Book Review: The Adivasi Will Not Dance by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar

Quote: A stork-chick fell on to the centered part of our backyard, writhed and wriggled in agony for few seconds, and died.
Jhi hollered in anger, 'Baahu! Where are you? See, your favourite mango tree had taken another life. It needs a sacrifice every day!'

Short stories, my favourite genre of fiction, The Adivasi Will Not Dance has been on my reading list for two-years. The anthology did not disappoint at all. I have a hard time with Indian writers of short stories because of their grand attempts at open endings, a terrible mistake. Each ending here was interesting and didn't leave me irritated.

Stories in the book are both known and unknown, we know of the lovers like Gita and Dillip, bickering maa and pishi in the house or the rich spoiled kid and his good-cousin of humble parents.

Something sticks out for good in these stories: the politics of environmental-identity is subtle but stings. I enjoyed reading Eating with the Enemy, most. Sulochana's actions were so funny but bloody tragic at the same time! Basho-ji, felt weak in development but it brought out the evil practice of witch-naming, a problem prevalent in Assam as well.

Merely a Whore, November is the Month of Migration, and Getting Even, brings out another social evil the Adivasi community is facing, rampant trafficking of young girls into prostitution. The use of local dialects in Desire, divination, death, and use of crafty bollywood references in other stories got the stories the homerun.

They Eat Meat, brings out the cultural snobbery associated with the practice of eating vegetarian food in India out of the closet. It is used to oppress and discriminate people from different communities, the ending of the story was most satiating of all the stories.

The Adivasi Will Not Dance, reminded of the troupes I have met in Shantiniketan. Always smiling and dancing, never had I wondered before why in name of rural Bengali culture we have exoticized the Shanthali music and their folklore.

The blurb graces three summaries in it, no one wants to know the climaxes when they read the back cover!

Everybody should read this book for the sheer lucidity of language. And we all should learn about Indian history and it's a great many tales of oppression done to indigenous people in lieu of promises of progress.

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