Ongee Forest dwellers: Andaman Islands
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Forests
June 10, 2007
REVIEWS: Straight from the jungle
Reviewed by Noor Jehan Mecklai
“‘I wonder if we are any better than animals,’ said Shyam. ‘Perhaps we are a little better in some ways,’ said Ramu. ‘Grandfather always says, ‘To be able to laugh and to be merciful are the only things that make us better than the beast.’’ This simple truth is one of the many lessons to be learned from this anthology, with its four divisions each devoted to a different aspect of that beautiful and mysterious single entity called the forest.
Sometimes the lesson hits us right in the face, as with the excerpt from The Epic of Giglamesh, concerning that renowned mythical hero who overcame and beheaded Humbaba, guardian of a forest stretching 10,000 leagues (about 3,333.333 miles) in all directions. Humbaba’s name translates as ‘Hugeness’, and he personifies the nameless fear of lurking presences and unknown powers and dangers in the forest. Giglamesh had right on his side when he slew this giant, and though he neither exceeded his powers nor allowed egotism to motivate him, still he was obliged to hear the curse of Enlil in the place of the gods.
“From henceforth may the fire be in your faces, may it eat the bread that you eat, may it drink where you drink.” He was not guilty of the ecological, scientific, political or other blunders whose results affect mankind today, yet though today’s self-appointed heroes and giants may hear that same curse, do they heed it?
In stark contrast to all of this is Billy Again, from Arun Joshi’s captivating 1971 novel, The Strange Case of Billy Biswas, in which an anthropologist is suddenly so overcome by the lure of the wilderness and its tribal life that he just walks out of his camp towards it, never intending to return. This tale somehow brings to mind here and there the sense of futility and helplessness of the social worker and government official. It is furthermore the kind of recent “history” that one reads with relish, with a piquant element of mystery added, and it is all the more tantalising because here we are given only part of this story. Gee, I wish I could get hold of this book. Help me somebody, please.
Between these two heroes, the mythical and the modern, lies a treasure trove from such works as the Buddhist scriptures and the poetry of Guru Nanak, the latter including the age-old, universal themes of the search for spirituality and truth, for union with the One, in terms of the search for the mortal lover, and of finding truth by conquering self-love.
What a contrast we see between the Pure Land of Amitabha and those aberrations presented in The Great Forest Debate, taken from Ramchandra Gandhi’s Sita’s Kitchen: A Testimony of Faith and Inquiry.
The latter is presented as a movie scenario, with some highly evocative descriptions. Anger, self-seeking and vengeance suddenly cease from destroying the tranquility of the forest when confronted by the compassionate Buddha, who asks whether searching for a thief is better than searching for one’s true self. There follows an extremely lengthy debate between the Buddha and the nihilist philosophers Ajita and Makkhali, Ajita uttering a prophecy of the doom advancing upon us today, and finally provoking a very clear lecturette from the Buddha when challenging various aspects of his teaching.
Meanwhile, Smitu Kothari, president of the International Group for Grassroots Initiatives, describes in much detail the tussle between the forest dwellers of the Narmada River valleys in India and the state. Significantly, this author reports that “The dominant attitude (of officialdom) is most sharply expressed in what a politician in the state of Gujarat said about tribals who had to be displaced by the reservoir of a proposed dam, and were seeking a just and comprehensive settlement: ‘They are rats who will be flushed out of their rat-holes when the waters rise’”.
“All food is not to be found in the same season and in all places.” Thus say the Ongee forest dwellers of the Andaman Islands, which sprang to our attention when the recent tsunami (a Japanese word, pronounced ‘tsunami’, not ‘sunami’, incidentally) devastated so many areas in the vicinity of India. Their idea may sound pretty obvious, but it is often overlooked in its ramifications in the rapacious commercialism and the frenetic research and development seen in so many parts of the globe today. Ah-h vanitas vanitatum, leading mankind to the precipice of despair and beyond!
The Ongee people have in fact a very logical way of sharing their island and its produce with the spirits, based on acceptance of their culture’s age-old wisdom, respect for the ecology and understanding of the signals given by nature. Their beliefs and ceremonies surrounding death are certainly fascinating, to mention but one of the many facets of their civilisation, and are in some details not altogether dissimilar to those of Buddhism, as with the idea of repeated reincarnations contributing to wisdom, and in the matter of the hungry ghost, though their reasons for the hunger are vastly different.
You won’t neglect the tiger stories embellishing this publication. Jim Corbett, author of the instant best-seller, Man-Eaters of Kumaon, offers a couple of Jungle Whodunnits, while R.G. Burton’s How Tigers Hunt is packed with knowledge and understanding of this and other big cats’ habits, particularly concerning which of their five senses they use most in hunting.
To cap it all, he shares with us a newspaper article describing 32 lions standing indifferently, watching the proceedings of a group of photographers! Then Ruskin Bond’s Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright is written in vividly descriptive language, with the respect and affection that a well-known and relatively harmless tiger deserves. (The operative word, mind you, is ‘relatively’.) This piece is at the same time a kind of “Who’s Who in the Jungle”, and gives a charming description of the food chain in action, while ending with the promise of love and marriage for this particular invincible king of the jungle.
This remarkable anthology will teach, delight and mystify those fortunate enough to read it. Says Savyasaachi, its editor, “The threshold where man, animal and plant coexist is sacred space. There is an imperative need to restore a sense of proportion and recover faith in the interdependence of creatures belonging to the cycle of life. And faith is essential if we are to survive.”
Between the Earth and the Sky: The Penguin Book of Forest Writings
Edited by Savyasaachi Penguin Books, India
www.penguinbooksindia.com
258pp. Indian Rs295
