The Late Shanta (Ben) Yadav

Shantaben  was a key woman leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). She  played a very important role in the movement including undertaking an indefinite fast at the Long March of the NBA at the Gujarat-Madhya Pradesh border at Ferkuva, in the year 1990-91.

For the Adivasis, the River Narmada is a mother, the giver. For the Hindus, the River Narmada is a Goddess like the River Ganga. Since she is considered to be the daughter of Shiva, every stone on the banks of the Narmada is considered a Shivlinga. According to Hindu belief, one has to bathe in the Ganga to absolve oneself of all sins, but the mere sight of the Narmada is enough to do so. So, it is no surprise that there is a unique Hindu spiritual tradition associated with the Narmada river, possibly the only one of its kind in the world, of the parikrama or circumambulation of a river. Thousands of Hindus undertake this age old tradition of the Narmada Parikrama. The complete parikrama is about 2600 kilometres long. The parikramavasis, the circumambulators, are not supposed to carry any worldly possessions and traditionally, the villagers on the banks of the river provide food and shelter for the parikramavasis, which is considered a pious deed. It is no wonder then that the people on the banks of this mighty river, whose life is so deeply entwined with the river, naturally put up a great deal of resistance against mega dams not just to save their livelihood but to protect one of the richest River Valley civilisations in the country.

In this clip Shantaben describes the many different facets of the lives of the people on the banks of the Narmada River and the bond that people share with the river. Asked how the mega Sardar Sarovar dam has impacted the river itself, she says, “Yes, it (the dam) has had an impact on the river…They have started impounding more water…Lot of silt has also accumulated there, up to this height, so it is difficult now to take a bath in the Narmada. Because of all that dirt, clear water is available only at a distance. It has become very difficult to take a bath, but what can one do? If they have done this to Mother Narmada, what can we do? So, we fold our hands before the mother (Narmada), and say, “O Mother! Now it’s up to you to look after yourself. We can’t do more than what we are doing…we are fighting to the best of our abilities. What more can we do?” The water looks greener…It is less tasty to drink then earlier days…Had the river kept flowing, the waste would have been washed away, but now it gets stuck in the (stagnant) water, and because of that, the water of the river becomes dirty…Earlier the water was clean and transparent, and you could see the river flow, and as it flowed along, it would make a sweet flowing sound – kal kal, kal kal. You could hear the sound… The water used to be very clean earlier, but now it looks green and dirty… That’s how it is.”

Interview Duration:
 00:25:31

Language:
Audio in Nimadi, Subtitles in English

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