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Love for Bondas makes him write a book for the community

KORAPUT: Dud Mangma, a book in Bonda language is the latest written by Gobardhan Panda, the tribal linguist from Koraput district. He has written this book for the students from Bonda community who are studying in first standard. This is his fifth book after Remsam, Durua Pata Olar Pate, Banabasi Gabesana O Gabeshak and Gutab Samo Remosam, written in Bonda, Durua and Olar languages by him. Even though all languages have their own identity and strength, the language that the Bondas use appeals the most, he said.

It was only in 1982 that his love for the language and the community had begun when he had been first into the Bonda hills of Malkangiri district to serve for 11 years in the Bonda Development Authority as a jeep driver. The passion of driving in the tough zones and ghats and playing his violin in deep lonely forest were the first realization for him in Bonda ghat region till he got exposed to the essence of the serene language of the Bondas . The sweet sequence of the language had filled his heart with joy and since then he had not looked back, Krushna Chandra Nishanko, District Culture Officer of Koraput said.

Life of Bondas is equally disciplined, harmonious and simple as their language for the exemplary role played by the women in the community, Mr.Panda added. While the men move in the forest spending most of their time in drinking liquor , women on the other hand take the entire responsibility of the family . Women in the community marry men of younger age so as to guide them and to prevent them from getting spoiled. Even though it looked strange in a male dominated society, this was also instrumental in keeping their population under control, he said.

Most of the Bonda families have two or three children unlike other tribal communities with large families. Women in the community marry in their early teens to the boys who are 6 to 7 years younger.

Being in the single digit age their conjugal life starts only when the boy reaches a maturity age, he said. While trying to draw a link of the Bonda community to their origin he said that even though the community was largely confined to Andrahal and Mudulipada panchayats of Malkangiri district for a long time they had their origin at Bondak,

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