The taciturn
Mothur Besra of Hijoldoba village, Bankura was adopted by his uncle`s family in this village as a sick young boy, since his own own parents who loved elsewhere could not afford to look after him. Schooled till class 8, he turned to daily labour for sustenance.
Mothur is the
Dasae guru of his village. Since his father use to be a Dasae guru, Mothur too was elected to become the guru for Hijoldoba. He then began to visit his father`s village, to learn the Dasae songs from him and other village elders. This knowledge was passed orally over a period of time. He also imbibed knowledge of medicinal plants - as part of his training.
The Dasae guru is someone who teaches the village men the Dasae songs and dances and leads them during the Dasae Daran or procession during the days of Durga Puja. The band of young men under the Dasae guru is known as Dasae Kora (Dasae boys).
There are hundreds of Dasae songs that are sung during the Daran: some are in praise of the primary god, Thakur Jiu and his wife, Thakran, others sing the glory of a specific bonga or spirit, including the spirit of the Buang; still others describe the proceedings of the Daran - where they had gone and why. The Hijoldoba men and boys dance and sing with with their gongs and buangs, led by Mothur.
Mothur spends his leisure making buangs, tirios and arrows, the last of which is used during Hul and Disom Sendra. He has taught the men in his village the craft. Before the festival he leads the community with rehearsals of song and dance.
Hijoldoba is an extremely backward village, completely arid. The men cannot farm on a regular basis from the little monsoon rains they receive and anyway, they own no land. They perforce have had to turn to daily wage labour. Yet, they do celebrate Sohrai, albeit in a symbolic manner, and for only two days, the traditional Santal harvest festival . In spite of the obvious hardships they face on a daily basis, which were plain for us to see, people like Mothur, have not distanced themselves from their traditional arts.