Multilingual Drama Fest from Feb 3 at Adivasi Mela to Showcase Cultural Kaleidoscope

Bhubaneswar: At a time when the entire tribal community of the State is rejoicing the State Cabinet’s historic decision to have a Language Commission for the preservation and promotion of languages of the Scheduled Tribes of Odisha, the ongoing Adivasi Mela at the Adivasi Exhibition Ground in Unit-I area will have three-day-long multilingual drama fest with Santali, Desia, Ho and Mundari languages, between February 3 and 5.

While Aya Baba Gayan Semled from Ulidihi under Udala block of Mayurbhanj district will stage a Santali play and Koraputia Desia Dramatic Club from Koraput district will stage a drama in Desia language on February 3, Pandit Lokobadra Dramatic Club of Balibhoi in Karanjia from Mayurbhanj district will stage a drama in Ho language and Baba Chintamani Dramatic Club from Astajharana under Badasahi block in Mayurbhanj district will stage a drama in Mundari on February 4.

Similarly, Maa Biratpat Tayanburu Gangamandil Dramatic Club from Khadiabasa near Udala in Mayurbhanj district will stage a drama in Mundari language on February 5 at the Adivasi Mela venue.

Commissioner-cum-Secretary Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes Development Minorities and Backward Communities Welfare Department Roopa Roshan Sahoo said “Odisha is home to 62 tribal groups and 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). There are 21 tribal languages in Odisha and thus State Government wants to preserve, promote, develop, disseminate and safeguard the tribal languages and dialects and this multilingual drama fest is a step in that direction. We are also organizing it as a sideline event during the first World Odia Language Conference (WOLC) to be organized in the Temple City.

She also added that the State Government has already taken up multilingual education and efforts for documenting and preserving tribal languages, promoting the use of those languages and protecting linguistic rights among several enriching activities for the development of the rich tribal languages.

Paramananda Patel, State Language Coordinator at SC,ST Research and Training Institute said “for the research in tribal culture and languages the Academy of Tribal Languages and Culture (ATLC) is working for the different tribal groups as they have 74 dialects apart from 21 tribal languages which is a treasure in itself as we also have 22.85 percent of our State’s population belonging to tribal communities. The multi-lingual drama festival is also an occasion to celebrate the great diversity while the Adivasi Mela and the WOLC are happening at the same time in the State Capital.”

Patel, also a noted linguist and expert on tribal culture, added “to include all the 21 tribal languages under the multilingual education framework is a big challenge and the ST, SC Development Minorities and Backward Communities Welfare Department has successfully implemented it across the entire state. We have found that the tribal life is an encyclopedia of various dance and music forms and also their dramas/plays are based on the lyrical notes. As their shows are far away from the usual modern adaptations of our mainstream plays in other modern Indian languages, we can enjoy the classical and ethnic-cum-indigenous touch in their dramas.”

The three-day-long multilingual drama festival at Adivasi Mela will also celebrate the occasion of “Scheduled Tribe Drama Day” and therefore the event will create a consciousness among the general public on the tribal multilingual culture and the participants, half of them would be women will also be happy to showcase their talents at the annual much-awaited tribal fair.

The three-day-long multilingual tribal drama festival, on the other hand, will have a great collage of the tribal dramatic traditions of North Odisha and the ones from South Odisha, and to stage a unique cultural kaleidoscope before a conscious public and culture enthusiasts.