Going tribal

A civil servant captures on camera the lives and travails of West Bengal’s tribes.

A civil servant by profession, a film maker by passion and a humanist at heart — that’s how Santanu Basu, additional private secretary to the West Bengal Chief Minister, is known among his peers. Basu has been making documentary films on the tribes of West Bengal during his postings in their areas — an experience which, he says, has enriched him both as a human being and as a public servant.

“In 2002-05, I was posted at Madarihat in the Alipurduar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district in north Bengal. The belt belongs to the Toto tribe,” says Basu. A Totos’ population was rapidly decreasing. “My interest in their lives grew as my work required me to interact with them on a daily basis,” he says. Basu saw independent film makers visiting Totopara, or the dwellings of the Totos, to make movies and documentaries on their lives. “These film makers would shoot with the tribal people during their week-long or month-long stay. Their work would lack the depth which can come only after understanding the beliefs, culture, festivals, problems and struggles of the Totos,” he says. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that the stories of the Totos needed to be told holistically. Basu decided to pick up the camera. It took him three years to shoot his first film, a 40-minute documentary, The Next Door Neighbour, on the lives and travails of the Toto tribe.

The research, the script, the direction —Basu did it all himself. And, theatre artist Rudraprasad Sengupta helped with the voiceover. “I shot in different seasons to capture their seasonal customs and rituals, and hardships and struggles. They, in turn, were extremely helpful by accepting me and allowing me access to the inner circle of their domestic lives,” says Basu.

A grateful Basu says he owed it to the tribal people to show them the film he had made about them. So, he arranged for the first screening of the film at a Totopara math, or the community ground of the Totos. “I arranged for a large projector and generators for the screening. The ground was jam-packed as the entire community descended to see themselves on screen,” recalls Basu.

His second encounter with another primitive tribe of West Bengal called the Birhors happened in 2008 when he was posted in Purulia district. By this time, Basu’s first documentary had been screened at several government seminars. “The district magistrate of Purulia called me and insisted that I make a film on the Birhor tribes for the Backward Classes Welfare Department. I finally completed the project, Birhors of Purulia, in 2009.”

He says the rapid spread of modern civilisation is posing a grave threat to tribal customs as more and more young and educated tribal people are disassociating themselves from the tribal way of life. These indigenous cultures, he rues, are facing extinction.

A movie buff and a voracious reader, Basu draws inspiration from Satyajit Ray movies. “Right from my childhood, I have been a great admirer of Ray’s cinematography. This interest in movies grew more intense during my college days,” says Basu who has a master’s degree in applied geology from Jadavpur University and had topped the state civil service examination in 1999. His works on the tribes are now part of the government's archives for their immense research value.

Basu is a writer, too, and has also scripted plays. His play, Chayamoy, based on the lives of the village folks of rural Bengal, was enacted by government employees at Natyamela, Kolkata’s annual theatre festival.

So, is it difficult to communicate with the tribal people in a time when the state is facing challenges such as Naxalism? “If you can communicate with them honestly,” says Basu, “this honesty will bridge the gap and convince them of your good intention.”