramayana is one of the Epics ever composed in India. Ramayana has many versions but in this paper I am dealing
with the authentic one composed by Valmiki. Here after different characters from this epic will do appear in this
paper like- Sita, Rama, Maruti or Hanumana, Ravana, Mandodari, Lav-Kush and so on.
ii
Jatyavarchya Ovya are those songs which are sung on the grind mill during grinding the grains by the women of
the rural Maharashtra. In English it is being translated either as “Grind mill songs” or “songs of the grind mill”.
iii
Mahabharata is the second Epic composed in India by Vyasa. In this paper I shall be incorporating the name of
this epic only when I talk about Indian epic in general.
iv
In the book Multilingual Education for Social Justice, editors Ajit K. Mohanty, Minati Panda, Robert Phillipson,
Tove Skutnabb-Kangas define Multilingual education (MLE) as meaning the use of two or more languages as media
of instruction in subjects other than the languages themselves. This paper differs from this position.
v
For a discussion of the provision of this article and its effect see
http://yashasvisingh.com/?tag=article-350a
Contributors
A.K. M. Mohiuddin Kayes, Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Bangladesh
Email: [email protected]
Amit Kumar, Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad.

Amitendu Bhattacharya, Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani Goa Campus; Member,

Board of Editors, Lokaratna.
Anand Mahanand, Professor, EFLU, Hyderabad; Executive Editor, Lokaratna.

Ashis Mohapatra, Guest Faculty, Culture Studies Department, Bhubaneswar.

Dr. Hemanga Dutta, Department of Linguistics and Contemporary English,

EFLU, Hyderabad.
[email protected]
Jayanta Kumar Das, Research Fellow, EFLU, Hyderabad
[email protected]
Jayita Sengupta, Associate Professor of English, Sikkim University.

Kandukuri Mariyadas, Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad.
Kapil Sagrolikar, Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad.
Koteswara Rao Mala, Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad.

Liza Swain, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.

Mamata Dash, Department of Anthropology. Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. .

Narke Pankaj Ashok, Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad.

Nivedita Vijay Bedadur, Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore.
Noel Anurag Prasanth, Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad.

[email protected]
Pankaja Sethi, The Quilting Tradition of Odisha.

Priya Somashekar, Department of History, Christian College, Chengannur.

Rashmi Kumari Jha, Centre for Russinan Studies, JNU, New Delhi.
Rukulu Kezo Email, Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad.

Subhasis Nanda, Research Scholar, EFLU, Hyderabad.

Email : [email protected]
Suman Bantawa, Research Scholar, Sikkim University.

T. Akshya Kumar, Institute of Archeology, Archeological Survey of India.

Umesh Patra, Assitant Professor of English, Central University of Bihar.
Zubair Torwali, Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT), Bahrain, Swat, Pakistan

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The Xth Volume of E folklore journal of Folklore Foundation is released in the

Book · May 2017

Mahendra Kumar Mishra

writing a book on Multilingual Education in Odisha ,India View project

folklore studies in India View project

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Vol. X, 2017 Lokaratna ISSN No.2347-6427

Folklore Foundation, India, Lokaratna Vol. X, 2017 ISSN No. 2347-6427

Lokaratna, Vol. X, 2017

Cover Image: Traditional Saura Painting

Folklore Foundation Office Bearers

President: Sri Sukant Mishra

The objectives of the journal are:

Editor in Chief: Dr Mahendra K Mishra

From The Desk of Editor-in-Chief

time in the context of people’s performance of knowledge in their community. The

Mahendra Kumar Mishra

From the Desk of Executive Editor

In the section of Linguistics and Language Pedagogy, Nivedita has contributed

3 Ramayana to Lok Ramayana: an Act of Contemporizing Kapil 53

4 Complementary Nature of ‘Oral’ and ‘Written’ Literature: Banekar 63

7 Gantha ra Katha Pankaja Sethi 96

8 Tribal Customary Marriage Practices Among the Major T Akshyaya 117

10 Irony in Context: A Study of Popular Russian Rashmi 144

11 Kirat Myths in Some Indian Nepali Poems Suman 151

Linguistics And Language Pedagogy

1 Culturally Sensitive Pedagogical Model for the Nivedita 162

2 Challenges to the linguistic diversity of North Pakistan Zubair 182

4 Enhancing LSRW Skills: An Experimental Study of High Kandukuri 200

5 A Discourse on the Need to Embed Emotional Rukulo Kzo 208

7 Collaborative Reflective Practices: A Self-Reflective Amit Kumar 248

8 Participatory Action Research (PAR): Noel Anurag 268

9 Linguistic expressions and Functional utilities in AKM 278

10 Eco Peace: Reconstructing Pedagogy and Teaching Deepa Dass 310

1 Future Past ( Science Fiction ) by Mr Subrat Sahoo Shibaram 322

2 Multilingual Education in India; The Case for English Jayant K 327

1 Being a Bilingual: Issues and Perspectives Subhasis 332

2 In Conversation with Dulal Da Mahendra K 341

Lokaratna Khazana : treasure trove of folklore Anand 351

Call for Papers for Lokaratna XI (2018)

We Invite papers in the areas of folklore, literature, language,

Send your entries to:

Dr Mahendra K. Mishra, Editor-in-Chief:

Memory, Orality, Literacy and Translation*

Abstract: Just as the written text or recit can be subjected to numerous

Folklore as Love Myth: “Manik-Makao” and the dialectics of the

hair-dresser and a compelled sex-worker in Shing Salon or prior to that as a maid

revolutionary poetics of the unspoken words which remain unspoken by Salnima

areas of research. However, I would attempt to discuss briefly a few. The

undercuts any linear perception and attributes to “simultaneity of perception”, or

This is a protective thangka depicting the ‘Wheel of Life’, which is to ward

does not allow us for a straight forward solution to technology’s desirability or

2. In Short stories by Women from Bangladesh, Edited by Firdous Azim and

 Choudhury, Indranath. “Myth, Orality and Folklore in World

Tracing the History and Evolution of Pala

2.4 From Parjyaya

“Pali” is defined as “Palyate iti pali”—that which saves or sustains is Pali.

occasions such as the coronation of kings, Swayamvara of princesses, name-giving