Over hundred or so different tribes spread over India have suffered the indignity of caste discrimination for centuries. It was Mahatma Gandhi who fought hard to recognize them as free citizens of India and called them the Girijans or the Children of the Forest God. Upon independence in 1947, the Government of India spent a lot of resources to improve the life of the native Indians or Scheduled Tribes, as they are known in India today. While much progress is made in reforming the tribals, the forced change gave rise to numerous unforeseen problems in India, including social conflict, loss of identity, and coerced religious conversions.The following is a potpourri of topics on the Tribals of India, mostly based on the first person studies and photographs by my father K.L.Kamat. Many tribes believed (in the 1960s and 1970s) that posing for the photograph caused their death, and the extent and the pains Kamat has taken to document these itself is a subject for a volume; he has shared meals with the poorest of the poor in their habitat, waited hours to take natural photographs, coaxed and coerced the villagers into providing information, and has studied works of other anthropologists.
Kamat has claimed that interaction with tribals provided him with "true fulfillment of life" (see his introduction), and by keenly studying this exhibit at Kamat's Potpourri, we hope that you will learn about the little known, but very rich traditions and cultures of the tribals of India.
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