This man has been donating his salary for over 10 years to revive tribal art and culture in India
Shubhasish Chakraborty has not only extensively travelled across various tribal areas in India, but also worked for their well-being by providing them with platforms to exhibit their talent.
At a time when tribal art forms are gradually losing its significance and value in India, 42-year-old Shubhasish Chakraborty is attempting to revive them.
Not only has he extensively travelled to most tribal areas in the country, but he has also written and documented their lifestyle and culture in the form of short stories and movies. That is not all.
42-year-old Shubhasish Chakraborty.
Shubhasish has been spending a substantial portion of his salary in transforming lineal communities in Jharkhand for over a decade now. He has undertaken a slew of initiatives for their welfare, including setting up libraries for tribal children and organising exhibitions for painters belonging to Adivasi communities.
Born in Durgapur, West Bengal, his parents were in the teaching profession, and Shubhasish spent his growing years learning and reading. Over time, he acquired an interest in literature and language, which led him to pursue his master’s in Linguistics from the Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
From thereon, he built his career by specialising in corporate social responsibility (CSR), causal analysis, and strategic management. On the other hand, he took time off to strive for the upliftment of tribal and rural folk.
Shubhasish interacting with children at a playground situated in a tribal area.
“Several tribal groups do not have even basic facilities to lead a decent standard of life. They are either unemployed, exploited or extremely reliant on agriculture. Many practice a slew of independent and traditional art forms, which possess a distinct aesthetic beauty. I really wanted to infuse a sense of confidence in them by providing a platform to showcase their talent and enabling them to preserve their craftsmanship”, Shubhasish tells SocialStory.
An uplifting journey
Shubhasish’s love and fascination for rural culture and tribal life began at a young age, but he got an opportunity to explore it for himself in 2011 while working with Tata Steel in Jharkhand.
“Since Jharkhand is known to be home to many tribal groups like Munda, Santhal, Ho and Oraon, I used to go out to meet them every weekend. I observed their indigenous practices, lifestyle, and traditions. As days passed by, I also noticed the effort they put in to express their vibrancy through art and craft despite minimal recognition. That was when I decided to do my bit to pave a way for them to exhibit their talent,” recalls Shubhasish.
A health camp organised by Shubhasish in the village of Pandadih.
As a result, he used a part of his salary to organise an exhibition in Jamshedpur for the artists to display their work. Not only did the event receive a lot of acclaim from people, but also earned the artists a whopping Rs 21,000 from the sale of paintings.
Buoyed by this success, Shubhasish chronicled his experiences in a book and two short films. His book Travels through Spaces of Orality captures the essence of several faucets of tribal life such as dance, combat, music, orchestra, and festivals.
His first movie Sa – The Search delves into the singing and painting traditions of the tribes in Jharkhand. While his second Magical Script throws light on ‘Ho’, a tribal language that has its roots in Ranchi and West Singhbhum.
Both his films were screened at the Tribal India International Festival organised by the Central University of Jharkhand.
“The whole idea was to bring about awareness amongst the masses. And I am happy that it garnered a great response from people at large, especially community leaders and educational institutions. The blessing in disguise amidst this was that it brought back the lost confidence of tribal groups and helped them get back to their age-old profession,” says Shubhasish.
Shubhasish distributing books to children at a school.
A few years later, he decided to adopt a village in the Sonahatu block of Ranchi called Pandadih, where majority of the population belonged to the rural and tribal communities.
He also started an initiative to strengthen the libraries across various schools in Jharkhand. Through collection drives spanning several months, Shubhasish has been instrumental in distributing more than 7,000 books and magazines to 2,000 children in the Sonahatu, Patamda, Gamharia, and Chitarpur blocks of Jharkhand.
Kids playing at the cricket tournament put together by Shubhasish.
In 2018, recognising the interest of the tribal children in playing cricket at the village square, he also organised a match for them. Four teams of girls and boys played in the tournament. Sachin Tendulkar, who was the guest editor for Dainik Bhaskar at the time, ranked it to be the best sports story of the country for the news daily.
Sweeping transformations
Shubhasish’s endeavour towards helping these ignored tribal communities bore extremely positive results. His work has brought tribal art and culture to the forefront in several ways.
Many tribal artisans in Jharkhand were invited to present their paintings across popular venues and exhibitions, including Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Additionally, the art form of ‘Chhau’ is being taught in the government schools of Sonahatu Block to preserve the style among younger generations. Presently, 50 students are learning and performing it.
“Working towards the development of tribal communities has been extremely challenging. I had to juggle between a full-time job and a whole lot of other activities like travel, research, and filmmaking. But when I see the transformation taking place on ground, it feels like all of it was worth it,” says Shubhasish.
In a bid to engage children in a constructive way during the amidst COVID-19 lockdown, he has recently launched a painting competition in Jharkhand called ‘Rang Johar’. In just 10 days, Shubhasish has received more than 500 paintings, and he is only expecting this number to grow.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta