Khel, a comic throw on tribal disposition, governance

The dialogues are often impromptu but never out of sync with the theme

Stating their standpoint: A scene from khel during the Adivasi Dandari-Ghusadi dance at Pittabongaram in Adilabad district.

If you wish to know the issues currently preoccupying the minds of Adivasi Raj Gonds and Kolams in Adilabad and the neighbouring districts, watch the comic interludes in the form of skits called khel performed by them during their Dandari-Ghusadi dances. Khel throws light on burning issues through hilarious skits, often the Adivasis making themselves the butt of jokes.

Locals don various roles exhibiting creativity in the use of props, usually discarded objects of daily use like umbrellas. The dialogues are often impromptu, but never out of sync with the theme and never fail to evoke laughter.

If it was the incompatibility in a marriage between an illiterate man and an educated woman which was brought out during the comic interlude at Modi in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district, the government programme of purification of land records came under scrutiny at Pittabongaram in Adilabad district last week. While the first one was related to the cultural aspect of the tribals, the second one was a serious issue concerning land, which has tormented them since decades.

Bommi, bommi.....vavra... yelled one of the members of the team of mandal revenue officials as he desperately tried to make an illiterate Adivasi couple understand the central idea of the land records purification. Bommi and vavra are Gondi words for agriculture field and the official was asking for the extent of land the couple owned. The illiterate couple, however, did not understand the inherent meaning of the exercise. Their ignorance subtly conveyed that they did not know the extent of land they owned as all of it was under encroachment by non-tribals. “I hope the government identifies the land of our people and restores them their possession,” said Mesram Raju, a B.Ed student at the B.Ed college, Utnoor, who wrote the skit. “Our people are innocent and this has cost them dearly,” he said, driving home the point that the government needs to right the wrongs. While Raju played a key role in the skit, others who participated were Vette Subhash, Madavi Bapu Rao, Madavi Heera and Godam Nago Rao. “We readied the script in a matter of one day and went on improvising during the play itself,” Raju grinned as he talked about the work behind the ‘serious’ comedy.