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…
To create Adivaani, a publishing house launched by a group of three amateurs to lend a voice to the nation’s indigenous population, months of human planning and perseverance were required.
Although we aren’t really the first or only adivasi publishing house in the country, we are thrilled to receive this kind attention from the media. Thank you, Saju Madhavankutty, from The Times of India – Chennai, for this feature:
Why don’t we have an Adivasi voice?”, “Why don’t we have a ‘for and by’ Adivasi publishing house?”, “Where is the authentic Adivasi narrative?”
Culture cannot be lost. Toys are lost. Coins are lost. Culture is killed. Culture is disappeared. Culture is surrendered. The ones killing culture have names and addresses. Sometimes the assassins hide behind concepts like modernity. Sometimes the murderers speak in code, like development. But there is always an architect and a pilot – a person with a name and address – driving a culture to the brink.
This is a simple fact that is not learned from books but visible in every corner of human existence.
However, this, thankfully, is not a story of assassins.
Just as culture is killed, culture is protected, guarded, and nurtured. Like the assassins, the guardians have names and addresses. In this case, they have an Indiegogo campaign.
Over the past two months, I have read dispatches from adivaani, a fledgling press in Kolkata by indigenous peoples for indigenous peoples. For this Chicano, the story is familiar: the people’s history written by the “other,” the suspicious outsider with the resources to craft narratives that highlight the scandalous and ignore the contributions. Narratives that justify the murder of a culture – murder of the people.
Over time, the people master the tools of the master.
After the manuscript is carefully written, edited, and prepared, the people are confronted with publishers whom politely reject a work based on a notion of “the market” that does not consider the people. Despite a mastery of poetry for millennia, press workers doubt the peoples’ ability to read.
After the ink dries and the pages bound, despite centuries of exclusion, the book sells. Maybe not in numbers great enough to warrant inclusion in the Times list of product exchange. Nonetheless, the people buy. The people read. We see and hear ourselves in a place where there were once caricatures and cartoons.
You know this story. Who are your people?
Raza, are you listening?
This is the story of all peoples fighting to carve out a niche for themselves; fighting for a niche in a world that systematically marginalized the people, offering little beyond menial tasks, hard labor, and poverty. It is not, as they would say, a fight for a place in a world changing around us. That is a narrative written by the “other” and forced onto the people.
There are other ways. There are choices. The “other” offers its pearls at the cost of cultural suicide. Whispered in the peoples’ ear, it is the cost for the dream.
Sound familiar?
There remain other ways.
This is the story of the people, the ones here before the arrival of the “other,” the ones forced from their home and taught it was never theirs.
Do you recognize this story?
This is the story of the child who cannot speak her mother’s native tongue; the boy denied his birthright of history.
Yet this not the only narrative; there always remain other ways.
A father writes his daughter, explaining his dream of a time machine that will forever protect and preserve the culture handed down to him from the people: “Our passion alone cannot drive this time machine, we need fuel, and we need the support of everyone. I am worried and often wonder how we will make it. Then I look at you and when you play and make me laugh, I feel alive again. You inspire me. It’s for you and adivasi children like you that the adivaani time machine wants to preserve this culture legacy.”
We need the support of everyone.
You inspire me.
— George B. Sánchez-Tello
IMPORTANT NOTE: There are only 6 more days to contribute with our Indiegogo campaign… come on, dig in your pockets and purses.
So, finally someone in Delhi. As of today, you can buy adivaani’s books here:
People Tree
Dear all,
I had a great grandmother from Sicily and a grandmother from the Basque country. Someone told me I have Chinanteco blood (a very old indigenous people) from my dad’s side of the family … but it doesn’t count, I was raised by my mom’s loving family. So it must be the Basque genes; and that’s why I’ve always been hooked onto travels and indigenous peoples (Basques ARE one.)
The book part is easier: as a child, I found more fun in their company. I was taken away by them to the North Pole, the Caribbean … the Malaysian sea. Adventures were more interesting than school, classmates. They were more interesting than getting to understand why my dad left, why were we poor … until I found books providing the help to understand and answer my own life, the lives of my classmates (as poor as I was, sad like me sometimes).
Anyway, I’m writing this letter not just to explain to you why I’m here, with Ruby and Joy. Or who I am. This letter aims to explain why we do books, and dream wide awake of re tooling history, culture and even the colonial heritage … but, again, that’s a long way from having a Basque grandma in Mexico–who was a racist and hated indigenous people–to India, the adivasis (literally, the first settlers) and adivaani’s time machine:
A time machine for Adivasis
Guilt? Rage? Love? Maybe a little of all those things, but I’ll tell you more: I was 13 when I realized almost none of my classmates would make it to college … but they were not stupid. So I could not understand it: they were poor as I was, and some even better students. They were just talented sensible kids with not too many choices in life.
Helped mostly by common sense (and my own set of genes) I understood there were some things in life that had to be set right. Ok, later on I learned those things should be set right by them, I mean, the people … no need for superheroes, just hard working guys.
In Bolivia, ‘adopted’ by the Aymara, I also learned they had millenial traditions worth to be preserved, guarded, shared respectfully. Like their ancient techniques to dehydrate food or their amazing way to reach consensus in their own way of politics. Mixe, Yukpa, Kharia and Santal peoples have their own as well. All of them have been colonized and harassed for centuries. Their chances to survive in these times rely on their cultures, re tooled and re furnished (so what?)
Back to adivaani, we don’t have the money to print books. The adivasis need support as anybody else and more: indigenous peoples produced most of the practical knowledge to live than we have as a humankind.
Putting some money here is easy. Just don’t buy that latte or that salmon bagel today. I mean, none of our books price is over 4 US dollars. And they are good. So, please, if you have to use your credit card, can I offer you an alternative to Barista or Num Pang? Can you not purchase the last Murakami and help adivaani print some creation stories?
A time machine for Adivasis
I feel sad we only raised 120 dollars in two months (thanks to some great friends.) And I’m almost sure we will not raise 5,000 in less than 20 days … but please put some chips here, you will be placing it on the right bet … we will thank you with all our genes in the near future. Promise!
In hope,
Luis A. Gómez
To my loving daughter Khushi,
You are only 4.5 years young and I am writing to you; for you to understand what your Papa does, about why there are cartons of books around the house and why my phone conversations and other interactions with people revolve around adivaani. Papa is building a ‘time machine’; the adivaani time machine for Adivasis; for us and for our people to travel to the past and carry the adivasi legacy we left behind to the present and the future. Beta let me explain: I started this new place of ‘work’ called adivaani in July 2012 partnering with Ruby and Luis (Remember Luis brought you a handmade arawak toy from Mexico and you have added it to your friend’s circle since then).
We are making books; and through them we want to reclaim our identity in our own terms. Super excited we produced our first ever book in Santali in the month of October 2012. With no proper sales guidelines and strategy we set out. We missed out few occasions where we could have sold our books but such are the challenges of a new venture.
By this time I had already shifted to Pakur, our home: you will not realize this as you see me far too often than when I was in Ranchi. Your mom used to scare me saying that one day you’d fail to recognize me because of my being away from home most of the times. Thank you for proving her wrong.
The start of 2013 was exciting for adivaani as we were busy producing two books together. One is Gladson’s (Remember we went for his wedding and you had a good time playing around). The other you love to look at and make me tell you the story of the geese again and again. Come February the 7th 2013 and we had a terrific launch of the two books at the New Delhi World Book Fair.
Way back in September 2009, when you were only 11 months young, I was in Edinburgh, Scotland on an official visit. Rev. Andrew Anderson, the then presiding Priest of the Greenside Church had invited me to speak on a Sunday morning service about the situation of our people in India. In his introductory remarks, he introduced me as the first person he has known in his lifetime that has his daughter named after him. Khushi (Joy in Hindi); your mom loves me for this, what about you?
‘If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door’…I’ve just re-tweeted this a few days ago copied from an online friend, who by the way also happens to like our posts on adivaani’s website. That’s why the time machine is important.Beta, I am building a time machine and I feel I’m running out of time and resources. Our passion alone cannot drive this time machine, we need fuel, and we need the support of everyone. I am worried and often wonder how we will make it. Then I look at you and when you play and make me laugh, I feel alive again. You inspire me. It’s for you and adivasi children like you that the adivaani time machine wants to preserve this cultural legacy. I do believe and hope that this ‘work’ of ours will fulfill the potential it has.
Your grandpa has donated a part of our house in Pakur to be used as the adivaani bookstore. I am so overwhelmed with his gesture and support. He extended his support without us even asking, and that humbles me. But we need to reach out to everyone and tell everyone who we are what we want to do and how we need their backing.
So we started an online fundraising campaign called ‘A time machine for Adivasis: documenting and tooling our history’on indiegogo in March 2013 to have them support our venture:
A time machine for Adivasis
We’ve been blessed with the response we got; a few people donated money, some want to write about us and some want to keep our books in their library. That’s wonderful! We sincerely hope our campaign succeeds.
March 2013 also had adivaani written about for the first time in Tehelka.
I feel extremely honored to be in the company of such wonderful people who believe in adivaani and us. adivaani and the promise of what it can do is the inheritance I proudly leave for you and adivasi children everywhere.
This is the first ever letter written to you; the first letter of your life. From now on, you have a confirmed seat in our ‘time machine’, just beside me.
With everlasting love and best wishes,
Papa
by Ajachi Chakrabarty
Time machine. That’s how Hembrom looks at her nascent attempt at creating a publishing house for India’s indigenous population: a time machine that documents Adivasi history and culture, fundamentally an oral tradition, before they are forgotten in the wake of modernity.
Read the rest in this week’s Tehelka and in their website as well…
Dear All,
So the adivaani ideator is in trouble. The idea behind making books for and by Adivasis was to challenge every misconstrued notion about us. Also, and more importantly, adivaani is a response to the indigenous peoples of India’s identity being threatened, ignored, misrepresented and supressed. The problem is we can’t do it alone.
We’re 3 books old now and we’ve got a lot of attention, expectations and responsibility. Along with the accolades, came requests and suggestions for our books. ‘We love your books.’ ‘We haven’t seen this quality in Santali publishing before.’ ‘Your books are priced well.’ ‘Your books are telling our story.’ ‘Can you do our creation stories too?’ ‘Can we have the Santal Creation story in Hindi?’
I’m elated with the response and thrilled with the promise of what we can do. With the first sale and surge in book sales and the first bookstores willing to source our books in Ranchi and Kolkata, the excitement just grew.
The second book of the Santal Creation Stories for children is ready for print and the third is in the pipeline, the Santali folklore book is also ready, and Gladson is finishing his second book in English. That is certainly to be celebrated. However they are all on hold now–waiting to be printed and I can’t actually take them to the press. What a pity!
And with that come sleepless nights, worries and utter helplessness. It’s not easy to build a time machine, which does more than time travel. It actually documents and tools adivasi history. Not only will we go back in time to rescue what we forgot to bring into the present, we’ll ensure everything preserved move with every generation of adivasis into the future.
So the idea churner is churning out idea after idea after idea–quite exhilarating but I’m beginning to think, have I bitten off more than I can chew? I’m just a regular working-class Adivasi girl, trying to make ends meet, with a treasure of an idea.
Sometimes I think of giving up. But the enormity of what adivaani and its time machine could do keeps the passion alive. I not only realize what we can and must do, but that it has to be done now. We are in a hurry. We refuse to be a forgotten peoples.
I really want our books to go from being on hold to being available for your reading pleasure and our time machine to take off. So I really am in trouble and want you to bail us out.
Will you?
Please donate at:
A time machine for Adivasis
Indiegogo (Click)
It’s a simple 3 step process. You can use your debit, credit or paypal account to donate from wherever you are. It doesn’t matter how much you contribute, we will be grateful for it.
Please spread the word of our online fundraising campaign by forwarding this message, liking our campaign on Facebook and Tweeting about it.
We need to get 5,000 USD in 60 days … we only have 30 days before the campaign closes and we’re only at 25 USD. That’s disheartening! The countdown has begun.
In hope,
Ruby Hembrom
Order our books online at:
http://www.earthcarebooks.com/
Or walk into these very special bookstores in Kolkata, Ranchi, Delhi and Odisha and find us there.
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Kolkata: West Bengal
Earthcare Books
10 Middleton Street
Kolkata-700071
West Bengal
Phone: 33 22296551 / 22276190
Email: earthcarebooks@gmail.com
Website : www.earthcarebooks.com
………….
Ranchi: Jharkhand
Adivasi Concerns Trust
B.I.R.S.A. Mines Monitoring Centre
Abilasha Apartments, 11 A Purulea Road
················
New Delhi
People Tree
8, Regal Building
Parliament Street New Delhi-01.
Phone:011 23744877
……………
Odisha
Walking BookFairs
Khandagiri, Housing Board Colony, Phase I, HIG -34.
AMRI Hospital Road.
Bhubaneswar
Odisha 751030
We’re still working on some more deals for you to have easy access to our books… so stay around, we’ll announce more places soon.
This gallery contains 9 photos.
Writer Amitav Ghosh had posted a tweet on Gladson Dungdung’s new book.
In 1980, one-year-old Gladson Dungdung and his family were displaced from their agricultural land for the construction of Kelaghat dam in Jharkhand and pushed into the forests of Simdega, where Dungdung’s father was arrested on allegations of felling trees. Ten years later, Dungdung’s parents, during another land struggle, were murdered.
In his book, ‘Whose country is it anyway?’ Dungdung writes, “The Kelaghat dam was constructed with the aim of irrigating land in Simdega block. Three villages, Bernibera, Bara Barpani, and Budhratoli, were submerged and it affected 3,500 people. Currently, the water reaches only one village — Meromdega.”
The book published by Adivaani and launched on Thursday at the Delhi World Book Fair by Himanshu Kumar, Swami Agnivesh and Felix Padel, is Gladson Dungdung’s attempt to tell the story of his people and their struggle.
Ministers who need to raise issues of tribals in Parliament “become slaves” of senior ministers and forget about the “rights of Adivasis”, Swami Agnivesh on Thursday claimed.
“All those who are elected as ministers to represent tribals in the Parliament to fight for their rights and atrocities committed upon them, themselves become slaves of big ministers and forget about the rights of Adivasis,” he said after releasing a book titled ‘Whose Country is it Anyway?’ written by Gladson Dungdung, a human rights activist of Jharkhand, at the World Book Fair here.
The book’s documentation of the many forms of violence and prejudice ranged against Adivasis fills a vital gap in literature. The detail is often sickening and will make any sane person extremely angry. It is shown how Adivasis are being displaced by dams, by industrial/mining projects, by continuing tricks of non-Adivasis
Debate on adivasis, politics and Gladson’s new book
adivaani 