Several years ago, while shooting for Urdu Hai Jiska Naam,
Subhash Kapoor, the director of the series, and I had gone to Bhopal because we
wanted Habib sahib to anchor the series. While we were location hunting we went
to the Museum of Man, a sprawling open-air exhibition located on the famous
Shamla Hills in Bhopal. One area of the museum is dedicated to tribal myths and
their theories of creation. One story in particular fascinated me and I narrated
it to Habib sahib that evening. Habib sahib liked the story immensely and took
it down in as much detail as I could remember. Sometime later, when I saw a
performance of Zahreeli Hawa, I realised that he had woven the Gond myth
into the preamble of his play and had very effectively incorporated contemporary
environmental concerns and the role of MNCs into this primordial tale of great
simplicity and beauty.
From the moment I heard the news of his death, the story has
been coming back to me. I rang up Alakhnandan, the director of the theatre
group, Nat Bundele, and he put me in touch with Shampa Shah of the Museum of
Man. It turned out that Shampa had first heard the story in or around 2000 from
Pyarelal Vyam, a Pradhan Gond from Mandla near Amarkantak. It was Pyarelal who
came to Bhopal and built the traditional kothar (granary) on which he
also depicted the myth that is reproduced below. Incidentally, the kind of
granary that Pyarelal built is called a Lillar Kothi. Lillar is akin to
one’s innermost being, with the constant comings and goings of thoughts, ideas
and influences. The Lillar Kothi is likewise filled with and emptied of grain.
The story is reproduced below in a hurried translation.
The story of creation – The mythology of the Gonds
Badadev was sitting on a lotus leaf when the idea of creating
the world came to him. He needed clay to create the world. He looked around him
but all he saw was water. He rubbed his chest and dusting off some mud,
fashioned a crow out of it. Badadev now sent the crow in search of the clay.
The crow flew away to look for the clay. He looked everywhere
but all he could see was water. Exhausted, he settled on a stump that protruded
above the endless sheet of water. He had barely settled himself on it when a
voice asked, "Who is this sitting on my claw?"
This was Kakramal, the crab. The crow narrated his woes to
Kakramal and sought his help in finding the clay. Kakramal said to the crow,
"The clay has gone to the netherworld and is being eaten by the earthworm." The
crow requested Kakramal to somehow bring the earthworm out of the netherworld.
Kakramal dragged the earthworm out but the worm was unwilling to
let go of the clay because it was his food. So Kakramal caught the earthworm by
the neck and squeezed it really hard until the earthworm spat out the clay. The
crow grabbed the clay and flew back to Badadev.
Badadev now asked Makramal, the spider, to spin a web across the
sheet of water and spread the clay over the web. Badadev then released all the
animals and birds and other living beings on the earth.
Man asked Badadev, "What do I feed my children?" Badadev plucked
three hairs from his head and threw them on the earth where they took root and
grew into the mango, teak and kasi trees. Badadev now gave man an axe and
a basula (adze) and asked him to make something from the wood of these
trees.
The moment man began to chop the trees, Kathphodwa, the
woodpecker, began to imitate his actions. This distracted man and he ended up
striking the wood with glancing blows. He destroyed the trees and all he had was
a crooked piece of wood. In frustration, he threw the basula at
Kathphodwa. The woodpecker flew off and the basula disappeared into the
skies.
Man went back to Badadev for help. Badadev gave him some ash
from his fire and asked him to bury it in the roots of the trees. Badadev also
told man, "There has to be an explanation for all the wood getting chopped in
this manner."
The moment man placed the ash on the roots, the trees flowered
and the earth was filled with forests. In an attempt to understand the secret of
the crooked piece of wood, man threw it on the earth.
The bamboo maiden emerged from the place where the piece of wood
had fallen. Hiding inside her was the goddess of grains. She now emerged from
within the bamboo maiden and spread all over the earth.
The crooked piece of wood turned out to be the first plough and
from then on man learnt to cultivate crops. In order to prevent the goddess of
grain from disappearing once again the Gond woman learnt a thing or two from the
white ant and built a Lillar Kothi. She filled it with grain to feed the whole
world.
