Primitive Classification

The Gonds, like other indigenous communities, still do not have sovereign political rights.

- Rajat Ghai

BARELY 100 km from the city of my birth, Vadodara, is a region that is distinct from all of Gujarat. Called Poorvi Patti (eastern belt), it stretches from Banas-kantha in the north to Dangs in the south. It is a hilly and forested area and most of its inhabitants are tribal communities such as Gonds, Rathwas, Chaudharys and Gamits. Growing up in Vadodara, I was fed with stories about how these communities were naïve, childlike simpletons and lazy buffoons, who drank lots of country-made liquor.

To dispel such stereotypical descriptions, Bhangya Bhukya has written