Name of Fellow: Deeplakshmi Munda
Genre: Art and Culture
Area of Work: Ranchi and Khunti Districts, Jharkhand

Deep Lakshmi is a cultural and linguistic researcher from Ranchi, Jharkhand. She has been in research since her master’s degree where she studied Folkloristics and developed interest protecting the endangered languages.

Searching for ways to preserve the endangered languages, she faced with the question how technically she can get into saving the tribal languages. She started to document Asur, and Birjia languages with Ranchi Central University. To study the Asur language, she travelled to Garhatoli village in Netarhat district. There, she worked on to create a dictionary of the Asur language. Unfortunately, the study is ended in the midway.

During her travel to interior tribal villages, she noticed the unique survival skills of the people and made her to think to connect with them through art and culture.

As a researcher she is presently involved in collecting folklores, and folk songs and analyse them from the point of view of the indigenous community, Adivasi women, and rural population. Folklores and folk songs contextualise the social set up or myths or legends or practices of a common group. For Deep Lakshmi, compiling them gives an opportunity to under the culture of tribe or other indigenous group.

As the folklores or folk songs are already existing among the people, it is easier to connect with their through their own form of art. Using songs and folklores, Deep Lakshmi intends take the Constitutional Values to indigenous and tribal communities as well as to the women from the rural areas of Jharkhand.

She is documenting the tribals songs which are common and also those which are not general known to the people. After collecting the folk songs from ancient times, she is analysing them and engaging with the community members to understand their feelings about the songs. Through her analysis, she is in the process of finding how the songs are related to the lives of people. As the songs reflect the traditional way of life of the tribals, she intends to find the values in those songs. Once this is identified, she wants to connect the concepts of justice, equality, fraternity, and liberty with the ancient tribal values.

Through the fellowship, Deeplaskhmi wants to collect folk stories and folk songs of Munda community and highlighting the values present in these stories and songs. She has collected more than 20 Munda folk songs and currently analysing them to find out the tribal values and find coherence with Constitutional values.

She also wants torevive “Akhras”—the traditional cultural joints of Munda community. “Akhra” is a place where the people of village sit together, and talk to each other. It is a place for dancing and singing in the festivals. All the discussions related to the village or the people living in the village takes place in “Akhra”. Through this effort the local community can be educated about the constitution and its values through folk song and dance as people come together on a common platform to discuss their issues.

With this intention, she is trying to connect with tribal youths through their kite flying festival. She has facilitated and organized one kite festival with children from Munda community and have been discussing Constitutional values and contexulising them with tribal values.

Coming from a background of Art and Cutlure, Deeplakshmi Munda has been long associated with a cultural group Rumbul formed in 2011. Through the theatre she started organizing various seminars, and cultural performances. She also wants to connect with tribal community member through this art form as well and impart training on Constitutional values.