On August 8 this year, the eve of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Ruby Hembrom decided to institute Adivasi Pickle, a “prize for indigenous ideology, thought and knowledge”. In the announcement, she called on Adivasis to share unpublished stories of their lives, struggles and triumphs. From the submissions, a jury will select “the most relevant entry”. This will be published in August, 2014, by Adivaani, a publishing house “by and for” Adivasis, started last year by Ruby.
Pickle is the perfect accompaniment to spice up any spread and the one key element common to every Indian kitchen and palate.
How about some Adivasi pickle? A pickle made of indigenous ways and thinking—the perfect accompaniment to our present—with ingredients that help us understand how our ancestral ways have preserved and sustained the earth, until newer ways dismissed them as primitive and we became a resource to be extracted, exploited and ignored. Ingredients that help refurbish traditions and knowledge webs, and ensure our future.
adivaani is therefore calling Adivasis to share more about ourselves. We’ve instituted a small prize of a book, out of love, on the International Day for the World’s Indigenous Peoples, August 9th, 2013. We’re short on what we can give, but we’re long on good wishes, hope and solidarity: you write, we publish. That’s the deal!
We believe the time for us to do things our own way is now. We want this event to be a celebration of a communion of by and for Adivasis—right from our sisters and brothers sharing and chronicling their personal narratives, to the publisher, not forgetting the jury formed of Adivasi intellectuals, scholars and artisans.
Join us, spread the word and…
Ruby Hembrom left her well-paid job at a multi-national company, and now spends most of her time working on projects to take tribal folklore to the masses. She has set up her own publication firm, Adivaani, to promote the history of Adivasi struggles.
Kakoli Poddar, journalist with Magna Publishing, chose to feature adivaani in this month’s issue of Society:
Ruby says they want to create a database of adivasi writing of, for and by the adivasis. “We wish to document the oral forms of their storytelling and folklore. We also aim to narrate our stories of struggles, exploitation and displacement, in our words.”
Go get a copy. Find us on page 98.
Earthcare Books
10 Middleton Street
Kolkata-700071
West Bengal
Phone: 33 22296551 / 22276190
Email: earthcarebooks@gmail.com
Website : www.earthcarebooks.com
Happy shopping! Happy reading!
As we all know, 30th June is celebrated as Hul Diwas at Bhognadih to commemorate the Santal Rebellion of 1855-57. This year adivaani presents a Santal Hul calendar, beginning the 30th June, 2013 to the 30th June, 2014 as a memento to remember the occasion and to uphold the spirit of freedom and dignity.
A sneak peek at the Hul Calendar 2013-14
adivaani is going to Bhognadih, all our titles will be available there.
Do visit our stall!
It’s raining goodwill for adivaani. This time it comes from CDC Printers, Kolkata.
After reading the feature on us in The Telegraph, Kolkata, CDC Printers got in touch with us saying they’d like to sponsor some of our work. We could hardly believe our ears.
Two meetings down the line we had it all figured out. They were impressed with our work and wanted to contribute to help us grow. They’re printing few of our productions for free and to encourage us to continue printing books without being burdened by budget constraints or compromising on quality, they’ve offered us a long-term arrangement that is the perfect solution for us.
Earth rests on a Tortoise being printed
Our books now seem secure.
We’re now adding three products to the adivaani list:
1. Earth rests on a Tortoise, part two of the Santal Creation Stories. Once again, text by Ruby Hembrom and illustrations by Boski Jain.
2. The success of We come from the Geese; part one of the Santal Creation Stories in English prompted us to have it translated in Hindi. So grab your copy.
3. A Santal Hul calendar, beginning the 30th June, 2013 to the 30th June, 2014 as a memento to remember the Santal Rebellion (1855-57) and to uphold the spirit of freedom and dignity.
The Santal Hul Calendar
All we can say is a heartfelt thank you to Mr. Chittranjan Choudhury and the entire team at CDC Printers.
KOLKATA: When Ruby Hembrom quit her cushy job in the IT sector a couple of years ago, she didn’t think twice, thanks to the greater calling to unite with her roots. The result: the soft-spoken yet aggressive Santhali woman is all set to publish her second book that is part of a series on untold lore of the Santhals.
The second Santal Creation Story, Earth rests on a tortoise, will be available soon at a bookstore near you …
We’re southbound now! Get our books and bully Dileep Raj into serving you some piping hot filter coffee…
adivaani 