INTRODUCTION:

Santals are being regarded as the indigenous people, who dwell in the Teria of Nepal and India. They dominate over the Indian states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odhisa. The Santals belong to Pre-Aryan period, who fought against the permanent settlement of Lord Corwallis in 1885. Baba Tilika Majhi was the first Santal leader who raised weapons against the British in 1729. During the late 1850s, the Santal hero Sidhu Kanu had accumulated ten thousand Santals, to run parallel government against British government. The script of the Santals is Olchiki, which was developed by Dr. Raghunath Murmu in the year 1925. According to the census of 2017, the population of the Santals is 49,000.

The main language for communication of the Santals is Santhali. Apart from Santali, they do speak Bengali, Odhia and Hindi.

METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION:

The Santal Community of Bishnupur, one of the important place in the Bankura District of West Bengal, is one of the predominant tribal group of the place which has been a dominant association since ages. The Village named ‘Dhabon’, situated in the Bishnupur sub-division of Bankura district of West Bengal is selected for this study. The village has a population of 403, with 206 females and 217 males. It has sixty houses with six to eight members in each house. For many families they are the fifth generation of Santals. The educational status has increased in the recent times and reached to the extent of 68%. The culture and communication pattern of the Santal community attributes and forms an essential part of their lifestyle thus becoming a concrete part of the research.

The research attempting to depict and accumulate the perspective of the culture and communication pattern of the Santal community of Bishnupur has deeply resulted from the various interview sessions with the local individuals who shared the views and picturesque of their lifestyle. One member from each household was interviewed for this research. The interview session being followed was Focused Interview and In depth Interview in a face-to-face manner, which allowed the researchers to collect in-depth information. Other than individual interviews the researchers also conducted group interviews.

The Focused Interview was designed to determine the responses of people exposed to a situation previously analyzed by the investigator. The chief function of Focused Interview was to discover and accumulate the significant aspects of the total responses of deviant subgroups in the population. The researchers had put forth various questions and queries, through which they gained enough knowledge about the communication perspectives of the day-to-day affairs of the Santal community. In the second kind of interview methodology, adopted for the same was In-Depth Interview. In the same, the researchers collected specific information about various individuals. A preliminary idea is easily obtained from the kind of interview.

The process of interviews adopted for the study made the researchers and interviewees to create a conversational intimacy, in which the participants feel comfortable telling a story. The major advantage of the unstructured interview helped the researchers to dig out the process of communication.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Kherwal Bansha Dharam Puthi by Ramdas Tudu Reska (1894) published by Parimal Book Agency discusses the development of Santal culture, language and traditional beliefs over the contemporary time and depicts the core religious and communication pattern of the community. It has even dwelt on the governmental innovations in uplifting the lifestyles of the people since the day of their foundation of community.

Tribal Heritage: A study of the Santals by W. J. Culshaw (2002) is a pioneer anthology study of the Santal community, one of the largest tribal people of India who live in the north-east area of the mouth of the Ganges. The article explores every aspect of their culture, from their perception of themselves, to the intricacies of their art, both verbal and visual, and the relationship with other ethnic groups.

Folklore of the Santhal languages translated by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909) is a paper which is an intriguing collection from the Santal Parnagas, which intends to give an unadulterated view of a culture through its folklore. It contains a variety of stories about various aspects of life, including family, marriage and work.

The Santal: A tribe in Search of a Great Tradition by Martin Orans (1965) is a book which speaks about the examining processes by which the Santal, a Mundari-speaking tribe of Bihar, India are creating a ‘great tradition for themselves’. The processes and the results are by no means easy to define, but the author careful presentation and analysis sheds light in the theory of sociocultural change applicable to encysted societies generally.

Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices Among the Santals by J. Troisi (2000) is a book that not just deals with the detailed survey of local, social, religious and ritual patterns of indigenous tribal values but also the influence of Hinduism and Christianity. The books gives information on the day-to-day perceptions of the Santali culture.

Social Change in Contemporary Tribal India: Observations from Changing Status of Ethnicity and Language Identity among Santals by Subhendu Kumar Acharya and Gautam Kumar Kshatriya (2016) in is a research article published in ResearchGate journal, which gives detailed information about the gradual introduction of representative government for the 1930s and the complete information about institutional democracy after India’s independence, a further shift to non-assimilative Santal identity construction took place, evolving religion, drama, dance and script.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS:

The findings have been categorized under the following subheads

Group Communication Patten:

The Santal Community of the Bishnupur region is being governed still by the Panchayat system. The Panchayat is being headed by the ‘Morol’, who is responsible for taking care of the community and maintaining the lives of each and every individual of the village. He is answerable to the deputy officer who heads the ‘Morols’ of all villages at the court level. Every Sunday evening, the Santals of this particular village gather at a place and have a discussion on important issues and even solve the problems of the people. This gathering is headed by the ‘Morols’. The decisions taken here are communicated to the rest of the villagers through word of mouth.

Communication through Festivals:

The communication pattern of the Santal community of Bishnupur is authentically depicted to the various kinds of festivals and rituals related to the same. One of the major festival celebrated by the community is ‘Salui Puja’, which is celebrated in the months of Chaitra. It is during the time of sowing of the seeds that the festival is celebrated. As a custom, white or red goat is offered to Lord Shiva. New horses and elephants are brought. Also known as ‘Maramburo Puja’ in the ancient times, it follows the tradition of offering Huiva (fresh home-made alcohol) to the God in a new vessel. A challenge to the festival arises when any member of the village suffers from small pox, commonly known as ‘Maer Khela’, then the festival is cancelled and freshly celebrated in the months of Jaistha. Another important festival is Aero Shiv. It is celebrated in the months of Jaistha after Salui Puja. It is the festival of worshipping the idol of Lord Shiva. In the festival, people do pray for paddy seeds and its best productivity in the months of Ashar. Another talent-proving and an important part of Durga Puja celebrations of Santal Community aspires to the Kathi Naach. It occurs in one days of the Durga Puja Celebrations. In the event, males do dress in female attire and roam around the villages and keep the bow and the sword inside the long gourds (also known as Garbas) and act like warriors for the entire day. The idea behind the even lies in the concept of paying homage to the earlier warriors who protected their entire community at the time of crisis. On the day of Kathi Naach, a musical instrument made of wood named ‘Sorpa’ is played. The females do were red blouse and a red/yellow sari along with same colour flower in their head, leg, neck and a vessel on the head. The music that the people play has evolved out of the Santal Culture. The women of the village make their own lyrics for the religious songs. Here they pray for the betterment of the people.

Sorhai Shiv is another important event of the Kali Puja. Being celebrated in the month of Karthik, the image of Sorhai Shiv is being worshipped for the same day. The image is curved out of the trunk of the same tree which is being prayed for generations. For the next three days of Puja, food, dance, and music is continued. The females move around the other surrounding villages and perform group dance and music. Makar Sankranti is yet another important attraction for the Santal Community. Before the evening of the occasion, Chauri-Bauri (dish made of Chicken/Mutton) is served to God with alcohol. On the day of the event, people go for early morning bath, known as ‘Makar Dub’ in the ponds and lakes. The new pot is brought for preparing rice. On the same day, the ‘Bonja-Bidhha’ parab takes place. For the event, a bow and arrow is hit to the ‘Chauri-Bauri’ (the wooden plate), which is fixed to the banana tree. One who hits the food item on the tree is brought to the Sarpanch’s house and awarded a price in public gathering.

Communication in Marriages:

The marriage proceedings of the Santal community starts with the pivotal role played by the Ghotok (Middle Man) who initiates the marriage from the beginning to the end. He comes to the bride’s house and takes him to the bridegroom’s house. When the day of viewing and meeting by both the families is done no members of the village are allowed to take water from the well on that particular day. The members of the bride are made to sit in the ‘Talai’ silk piece of cloth on the cement or muddy floors. The bridegroom’s sister-in-law brings water for the guests to drink. The male members of both the families exchange ‘Bidis’ made of Sal leaves as a token of love and respect. On the day when the bride comes to see the bridegroom, a vessel filled with water is kept in the front of her house. If the water level decreases then the marriage is cancelled, else accepted. On liking the bridegroom by the bride’s family, a pair of Dhuti-Kurta and a garland is given to the groom’s family. Then the date is fixed where the bridegroom’s family goes to the bride’s family. The hermit of the village of both the bride and the bridegroom do reside and take the final decision on the marriage. The hermit is given Rs.10/- as a token of respect by both the villages. Turmeric is brought from the bride to gift the bridegroom’s family. The rest process of the marriage resembles the traditional Bengali norms of marriage.

CONCLUSION:

This study has been a detailed research on the life-style, traditional beliefs, communication pattern and various perspectives of the lifestyle of the Santal community of Bishnupur. The research has successfully attempted to analyze the in-depth information collected through the interview sessions of the individuals of the community in the selected village and has collectively paved the way for the research to proceed and reach the end of the same.

Currently the Santals have been deeply influenced by modern agriculture practices in terms of use of fertilizers, pesticide, modern equipment and others necessary instruments in the field of agriculture practices. At the place of destination, these migrants learn about various modern methods of agriculture. With the passage of time, various exposures to modern economic practices teach them to exploit the nature and consume its products. Santals are well-known for their excellent health-care services. In this area of study people have stated that the Christians services have been pioneer in the aid for Santals, mostly in the field of helath-care services. This attempt has been focused with an aim to convert the Santal Children to Christianity. The villagers, mainly the older generations have accused the missionary of creating divisions in the community by fostering a new Christian culture within their Santal culture.

The study can further lead to other researches such as individual festivals and the cultural communication in these festivals. Other important idea to be studied is the influence of modern technology and communication among the Santals.

REFERENCES:

1. Acharya, Subhendu Kumar and Kshatriya, Gautam Kumar. (2016). Social Change in Contemporary Tribal India: Observations from Changing Status of Ethnicity and Language Identity among Santals. Researchgate. Retrieved on Feb 2017 <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308202276_Social_Change_in_Contemporary_Tribal_India_Observations_from_Changing_Status_of_Ethnicity_and_Language_Identity_among_Santals>

2. Anjan Hansda (2014) Santal- History and Cultural Relations, retrieved on January 2017 <planningcommission.nic.in/reports/sereport/ser/ser_folk2211.pdf>

3. Bompas, Cecil Henry; Bodding, P. O. (Paul Olaf). (1909). David Nutt. London

4. Culshaw, W. J. (2002).Tribal Heritage: A study of the Santals. James Clarke Company

5. Dey, Arup (2016) Spread of Education and Modern Technology Changed Santal Livelihood – A Case Study at Paschim Midnipur District (West Bengal). International Journal of Science and Research. IJSR

6. Gillham, Bill. (2000). Research Interview. Continuum. London

7. McCracken, Grant. (1988). The Long Interview. University of Guelph. Sage Publication. Ontario. Canada

8. Orans, Martin. (1965). The Santal: A tribe in Search of a Great Tradition. Wayne State University Press, the University of Michigan

9. Parimal Hembrom(2104) Santhal Sahityar Itihas. Nirmala House Agency, Kolkata

10. Seidman, Irving (2013). Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. 4^th Edition. Teachers College Press. Columbia University

11. Troisi, J. (2000) Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices Among the Santals. Manohar Publishers and Distributors

12. Tudu, Ramdas (1894)Kherwal Bansha Dharam Puthi.

Received on 15.07.2018 Modified on 21.08.2018

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(4): 975-978.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00163.8