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Honey bee publish details |
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Woman Centurion |
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Devliba Rathwa: A Century of Struggle |
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Devliba Rathwa, at 101, (Jodavaant village, Chhota Udepur Taluka, Vadodara District) works hard and is very affectionate towards people and animals alike. She is well known in her community for healing people and animals with her traditional knowledge. Nearly blind with cataract, she still goes about her household chores without much help. “I had an eye operation thirty years ago. I can hardly see any more, but can still pick out stones from the corn,” she says with a twinkle.
She was born to very poor parents in a desolate village Jodavaant in Chhota Udepur Taluka. Her mother died of fever when she was five year old and her brother, 18 months. Thereafter she was raised by her father, Chiliabhai, while her brother was raised by their maternal aunt. For making both ends meet, they depended on their three buffaloes. Grazing them was Devliba’s responsibility. She recalls her childhood friends Jemliben and Denliben with warmth and recalled those idyllic days and breaks into a folk song.
Her father worked as a labourer and when he could not find work, they dug out wild onions (Urginea indica) from jungles to boil and eat. “We lived such a difficult and hard life. We also used to roast and eat 'kudi' (Wrightia tinctoria) leaves, 'Puvadia' (Cassia tora) leaves Bhaji, 'Koliyar' leaves bhaji, 'Gorfari' bhaji, 'Zaraklu', 'Sargava' (Moringa oleifera), 'Gundi' (Cordia gharaf) leaves, 'Umri' (Ficus racemosa) leaves and fruits, vegetables from wild ‘Bhindi’ (Abelmoschus manihot) leaves, ‘Koyda' leaves, ‘Kaongalasa’ leaves, ‘Kulhar’ (Blumea eriantha) leaves, ‘faang’ (Rivea hypocrateriformis) leaves, ‘mukha’ (Schrebera swietenioides) leaves, ‘sarma rotla', ‘kodra' (Paspalum scrobiculatum) bhaidku, ‘Rice (Oryza sativa) bhadku’, ‘Red Juwar (Sorgham vulgare) bhoidku’, ‘rotla from mukha (Schrebera swietenioides) bark’, ‘bhavta (Eleusine coracana) rotla’, ‘bunty (Echinochloa frumentacea) rotla’, ‘rotla from Corn’ (Zea mays), ‘adad (Vigna radiata) dhokla’, and ‘mahuda’ (Madhuca indica),” she recalls in a forlorn voice.
The toughest time for her was when her father died. “I was 15 years old. My father who had gone breaking stones for work died when a big stone fell on him and crushed him,” she recalls in a choking voice. “I just didn’t know what to do with the loneliness and grief,” she says with anxiety. Relatives took her in till she was 19 and was later married to Mangaliabhai of Bod village in the same Taluka.
Life after marriage did not change very much, she added, 'for the first six years of our married life we worked as clay labourers and stone breakers, till another death changed our lives'. Her younger brother committed suicide.
Mangaliabhai and Devliba went to her parental house in Jodavant village, since there was no one there. Her father had left behind a mere 1.5 bigha (approximate 0.20 ha) of land, quite inadequate for subsistence. “We worked the fields by day and at night as stone breakers. Before going to work we used to drink corn ‘Raab’. In the afternoon we used to eat ‘kodra, (Paspalum scrobiculatum) vaghedu’ mixed with ‘hamali’ leaves crushed and mixed with red ‘juwar (Sorgham vulgare) “, she recalled when asked about their dietary practices. Slowly the family grew. A daughter Radhiben and a son Amarshibhai were born. She now lives with her son and his wife. Her daughter passed away four years ago.
When asked about the traditional household items, she replied, “Even now we are using the same household items which have been used through generations. For example this ‘charno’ made out of bamboo strips for grain shifting, ‘khajuro’, 'supadi’, decorative ‘sambelu’ from teakwood (Tectona grandis)’ designed 'indhoni' clay pot and mould for making tiles of ‘sisam’ (Dalbergia sissoo), ‘thalu’ for keeping food and water for dogs. ‘visatro’ made from stone for gram grinding. ‘pali’ for measuring grain ‘chatvo’ from blackwood tree, ‘paseriu’ for ghee made from teakwood (Tectona grandis). Basket made from bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea) strips. ‘chapdo’ for taking out doli oil 'gadvu' for gathering ‘neero’ on palm tree, ‘daman’ for climbing palm trees, ‘paliu’ for making cut on palm tree for getting ‘neero’, wheel car for carrying neero pots, ‘zeen’ for filtering ‘neero’, ‘bhotvo’ for storing and ‘sunthio’ for balancing neero utensil”, she says holding them all up one by one. “Almost all these items are made by us for use in our house”, she emphasizes.
Traditional dressing
When asked about the traditional clothes and ornaments, she explains, “Our people are well built but short in height. Men used to wear 'dhotiu' earlier. Nowdays, they wear a long shirt and turban also. Earlier women used to wear red 'odhani' and blue ‘ghaghro’ but nowadays they wear different type of clothes”. Tribals usually favoured jewellery earlier. On being asked, she explains that they are usually in silver and use items like 'haansadi', ‘kalla’, ‘kada’, ‘kandora', ‘daamni’, ‘haidi’, ‘haar’, ‘vitla’, ‘kikri’, ‘jud’, ‘vaank’, ‘vedh’, ‘gajri’, ‘kagrali chudi,’ ‘aamaliu’, ‘bhoria’, etc. Men usually draw black lines on their faces parallel to their eyes, while women have tattooes etched around their eyes.
About old social practices, she recalled that in the Rathwa community people used to choose their life partner from local fairs. They would run away from the fair and would live together as husband and wife. This practice is not prevalent any more.
The presiding deity for the Rathwas is Babadev. Holi is celeberated with pomp and is usually loud. “We dance merrily beating drums and playing other instruments. Men and women dance with bows and arrows”, she said explaining tribal culture. Diwali is celebrated in different villages differently as per convenience. A New Year celebration also takes place in the temples.
Talking about lost plants, Devliben recalled a vegetation called ‘mukha’ (Schrebera swietenioides), whose leaves were eaten in various preparations. ‘Rotla’ was made from its bark. This plant is extinct now in their locality. Varieties like ‘bunti’, ‘bavto’, ‘kodra’, and ‘kodri’ were used earlier for food. ‘Kuthia’ daal is another lost crop. It had small blue grains. “I am almost blind but I find no difficulty in working or walking”, she asserts. Devliba Rathwa at 101 insists on doing her own work inspite of blindness and partial deafness and is an inspiration to many.
Devliben, Mangaliabhai Rathwa
Dist.: Vadodara, Gujarat
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 17(1) & (2): 17-19, 2006 |
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