Let’s Go and Get on with the Gadaba

Philipose Vaidyar

The weekly market at Similiguda is colorful and full of people with all kinds of features who carry headloads of things for buying and selling. We are crossing the market, making our way to Pantriguda to meet one of the many native tribes- The Ollar Gadaba- at one of their habitat.

Gadaba people are migrants from the Godavari river belt and are believed to have settled in different parts of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh about 300 to 400 years ago. According to an estimate, there are about 60,000 Gadaba people in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. In Orissa, they are seen in Koraput, Jaipur, and Malkangiri districts. In Andhra Pradesh, they are seen on the Eastern Ghats, especially in Salur, Chenthapilly, Pader Gudem, and other parts of the Visakhapatnam district.

There are three different groups of Gadaba people based on the language they speak. Ollar Gadaba, Mudhili Gadaba and Gutob Gadaba. Their cultural practices are similar, though there are some variations in other regions. But their languages are different.

The Ollar Gadaba people live in the Koraput district of Orissa, close to the Andhra Pradesh border. The landscape here is so different from the rest of the state or the country. Hills are all around as you travel, but not very steep, and hence not many hairpins. The roads are quite straight but go uphill and downhill. Most of the hills are barren, but there are huge trees here and there as remaining signs of deforestation. Social forestry and government plantations of teak and cashew are seen on these red hills.

Ollar Gadaba has the highest concentration in the Similiguda and Pottangi blocks. In a village, there will be 30- 80 houses and about 150-300 people.

This is Pandriguda, a tribal village, in Orissa, 40 km away from Koraput, the district capital.

It is a festival season for the Gadaba people. There are 12 festivals for the Gadaba around the year, almost one every month, in connection with the season. This is Karke Paroop, the first fruit festival of mangoes. Mango will be plucked and tasted only after this celebration, which goes about seven or eight days.

The first day will be a day of rest, after which all the work should be concluded. Any work done in the village or outside on this day will be penalized. Penalty varies and will be finalized by the village council. In the evening, there will be a dinner prepared by a few families on the basis of clan or neighborhood. Rice cooked with first-plucked mangoes will be the recipe.

The next day will start with a celebration, the whole village, men and women, are supposed to join in singing and dancing, or watch it. The peculiar steps by holding hands together will be accompanied by drums.

The third day will be a day for hunting for children. This is fun and training for children and a warm-up for older men. The next day, the older men will go hunting and continue it until they find an animal. Wild pigs are ideal prey to be hunted. This follows greater celebration and merry-making. Though drinking and smoking tobacco are common for men and women, dancing with the head of the hunted pig is a symbol of joy and victory.

At Pandriguda, this is the third day of the festival. As I framed this snapshot, the procession paused for a while. These boys are the hunted prey- a sparrow and a rat.

A squirrel and any good bird would be ideal, but this time they had to settle for a rat.

The procession is moving towards the village center and the altar. The whole village has gathered under the big tree. The elder women are ready to receive the young hunters. They will press a pinch of wet rice to the forehead of the young men and boys, and a flower is tucked into their ears. I, too, had this welcome treat as the guest of my guide and family, who are well accepted by the village. The hunted creatures will be cooked over fire and will be eaten.

In the evening, we took a guided tour of the village. Most of the people were at home. Some women are busy drawing water at the well. They carry enough water for the home and for men to take baths at home. Groups of women are collected around some of the houses. All of them were having a drink of the homemade liquor from cooked rice.

We were back at home and sat to chat again; over the tea cups, we continued talking about village life. There is another noise growing closer. A group is heading out of the village. I was told that the men were going for another puja. We hurried on our last sip of tea and followed the crowd.

They had spears and axes. All were sharpened and fixed with new handles. The leader of the group pointed out a spot on the tarred road. A lady had carried some cow dung to plaster the puja ground. All the spears and tools were placed there. After some chants, the group leader spread some grains of rice. He had a newborn chicken in his

hand, which was released there after a few other chants. After the chicken pecked some rice, it was cut with the edge of one of the spears. An egg was placed standing on the scattered rice. Now the egg had to be shot with the bow and arrow. The spear became the measuring rod to set the distance. Good aim and ability to shoot mean success in hunting on the following day. Anyone can try; throwing stones is also allowed now, as not many are skilled in using bows and arrows.

One young man hit the egg with a stone. He is supposed to be the hero that evening, but he fled to escape; I was told, he needs to spend some money in turn for the treat he gets. Yet the crowd caught hold of his elder brother and carried him on his shoulders to the meeting place. He was seated on the raised stone platform under the tree. Some ladies were busy with the usual procedures of wishing everyone, wet rice on the forehead, and flowers for the ear.

The sun was disappearing behind the hills. The herdsmen were returning to the village with large flocks. Like anything else in the village, tending sheep or cattle is not just an individual matter. They share and take turns to take them for grazing. There are also hired men who will agree to tend the flock for a fixed amount for the year. As the herdsmen led the flock through the village, the cattle and goats divided and moved into their respective sheds. A day is winding down; it is time to eat, drink, and rest.

The descent of darkness had made Pandriguda quiet. There were no streetlights. Electricity hasn’t reached the village yet.

The day broke at about 5.30 in the morning. People began to move out to the countryside, with a wooden plank in their mouth- the vep (neem) tree branch-made toothbrush. The village naik (the elder) has not yet woken up from his night's sleep, in the front yard. A blanket he used to cover is lying nearby.

Naik’s wife, Murthal, is warming herself near the fire made outside. The village women once again became active at the well, drawing water. A group of young men appeared from one corner of the village. Two of them are holding two hens- one white and the other black. The group is heading to Naik’s brother’s home. It seemed that the Naik and his brother had a quarrel last night, after the heavy festive drink. Quarrels and fights are not allowed during the season, and the fine is normally a chicken. When the leaders are at fault, others will enforce it.

The young men with the third hen have now reached the Naik’s home to take hold of the fourth. One clever girl had released the hens from the hive by then.

There were claims, justifications, and arguments. The murthal (elderly woman), who could not even stand straight, began chasing the group, but they were determined to get the chicken. It was interesting to know how they could recognize one’s chickens. The young men succeeded in chasing to catch one. The four chickens will be cut and cooked soon. But they will share the dish with everyone in the village. Naturally, people in the village disagree and fight, but they do not hold grudges. Their community tie is stronger, and they love one another and respect each other. At festivals, they enjoy everything together.

The elders had decided to postpone the hunting for the next day since they were planning to go to a faraway forest. We too have packed up to return from the village. As we were getting into our vehicle, some women came running. They had a garland for each one of us; a symbol of acceptance, joy, and welcome back. It is customary to give them a gift in cash. As I posed for a group snapshot, in appreciation of their love for us, my regret was that I could not stay more than a day, and could not speak their language!

Gadaba Festivals

Festivals are very important in the lives of Gadabas. There is a festival in connection with every season and life in the village. Paroop is the Gadaba word for festival. Every festival will have singing, dancing, and merry-making, and of course, a sacrifice.

Kuse Paroop falls in January. Food cooked from the new paddy harvested and vegetables plucked are given to the cattle.

Nandee Paroop: Nandee is the female spirit of a clan, and the festival in her name is observed in February for special blessings.

Kardil Vatpondi Paroop during February- March is after the harvest of tuvar dhal (a kind of pulse) and before the new dhal is used for cooking.

Karke Paroop is observed in connection with the first plucking of mangoes during the early week of March. Mango is cooked along with rice and eaten together by many families. Days are set apart for hunting for children and for adults.

Bowda Paroop is before the monsoon arrives, when the people go to the hills to collect certain leaves to stitch together as a raincoat. This leaf coat will be used as an umbrella and will be used for manual work during the rainy season.

Diyali Paroop in November is in honor of Mahalaxmi, the goddess, and a buffalo or bull is sacrificed on a hill.

Jone Punnet Paroop falls in July and is in connection with the harvest of the maze. A chicken will be sacrificed by each household at the field as a thank offering for the harvest.

Varees Punnet Paroop: Varees is paddy, and this will be in September. The newly harvested paddy will be collected for the festival, and new pumpkins will be cooked.

Dasare: This is similar to the Durga Puja and falls in October.

Balee Paroop: Balee is sand, and the festival in December is not of Gadaba origin.

(Read more about the Ollar Gadaba people, their beliefs, and practices in the digital book: Trekking the Tribal Trail by Philipose Vaidyar)

All three Gadaba's- Mudhili Gadaba, Ollar Gadaba, and Gutob Gadaba- full-length narrative profiles with over 300 pictures can be ordered at createtools@gmail.com

Personal Profile and Pages: https://sites.google.com/view/philipose-create

See the New Release, Trekking the Tribal Trail. Click Here 

My Focus on People Groups 

https://sites.google.com/view/focusonpeople 

Where are my People?

 

Philipose Vaidyar

Where are the Neediest People?

They are in the cities; some say, due to rapid urbanization migration to cities is on the rise and the mainstream population will be in cities in a few years, they believe. They are in hi-tech jobs and in the multinational software field; that’s what the big industry is. They are in world markets; that’s where the business and the outsourcing are. They are in IT; that’s how the world is moving today…”  The analysis goes on. 

Most of the mass media messages today including Christian TV, are formatted for the upper-middle class. They are believed to be the opinion-makers and movers of society. It’s only a partial truth.

The builders of the nation are not just managers and professionals. Every individual, community, and people group (ethnic, linguistic, social, economic, and professional groups are important and they have a role to play in society and possess a place in God’s kingdom.  But most often many are ignored or neglected. We need to acknowledge and identify every people and the people who are needy in different respects whether urban or rural.

Take for example urbanization. People move from villages to cities. The affluent use their brain to earn and build their citadels in posh environments while the poor and the uneducated use their muscle power to win their bread and weave their dreams under tin roofs and plastic sheets. If the population grows and moves to cities, the number and size of slums also will swell. The information-rich continue to become richer while the information-poor continue to live in perpetual poverty and struggle to live just for a day. The rich in India survive because of the poor, in all respects. In a country like India, the rich and poor live together in the same geographical area, especially in the cities. Before we can think of reaching them, before we formulate messages for them, we need to understand different layers of society- the powerful and the marginal.

One easy indicator for this is to look at them from the perspective of their basic lifestyle- where they live, what they eat, what they wear, how they communicate, and transport.

Where do they live? 

What do they wear? 

What do they eat and where do they eat? 

How do they ‘convey’ and use conveyance? 

When we assess their status we also need to think about the individuals who lead them.

WHO ARE THE LEADERS?

Who are the leaders of my People? 

The leaders of my people are powerful. Money and media have replaced muscles. Information and media are powerful. They lead people so they can manipulate information. They are dealers rather than leaders. Instead of helping their fold, they are helped, instead of serving the needy, they are served. They thrive and prosper at the cost of their followers. They boast that they do not own anything in this world. But they live in the air, meet in five-stars, and once they land they move only by costliest vehicles to meet their crowd. Since they are not news-makers they buy channels to make sure they will be on the mini-screen. Let the land be swept by Tsunami or shudder by the quake, it means an opportunity for them to serve and come into the limelight. The poor, vulnerable, underprivileged, and unreached are essential for their sustenance. 

Several social sector sponsorship programs in the name of the poor are deceptions. The slogans of justice and sustainability of the poor are on paper and on digital media. Not even 2% of the sponsorship reaches the sponsored children directly in kind!!

Heavy thick management survives and serves them; stay on the leadership to the maximum to get fattened. The rest goes for publicity, mobilization, and managing systems and procedures. More people work on systems, tools, information processes, internet and intranet, designing, monitoring, and evaluation than on the field where the poor and needy are!  

The disparity and injustice within their organization are Himalayan!  

Can you imagine, that a CEO of a certain social organization draws INR 8,25,000 per month, then an array of Senior Directors, Group Directors, senior managers in the leadership alone, and all their support staff while a new staff in the field gets INR 15,000 to  20,000 per month?! The staff with 10 years of experience used to get INR.40,000 per month and with the re-recruitments process, being given a pay of 15,000 to 20,000.  

A sponsored child (all the children) used to get a one-time benefit of Rs.300 or 400 a year, but because of recent regulations, that is still being cut down. Field staff who do the heavy work are heavily reduced, jobs combined and salary reduced whereas there is only an increase in positions in the leadership. A couple of years ago, according to one of the auditors, the organization reduced 50 field staff to take care of the promotion of 5 directors to the level of senior directors. 

We would pay a heavy price for this in the years to come!

The leaders of today are not very different from those of a few thousand years ago.

The leaders of Israel are rebuked by the Lord and He still rebukes. The message is still relevant today. Ezekiel, the prophet of Israel was urged by God to speak against them. The Word of God comes against the leaders who feed on their sheep. Let those who have an ear, let him hear!  

This is seen in Ezekiel 34:1-16 and ff

1 And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you kill the fat ones, but you do not feed the flock. 4 You have not made the weak strong, nor have you healed the sick, nor have you bound up the broken. You have not brought again those driven away, nor have you sought that which was lost; but you have ruled them with force and with cruelty. 5 And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd. And they became food to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yea, My flock was scattered on all the face of the earth, and none searched nor sought for them. 

People live in the hills and mountains. As invaders came in, the natives who could not resist them or did not subject to the oppressive caste system forced upon them fled to the interior hills. These are the tribals of today. (North-Eastern tribes are exceptions). Those who were willing to submit to them by receiving menial jobs and status in society became the scheduled castes. This is history and the story repeats in new formats and with new implications. In urban cities today, the weak and the poor find their solace in slums. The powerful continue to lead, oppress, manipulate, kill and make the weak their food. The prophecy continues…

7 Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: 8 As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock. 9 Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah. 10 So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. or shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth, and they will not be food to devour. 11 For so says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the lands, and will bring them to their own land and feed them on the mountain of Israel by the rivers, and in all the places of the land where people live. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture, they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Jehovah. 16 I will seek the lost, and bring again those driven away, and will bind up the broken, and will strengthen the sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. 

The master shepherd, the son of God, came to this world to seek the lost and save the perishing. He heals and saves, delivers, restores, sustains, and satisfies. But today, many leaders are far away from the lifestyle of the master. Neither they are available for the needy, nor they are reachable for the lost; not affordable for the poor. They live and lead for themselves. They manipulate information; exchange it to mobilize resources for their benefit in the name of the poor and vulnerable. They hide in their luxuries and want to reach the lost through mass media. The lion's portion goes for the management of sustenance of the leadership. 

In the name of healing and salvation, they build their kingdoms on this earth and promote themselves and their products. Their strategies are to please those who support them. They look at the people only through defined ‘windows’. They want to ‘bless the nation’ by casting a national vision for the coming decades. They think they can ‘disciple a whole nation’ and ‘build’ them up. They are willing to network with others who fall into their wavelength. They recruit more personnel for different layers to have higher profiles and promotions for themselves. Whatever be the work, people are considered human resources and manage them as resources and with economic principles. The structure and restructure the organization and make new definitions to save their positions and suppress the lover caders and grass-root employees. The Word of God is against such leaders; the judgment of God is coming upon them. God hands them over to wickedness that they never repent unless they are fallen caught red-handed. 

That’s how Jesus saw the people and their leaders. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to the disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” [Matthew 9:36-38] And then he called his disciples and sent them. He asks us: “…. do you love me?” If ‘yes Lord’ is the answer, His response is “Feed my sheep” He still asks us: “…do you love me more than these?” If ‘yes Lord’ is the answer, His response is “Take care of my sheep” 

How do we take care of our people???

Pictures from personal files are used only for illustrations 

Why Should We Pray for the Unreached?

 

Philipose Vaidyar 

Why should we pray for people groups? Is prayer mobilization more important than the proclamation of the gospel? How effectively do we pray and how much of the wide range of information available about the unreached people, do we use for prayer? The following lines are an attempt to answer these questions. 

1. Why should we pray for people groups? 

There are more than 16,000 people groups in the world. All of them put together, the total population of the world as estimated is 6,351,063,509. The great commission of Lord Jesus Christ is to reach them all. Each of these people groups needs to have an opportunity to listen to the gospel in their own language and in understandable terms. Their culture and practices are distinct but they need to experience salvation by following Jesus Christ and becoming His disciples. Jesus has asked us to pray for the harvest. He asked us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers for the harvest - to the ends of the world. Therefore, we need to pray for the unreached people groups. An earlier approach to reaching the unreached was linguistic. Many missions pioneered in different languages of the world. The great commission of Lord Jesus is to make disciples of all nations (ethnic groups). This vision of God about people groups was given to the apostle John as recorded in the book of Revelation: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands ..." Revelation 7:9 (NKJV) All these people groups need to listen to the gospel and become children of God. Therefore, the gospel needs to be communicated to all the people groups of the world and we need to pray for each of them that the Lord will send the right kind of workers and the Spirit of God will prepare the hearts of the people.

  2. Is prayer mobilization more important than the proclamation of the gospel? 

The Lord may lead us to share the gospel with anyone at any time even when we are not prepared. We may be specially guided by the Spirit of God as He guided Apostle Philip to the Ethiopian. But we need to be prepared to be used by the Spirit of God. We need to look around, collect information, and look for the right and appealing points of contact or frames of reference that will help us communicate and the people understand the message. When we pray, God prepares the people, changes their situations and sends His people to them even those who pray. Jill Johnstone, who compiled the children's edition of Patrick Johnstone's Operation World, shares her experience in her book. She writes, "I started writing this book with the country of Albania. The children in our "You Can Change the World" prayer club were sad because the Albanians were not allowed to worship God, pray to him, or have any books about him. They prayed hard for change in Albania and soon the men who ruled Albania were removed from power. Now people there are free to believe in Jesus. The children's prayers, and those of other Christians around the world, changed Albania, so I had to rewrite that chapter. Will your prayers help change other countries too?" (Jill Johnstone, You Can Change the World, OM, UK, 1994, p.6) I was personally challenged by this; praying for unreached people and preparing and helping people prepare mobilization tools have become my vision since then. Christians, prospective missionaries, and young people are challenged to go into unreached places or cultures after hearing or seeing about the needy. There are 52 people groups on the Western Ghat (the southern hill ranges of the country bordering Kerala from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka stales) alone and many in the plains of that region do not know of them or know that there are that many of them. One of my first slide presentations about a hill people group motivated a local Lions Club to arrange a medical camp among them. I have seen positive responses made by people after reading or watching printed / video profiles about unreached people groups. People profiles are very important in mobilizing prayer for the unreached. 

  3. How effectively do we pray for the unreached people? 

There is more information available today in different formats for those of us who want to pray. IMA has published about 400 profiles of Dalits and mega-people groups. Several mission agencies across the world have similar publications. Several websites have online profiles of unreached people around the world. The prayer tool Operation World by Patrick Johnstone has been available in books and/or card form since 1974 and is found in many Christian homes. But do we use all these available resources for praying? How do we use them and where do we use them? How many of our church or fellowship group members know about these unreached people groups? Do our children or people in the circle of our influence pray for the unreached people? Those of us, who have this burden and information, have to disseminate it to our own people. Let praying for the unreached people become part of our Christian life. In our personal quiet time, family, group, and church prayers we need to discuss and pray about these. Let us talk about the unreached whenever and wherever we can, in formal, informal, and family meetings until our friends and children catch this vision. Specific prayers offered in faith will have specific answers from the Lord. We need to collect, compile, and pass on specific information about the unreached and set role models in praying for them. Our Sunday Schools, Vacation Bible Schools, children's clubs, and churches will pray for the people groups of the nation/world if only we start doing it at home, at least from today. 

Prayers mobilized for the unreached can rewrite the story of people and when we pray, their lives will never be the same. 

(First published in Indian Missions, India Missions Association was republished by http://strategicnetwork.org/index.php?loc=kb&view=v&id=19013&fby=3607& ____________________

Philipose Vaidyar has been a missionary, a teacher of Communications in a seminary under the Senate of Serampore, a freelance mission journalist, and an alternative media producer and consultant. This article was published in Indian Missions while he was the Coordinator for Research and Communications at the India Missions Association (IMA). His stories about a dozen people groups are published at https://sites.google.com/view/focusonpeople   Philipose continues to assist missions in India by researching and writing about the most needy and neglected people groups and minority languages. He can be contacted at createtools@gmail.com