Caste in GOND

How,indeed,could there be a graphic book without panels? In Bhimayana,an account of the life and experiences of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar,the Vyams have ended up achieving the impossible. The rectangular,boxy panels have gone. Instead,traditional digna patterns of

Gond art breathe freely on the open spaces of the pages.

“I knew that they looked at things in a different manner,” says Anand. Three years ago,he had approached the Vyams to design the book on Ambedkar and his fight against the caste system. Durgabai has known Anand since the time they worked together for a children’s book,Turning the Pot,Tilling the Land: Dignity of Labour in Our Times (2007). She suggested that Subhash be roped in to illustrate the Ambedkar book.

Bhimayana recounts different episodes from Columbia University graduate Ambedkar’s life. He is shown as a young student who is forced to go thirsty because of segregation in school; he is a traveller who is denied a bullock-cart ride in a strange city; and he is a student who is denied shelter because he is “untouchable”. Contemporary incidents of discrimination have been woven into this historic biography. “The issue is still relevant,” says Anand,who has co-written the text with Canada-based Srividya Natarajan (author of No Onions Nor Garlic).

The real heroes of this publication are the Vyams,whose illustrations comment and don’t merely describe. Ambedkar gets a pointillist makeover in a Gond setting. When thirsty,he is depicted as a fish without water. Ambedkar’s loneliness in Baroda is compared to an ox in an oil-press,walking in circles. In the illustration of his famous Mahad speech,when Ambedkar led Dalits to draw water from a public lake in 1927,the microphones become sprinklers — quenching the thirst of thousands.

This is an animistic world where dancing peacocks represent joy,and trains run on coiled snails. Speech bubbles are shaped like sparrows when the words are

spoken by ‘good’ people,and are scorpion-like when the speakers spew bitterness. “These are natural associations. Man and animals share similar traits,” says 41-year-old Subhash.

In an earlier painting they had done depicting the 9/11 attack,they drew mud huts and birds instead of skyscrapers and an aeroplane. “We heard about the incident on the radio,” says Durgabai.

Legendary Pardhan-Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam mentored Subhash and Durgabai,37,when they shifted to Bhopal more than a decade ago. Subhash,a native of Sanpuri village,once used to work with clay and design sculptures in wood. As a six-year-old,Durgabai learned digna from her grandmother. Years later,Shyam encouraged her to pick up the brush and paint. “I used to draw gods and goddesses,” says Durgabai,of her formative years of painting.

Gradually,under Shyam’s guidance,she started to paint more intricate patterns. Durgabai is today a familiar name in the publishing industry,with international exhibitions to her credit,and has been illustrating books for almost 10 years. In 2006-07,she was awarded the IGNCA scholarship,and in 2008,she and two other Gond artists Ram Singh Urveti and Bhajju Shyam were presented the Bologna Ragazzi Award in Italy for their illustrations for The Night Life of Trees. Remarkably,this mother of three is illiterate — Subhash can read only partially. Family members read out the storyline to her when she works. “It’s all because of the support of my family,”

she says.

The couple live in Bhopal’s Kotra Sultanabad,in a two-storey,six-bedroom home which stands on a 450 square feet plot bought under a government scheme for low-income groups. “We always have a full house,” says Subhash,adding,“At any time,there are more than 10 guests at home.”

While the couple were vaguely familiar with Ambedkar before working on the publication,the assignment added to their knowledge. The Vyams started taking note of similar incidents in the news and also drew from their own recollections. “People used to discriminate against others in our village too,” says Subhash,who was once barred from entering Anand’s office. “The landlady did not approve of how we looked,” says Durgabai.

The couple also ran into trouble during the making of the book. They struggled initially with the unconventional panels,and then Subhash fell sick with dengue. But today,with the book on the shelves,the duo is proud. “It has a moral stand. Even today people are suffering because of the age-old discriminatory system,” says Durgabai. The two are now working on another book,for Jackfruit Research and Design,“It is about marriages in villages,” says Durgabai,who is now famous in her own neighbourhood.

Back in his office in Delhi,Anand is midway through his next project. The protagonist of his next book is Mahatma

Jyotirao Phule.

(With inputs from Milind Ghatwa)