A group of cheerful faces peek out of the window of the Government Primary School in Jambur as we make our way in, carrying guava and mango saplings. These are to be planted in the school as part of the village support program by Woods at Sasan, a biophilic retreat in Sasan Gir.
The programme supports the local communities of six villages surrounding Gir National Park—Sandra, Borvav, Bhojde, Chitrod, Jambur and Lushala—with various developmental initiatives.
Jambur is predominantly a Siddi settlement.
Siddis are a tribe with strong African ancestry found in pockets of Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Genetic studies by NCBI reveal that the Siddis trace their ancestry to Bantu speakers from sub-Saharan Africa. Said to have been brought to South Asia by the Portuguese as enslaved people, most of the 60000 Siddis in India follow Islam.
The Siddis have lived in India for centuries, holding positions of importance in royal armies and sultanates. Today, a modern display of the traditional "Dhamaal" dance by young males of the tribe further showcases their strength, energy and fire rituals.
Lagina, an elderly Siddi woman from Jambur, took it upon herself to show me her village.
"We have strong homes in our village now, and our kids go to school. Come with me and see," Lagina said in broken Hindi with a large smile on her face. She lamented that they speak fluent Gujarati, but the education system doesn't yet give them access to good English teachers.
The Siddis come across as reserved and cautious when seeing an outsider. Despite being accompanied by the community outreach leader, Vijay Shukla from Woods at Sasan, who they know well, the villagers seemed apprehensive, eyeing us with suspicion.
Lagina, immediately recognising this look, called out to Hasina, her neighbour, to come and meet us as we walked together around the village.
The Siddi women are resilient and intelligent, using their skills to earn an income. They sew and sow, ride scooters and insist their children go to school, and the men go out and find paying work. The ladies told me many stories of development, but what emerged strongly was a genuine lack of professional exposure for the young generation to find employment in traditional roles. Racism against the tribe often discourages young workers from finding jobs in bigger cities.
Many Siddis still live inside the forest without electricity and rely primarily on nature for sustenance. Living conditions have improved both inside and outside the forest with various schemes and grants provided by the Government under ethnic group rehabilitation programs. However, education and opportunities are inadequate for this marginalised ethnic group.
Jamaal (name changed), one of our guides on safari at the Gir National Park, also works in agricultural fields.
"We have lived here with the lions for many centuries; they are very much a part of our lives as we are theirs", he explained.
His friend and fellow guide Imran helms a group of Dhamaal dancers with their friends and was interviewed for a documentary by the United Nations.
The sporting abilities of the Siddis are legendary.
In Oct 2021, the Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) shortlisted 48 men and 38 women of the community for the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics. These candidates will be given training and have the opportunity to nurture their sporting talent across fields such as judo and athletics. However, that is as far as opportunities go for the tribe.
However, the hospitality companies in the region are doing their bit to lend a helping hand to the community.
The 1000 Island Hotels and Resorts is enriching the lives of the Siddis through the four pillars of community engagement-- Shram Dan, Swasthya Sewa, Samajik Granth and Krishi Utpadan.
"We have created opportunities for development with focussed activities and community libraries, employed local youth (40 per cent of the staff) and provided know-how for organic farming," said Maulik Bhagat, Founder and Managing Director of 1000 Island Hotels and Resorts.
(Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay is an avid traveller, a writer and an independent marketing professional working from Goa)
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