Bava Mahariya

Khundu Dudu of Tinih Mal and Gangu Motu of Jalsindhi lived in the Narmada valley with their people and their livestock in the forest area. They said they were born here. They said that mother Narmada when emerged, she came from Amarkantak our elders told us. And we heard them say that Narmada packed her tiffin with a dish made of chillia and dungli vegetables and embarked on her journey.  Narmada River set out with her six other sisters, seven in all, to meet Dudu Daria, the ocean. The others flowed through the plains but Sati Narmada came through the hills because she did not want to cause much loss to people by flowing through the plains. She made her way through the hills and forests and gradually arrived at Jalsindhi where she stopped for the night…

Bava Mahariya

Bava Mahariya, is one of those leaders of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, who has refused to move out of his village Jalsindhi in Madhya Pradesh, in spite of repeated submergence of the village due to the Sardar Sarovar dam. The attachment and relation that people on the banks of the River Narmada have with the river and their lands are deep.  Bava and his family preferred to shift higher and higher up the hills as the waters of the dam rose and drowned their farm lands, home and village Jalsindhi, but refused to consider resettlement far from the banks of the river Narmada. It is important to listen to Bava, who speaks here of the Narmada River, his village Jalsindhi on its bank and its historical, religious and mythological significance.  

Interview Duration:
00:24:34

Language:
Bhilali , Subtitles in English

Subtitles can be switched on and off by clicking ‘CC’ button at the bottom right of the video