“When there is a loss of the symbolic universe alongside the loss of language, then people’s epistemological and ontological imagination is undermined.” (pg.138)

The taxonomies of the dominant discourse often do not match that of the indigenous ones. Savyasaachi’s A Tryst with Nature: Labour, Self, and Language draws our attention along similar lines where he explores the politics of mainstream in successfully suffocating the indigenous way of life.

Based in the North Bastar district of Jharkhand, the Koitors are an indigenous group who work closely with the natural elements and have an understanding which goes beyond the instrumental-rationality. The book constantly draws the juxtaposition between the instrumental labour of the legal-rational system and the reflexive labour of the Koitors. Koitors’ language of self and labour is in contrast to the non-indigenous language of labo(u)r. The book is a discussion of how indigenous perspective and knowledge (through language) have been suffocated and often murdered by the dominant perspective and knowledge.

While the first three chapters give us a view of the way Koitor’s way of life and their relation with nature, the later chapter draws an analysis of how the reality of preservation and conservation portrayed by the mainstream differ largely from that followed and expressed by the Koitors. In other words, the reality and language of the reflexive labour (who have primary knowledge based on experience) are usually sacrificed by the reality and language of the instrumental labour (of the scientific world). This is evident in the way the Koitors way of life is not in alignment with the way of life promoted by the ethnobotanists, for example. Doing this, the story eventually explores how indigenous people have always tried to protect natural resources by giving them enough time to recover, while the mainstream “conservatives” have tried to conquer nature with no concept of revival and reciprocity. Using the terminology of the local, the author ensured that the reality is presented from the perspective of the people but not exoticized.

Many crucial themes run through the book, including notions of forgetting and remembrance, seeing, separation and revival. Forgetting and remembering are part of nature’s rules as well as Koitors’ way of life. He gives the example of how one needs to surrender oneself when lost in the forest to remember the way back. In this context, the distinction between Parampara and Virasat is also drawn – saying that while Parampara (tradition) holds on to memory and is uncomfortable with forgetting, Virasat (heritage) interplays between memory and forgetting (pg.152). Similarly, in terms of seeing, Savyasaachi points out that seeing is reciprocal, where the speed of the viewer needs to match the speed of the view. This again involves negotiation and mutual relations between humans and nature.

But the most crucial theme is that of loss of language. The politics of language is unfortunately very prevalent among the indigenous groups. The book traces how this politics takes different shapes in legislation, educational systems, as well as scientific documents. The author talks about the way national language and medium of instruction in schools play a crucial role in sidelining the indigenous languages and eventually their associated identity. It is disheartening to realise the overlap between linguistic suicide and forced conversion of religion.

What attracts me the most about this book is the style of narrating the life of Koitors. It is metaphors and literary devices – almost making the reader feel like reading a poem. The forest, like any other natural resource, is just a source of income and work for most. But for the Koitors, it is a source of life and livelihood. This difference makes the sentiments and emotions come to the forefront and Savyasaachi has portrayed it well.

This book is much more than an ethnography, as the text goes beyond describing the Koitors’ way of life. It makes us immersed in the forests and fields of the Koitors. The forests and life around all the natural elements in Shringarbhum are explained with both subjectivity and objectivity. It is a sneak peek into the indigenous way of life, which stands in stark contrast to the “mainstream” way of life. The book is timely and beautifully narrated. Given the planetary crisis we are headed towards, I would argue that it is a necessary read as well.

Savyasaachi’s account of the Koitor’s way of life is a treat to read for anyone interested in understanding the politics involved in the presentation and the supposed conservation of natural resources. Disciplinary boundaries cannot be applied to the book as it navigates its way through law, sociology, politics and even poetry. Anyone interested in the sociology of knowledge or language politics will especially benefit from the perspective provided by Savyasaachi.

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Tania Sen is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Liberal Arts, IILM University, Gurgaon.