THE FORGOTTEN INDIAN FOLKLORE

India has a rich oral tradition,deeply ingrained.Even the man on the street liberally impregnates his daily conversation with telling aphorisms and anecdotal references.Its no brainer really . An ancient civilisation on the pathways of history was destined to be a potpourri of cultural diversities and identities (just take tribes, as many as 645 tribes with distinct cultures are scheduled in the Indian Constitution). That, in turn, sprouted a trove of hugely fecund folklore. While Hitopdesh, Panchtantra, Jataka Tales,Akbar-Birbal,Tenali Rama, even Katha Saritsagarain may have found place on shelfs of world libraries ,a vast repertoire of tribal folklore is yet to be printed or popularised beyond its geography. Each tribe has its esoteric folktales to perpetuate its social mores, values and customs. Its just as rich and value laden. 

"Again folk traditions are not merely platforms for holding high moral grounds ,having no relevance to present day reality." In fact, many folklores seem tailor-made for satirising contemporary social and political realities. 

A tale from the compilation FOLKLORE FROM  SANTHAL PARGANAS by Cecil Henry Bompas, struck me as singularly topical. By the way ,the book is a treasure hoard of tribal cultural memory embedded in its folktales. 

Please read it and judge for yourself. 

THE MISER'S SERVANT 

Once there was a rich man but a miser. His farm servants kept deserting him for directly after the crops were gathered he began to starve them.Soon he could get no servants,till a young fellow named Kora came to him and said:

“Well,all I ask for my wages is that you give me once a year one grain of rice and lowland to plant all the seeds that I get from it; and give me one seed of maize and upland to sow all the seeds I get from it; and for food give me one leaf fलull of rice ,three times a day. I only want what will go on a single leaf.I will ask for no second helping." The miser agreed .

So Kora began work.The first day he was given food on a single 'sal' leaf and he ate it up in one mouthful.But the next day he brought a 3 feet plantain leaf and though the miser protested he grudgingly, had to serve food on the full length of the leaf ,for though big it was still a single leaf.And thus Kora kept himself well fed throughout the year. As wages, he duly received a grain of rice and a grain of maize and a spot of upland and low land to plant them. The maize grain produced two big cobs and rice seedling a number of ears. Now the miser had to give more than a spot to plant the seeds. In the course of five to six years he had taken over all uplands to sow maize and in a few more years all lowlands too to sow rice.

Then his master was very miserable and became so poor that he had to work as servant to Kora.