In Jharkhand, an Adivasi poet's fight to document tribal values: ‘Owe this to future generations'

Indian Express

24-06-2025

What Parvati Tirkey, an Adivasi poet who's the recipient of this year's Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, remembers most about her childhood is story-telling sessions with her grandfather. Every year during the tribal festival of Sarhul festival, she would sit at her grandfather's feet as he sang songs of old.
The songs taught her everything she needed to hear about her Kurukh culture, their traditional way of life and even legends and myths – all things she could never learn in textbooks. It's through these that she learnt the significance of her surname, Tirkey.
'Tirkey, which means a wild bird found in forests. In the same way, the tiger (Lakra) is a totem animal for those with the Lakra surname. Totem for us Adivasis, simply means a deep sense of guardianship and kinship with a particular species,' she says.
For years, Tirkey has been trying to encapsulate her learnings through the tradition of 'oral libraries' in her poetry. Earlier this week, her commitment to this vital cultural reclamation was officially recognised: she was named the recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2025 (Hindi) for her poignant poetry collection 'Phir Ugna'. Translated as 'To Spring Again' it is a collection of Kurukh poetry.
'These poems are rooted in the Kurukh lifestyle and their ancestral knowledge systems like the Parha system of self-governance, the totem culture, and more,' she says.
From a remote village in Jharkhand's Gumla district, Tirkey completed her schooling in Gumla and went on to earn her graduation, post graduation, and PhD in Hindi Literature from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Despite her literary achievements, Tirkey admits she never liked studying as a child. 'I still remember my grandmother's admonition: 'If we go to school, who will go to jatra (processions)?',' she says.
During her research at BHU, Parvati made the conscious decision to bring these 'oral libraries' into Hindi literature. 'Our elders had libraries too, hidden ones, oral ones. Why weren't they adopted? Why weren't they given space?' Tirkey, who teaches Hindi literature at Ram Lakhan College in Ranchi, asks.
Her choice of language – Hindi – was a carefully thought out one, selected to bridge the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous languages. Through this, she also wanted to explain better the systemic neglect of the Kurukh language and knowledge within academic and cultural institutions.
'Hindi literature has long been dominated by non-indigenous writers. Since our voices have been missing for generations, it's time we document and share our cultural values, those that were passed down orally and never written. We owe this to future generations. Let it be part of the current syllabus,' she says.
Among the poems in her collection is 'Lakra Kavita' – or tiger poetry. She describes it as a conversation between a tiger and a Kurukh tribal with the surname 'Lakra'.
'The tiger stops this man on his path and the man reminds the tiger they are family, that they share the same origins and emotions. The poem portrays the emotional bond between the two, and eventually, the tiger allows the man to pass,' she says.
For Tirkey, writing poetry and entering the world of literature is her response to cultural displacement — an issue she feels remains under-discussed. She believes that any effort to preserve Adivasi culture and language is a small but significant step toward revival and inclusion in mainstream consciousness. 'These cultural systems now need to be preserved. That's what the title Phir Ugna means – to spring again,' says Parvati.
Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India.
Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions.
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