Learning From the Poor Dalits
As a Dalit scholar of Communication, I wanted to study our ancestors’ religious communication. One day, I traveled to a village two hundred miles away from Madurai, as part of my study, with one of my friends by bus. After getting down from the bus, we walked four miles to reach the “cheri” (the part of a village where Dalits are made to live) of that village.
Before reaching the “cheri,” we saw the worship place of that “cheri.” A tall stone without any particular shape stood there, surrounded by many types of spears. There was no building whatsoever to spoil the environment. It was so rustic and beautiful. My friend wanted to photograph the place. As soon as we had taken the picture, a middle-aged woman came running to us.
She said, “Have you photographed our Aththa (Mother)? She does not like being photographed. She will punish you. She is an angry samy (deity). Both of you look like good people. Oh, you should be very unfortunate,” and then she started narrating how Aththa had punished various people because they had dared to take pictures of her. I said, “Oh, sorry, we didn’t know about that. Is your Aththa so furious as to punish the ignorant?”
She said, “Yes, she is a very angry deity. Even high-caste people are afraid of her. They treat us as filth, but they respect our Aththa out of fear.” My friend asked her whether there was any remedy. She said, “Yes, there is. But that can be done only tomorrow. Are you leaving now?”
I said, “We have come here to stay for two days.” She asked where we were staying, and I told her the name of the person who was going to host us. She said, “Oh, I know him. He is one of us, the only person who has studied in our village. Come on, I will take you to his house.” We followed her to the “cheri.”
As we were walking, my friend said, “Parattai Annan! I feel feverish. Do you have any medicine?” The woman said, “Oh, no medicine will work. It is the anger of Her. You are having smallpox.” My friend became pale. Then she said, “Are you really going to stay with us? We are outcastes. Caste people like you will not stay or eat with us.” I said, “We don’t mind staying or eating with you.” When we reached our host’s house, she left us.
Our host was very friendly. He welcomed us and gave us a good meal. My friend ate very little. Our host asked him why he was not eating as he should. I told him about the anger of the deity.
He said, “No, don’t worry. Our Aththa will not punish outcastes like you. Velamma, the woman who took you here, did not know that you are also outcastes like us.” Then he called Velamma and introduced us as “our caste people.” Velamma said, “Oh, I thought you were high-caste people. Our Aththa will not punish her own children. I will bring some medicine for your fever.” She went to her home, which was just opposite our host’s house, and brought some native medicine.
My friend’s fever seemed to be receding. I wanted to start data collection immediately, but our host said, “Since your friend is not well, we will do that tomorrow morning. You should rest now.” He provided us with two coir cots to sleep in front of his house. My friend went to sleep immediately.
I could not sleep. I was thinking about the data collection. Then I saw a big pig coming towards me. It came near me and started sniffing my feet. I was scared and sat up, drawing my legs away from the pig. Velamma, who was sitting at her door, shouted at the pig. It ran away. She said to me, “Don’t worry! It is a samy pig. It will not harm you.” I found that as an opportunity to start data collection. I said to her, “Samy pig? Is it like a Samy Bull?”
Velamma said, “No, it is different. They don’t sacrifice the bull. But we sacrifice the pig to our Aththa. Last year, we gave her a pig. But the Deevidiya Mundai (Headless Bitch) did not bless us as she should. This year, we will give her a bigger pig. If she refuses to bless us, I will drive her out of our village.”
I was confused. I said to her, “Yesterday you said that your Aththa was a furious deity, but now you scold her as if she were nothing but your servant who fulfills your needs. Why?” She laughed and said, “Our Aththa is furious to those caste-men who oppress us. But she is our friend because we don’t oppress others. At first, I thought you were caste-men. So, I showed you her furious face. Now I know that you are also one of us. So, I showed you her friendly face.”
I had nothing to say then. I went to sleep thinking about the God of Psalmists, who is a fortress of refuge to the oppressed and an enemy to the oppressors.
— Parattai.
Article courtesy: Rev. Sebastian Jones Arpudaraj Simpson.
Painting courtesy: Rev. W. Jebasingh Samuvel.