FOLKLORE
Northern tales
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`Though it makes for interesting reading, this book is meant for academicians and serious students of folklore and literature.'
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FOLKTALES, no matter where they originate, have certain common themes — the wicked stepmother has probably done enough to tarnish the image of stepmothers in general. Then there are the younger brother (either the village fool or oppressed by his elders), star-crossed lovers, animals taking on human attributes etc. India's folklore is, as A.K. Ramanujan pointed out, an indelible part of the communities and is "the symbolic language of the language of the non-literate parts of the people and culture" ("Introduction", Folktales from India). In India, apart from the multitude of languages, the story contends with the various cultures. As it moves from one teller to another, the basic structure may be retained but cultural variations are introduced. At times two or more stories may be combined or certain details omitted to suit the cultural context. Apart from the professionals (bards and itinerant singers), the non-professional — the grandparents and other members of the extended family — also played a role in the dissemination of the folktales.
Oral origins
For a long time, folklore remained a part of the oral tradition and was not taken seriously. In the 19th Century, when scholars focused on textual and material sources to piece together the history of ancient India, one man dared to be different. An official in the Indian Civil Service, William Crooke was a pioneering ethnographer and historian who collected a remarkable number of folktales from rural North India. Aided by Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube, he published, over a six-year period, tales that till then had been confined to an oral tradition.
While most of the stories were published in the North Indian Notes and Queries (NINQ), of which Crooke was editor, many remained unpublished. Sadhana Naithani, assistant professor in the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University has put together around 350 of these stories into a single volume Folktales From Northern India and also provided a scholarly introduction on the collaboration between the British sahib and the Indian. Though the book was published by ABC-CLIO in 2002, the Indian edition (published by Shubhi Publications, Gurgaon) has hit the stalls this year.
Naithani's "Introduction" gives the background to how the stories were collected, the development of NINQ's folklore collection and the contribution of Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube to the journal. She also points out that Crooke's approach to folklore was far ahead of his time. Perhaps the most interesting sections of her essay are the portions on Akbar Shah Manjhi, a professional storyteller and the one dealing with the relationship between Crooke and the Pandit.
Familiar feel
Going on to the stories, acknowledging the original narrator is an indicator of the widespread oral tradition in India. Cultivators, weavers, accountants have all contributed their bit to this collection. It is highly probable that many readers would be familiar with quite a few stories, give or take a few regional variations. In fact, Naithani also adds a note to many to point out their relationship with popular tales from other countries/cultures. Though it makes for interesting reading, this book is meant for academicians and serious students of folklore and literature especially when placed in context of Indian culture.
R. KRITHIKA
Folktales From Northern India, William Crooke and Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube, edited with an Introduction by Sadhana Naithani, Shubhi Publications, Rs. 1675.
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