The Tribal Tales

Daily routine
The day starts with a cup of tea at 4 am in the morning. Interestingly, they
use steel bowl instead of a cup to drink tea and even serve tea to their guests
in the same manner. The morning breakfast includes sabzi- chapati, i.e., a
cooked vegetable dish and flat round bread. They eat vegetables like potatoes,
tomatoes, cauliflower, spinach, peas etc., They usually have breakfast
between 8 -9 am. They prefer eating early dinner and eat dinner at around
6 pm. The food is cooked over chulhas which is a small earthen stove and
with the help of fire generated by burning wood and dried cow dung cakes
food is prepared over it.
Apart from that the women also grind the wheat at home using flour-mill
and prepare the flour at home. The women dedicate the whole day for household
works, managing their farms and cattle, while the men go out for work.
They work in quarries, construction sites and refineries.
The Banjara community emphasize on getting the male members of the
family educated and the females are insisted on getting married early.
3.6.1 Dwellings
They live in settlements called thandas that are usually away from the village.
They lived in zupada (hut). Now many of them live in cities. The settlements
or Bidikis of the Banjaras are a cluster of rude huts and are isolated
at some distance from the main villages. The settlements mostly pitched on
high ground affording advantage and protection from predatory excursions.
The hill settlements of the Banjaras provide a peculiar from the point of
view of natural vegetation and topography.
3.4
3.6.2 Costume
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The lovely, colourful mirror work embroidery of the tribal Banjaras of Rajasthan
and Gujarat is in striking contrast to their barren, desert homeland.
These Banjaras, originally from Gujarat and Rajasthan, create mirror work
wonders with their nimble fingers. In addition, the married women wear
silver or ivory bangles between the elbow and wrist. They prefer red, green
and yellow coloured cloth for their gown.
They pay little attention to cleanliness of their hair, once plaited, is not
combed or opened perhaps for a month. Their bodies or clothes are seldom
washed. Banjara women’s dressing is the most elaborate and colourful
among the other tribal communities of India. Women wear colourful and
beautiful costumes like phetiya (as ghagra) and kanchalli and have tattoos
on their hands. They use mirror chips and often coins to decorate it.
Women put on thick bangles on their arms (patli).
3.5
(Fig 3.4)
A dwelling of the people of
the Banjara community.
(Fig. 3.5)
A woman wearing traditional
clothes and jewellery
of the Banjara community.