Author Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s The Adivasi Will Not Dance has been banned by Jharkhand Government, saying that it shows the Santhali tribal women in poor light. The doctor, who works in tribal areas, has also been suspended from the medical services. Here’s more about the book, which was released two years ago
Reading The Adivasi Will Not Dance is a disconcerting experience, in a good way. The book, which was banned recently in the author’s native state Jharkhand, where Shekhar works in a government hospital (he was also suspended from his job), received universally favourable to ecstatic reviews, when it was released. It was also nominated for The Hindu Literature Prize. The book is a collection of 10 stories of varied lengths.
I have read several reviews of the book. All of them tend to follow the same theme. They talk about the first story, how the family goes to Gujarat and is deprived of meat. Nobody mentions the Godhra reference. Nobody mentions the incident with the egg. Nobody mentions how the characters come to appreciate vegetarian food. Most importantly, nobody mentions the singularly brilliant scene about how the housewives of a residential block save a Muslim family from the rioters using kitchen utensils. It’s a powerful scene, written beautifully. I think Shekhar wrote the story to write this scene.
They mention the blue baby of the title, but fail to mention the singularly odd male lead of the story, the husband, and his quiet patience. They mention the last story, but fail to mention how this is a seed to a massive political novel, which if Shekhar decides to write, would make everyone uncomfortable.
The government banned the book because it portrayed Santhali women in a bad light. Specially, they referred to a story called, ‘November is the Month of Migration’, where Talamai, a poor woman waiting for transport to Bardhaman to work as migrant labourer, agrees to let a policeman have her for a plate of bread pakoda. What transpires between her and the policeman is described in graphic detail. I think it was on point. Like a filmmaker, Shekhar describes the scene, without judgment, without comment. It’s up to the readers whether they find the descriptions titillating or empathetic.
It is rather strange that Shekhar has been criticised for misrepresenting the local women, for they are the keys to his fictional world. Except for the last story, all his characters are women, and they are all strong women.
The title story is, of course, brilliant and important and political. However, the best story of the collection is ‘Desire, Divination, Death’ — a perfect gem. Somebody should give him an award for this story. Everything comes together in perfect symmetry here. Everything adds to the devastating end.
