Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar was was 15 years old when he had just got his first short story published in a national newspaper. Almost 17 years later, he is a dedicated doctor employed by the government of Jharkhand and an author of two critically acclaimed books, one of which won him the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar earlier this year.
A lot has changed in the years that have passed, but what has remained unabated is the ‘angst’ of a youngster from the neglected hinterland, that is intensely political and at the same time extremely personal. And a culmination of this decade long angst is what Dr Shekhar says his latest book, The Adivasi Will Not Dance, is all about.
While a doctor’s eyes are trained to keep aside the emotional, “A doctor in the hinterland is not just a doctor,” says Shekhar.
Spread across three locations with different settings, the only connecting spine of Shekhar’s stories is the Santhal tribe — Image shot by Seshadri Moitra used purely for representational purposes
Elaborating on his life in the hinterland, he adds, “My hometown is a place called Ghatsila, which is quite close to Jamshedpur. Growing up, there was never a dearth for facilities. But all that changed when I joined the government as a doctor and shifted to Pakur, a Santhal village 500 km away from my hometown. Initially, it was a huge culture shock, because more than my work as a doctor, I had to be a manager whose work was caught up in the minor details. It was similar to how a teacher in a village not only teaches the children, but also cooks meals for them and takes care of them. It put me in touch with the mundane and allowed access to a rich cache of stories.”
Shekhar’s first book, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey won him critical acclaim for the portrayal of the sombre and insipid tribal life. But it is his second book, an anthology of 10 short stories, which better reflects his personal emotions, he feels.
“Rupi Baskey, was more sober. Even now, I wish I could go back to that style of writing. But in my second book, there is a lot of anger towards society at large. I feel that society and government have failed to include the tribal hinterland and its people in its development. This angst is what gives The Adivasi… a political shade. However, it is not necessarily reflective of the people’s emotions. It is my personal anger and my personal political statement,” says Shekhar.
Even as he tries to explain the intricacies of life in the rural areas, Shekhar draws a comparison with his previous book. He says, “Rupi Baskey was something that I had seen happening around me. My tone in that book was that of a narrator. But this book reflects conflicts that I faced myself. A four-year-old girl is raped and is brought to the hospital and the accused is a 10-year-old boy. The doctor has to deal with a situation where neither the victim nor the accused know the meaning of the word ‘rape’.”
The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories by hansda Sowvendra Shekhar Rs 399, pp. 187 Speaking Tiger Books
Spread across three locations with different settings, the only connecting spine of his stories is the Santhal tribe. “The heroic stories of the Santhal rebellion of 1855 still ring in the ears of this tribe. And these tales are the first thing that come to mind when someone speaks about them. But my stories do not delve into their history. It speaks about the contemporary problems that these people who have been left behind in the country’s growth face.”
Written over a period of 13 years, several stories featured in his second book predate his first book The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey. “A lot has changed over the years. The world has shrunk because of the Internet. And now Pakur has better roads, thanks to industrialisation. But there hasn’t been much change in the lives of the people,” says Shekhar.
While both his works have received critical acclaim, his work and life has left him incapable of cherishing his achievements, feels Shekhar. “When the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar was awarded to me, I was in Pakur overseeing the implementation of the NRHM initiative for immunisation called Indradhanush. When I got the news, I was busy with work and did not know how to react to it! But it was my first big achievement and it has certainly pushed me to write more consistently,” adds the author who is already working on his third book, which is also about a Santhal family and its travails.
