"Kavi Man Jani Man" Anthology (Poetry Anthology, 2019); Overview
Kavi Man Jani Man, edited by Vandana Tete
Published in 2019 by Radhakrishna Prakashan, Delhi, India
Kavi Man Jani Man is a Hindi-language anthology of poetry by Adivasi women edited by Vandana Tete, published in 2019. The title can literally be translated as "Poet's Mind, Woman's Mind." It contains poetry by eleven writers: Sushma Asur, Rose Kerketta, Pyari Tuti, Francisca Kujur, Ujjwala Jyoti Tigga, Damyanti Sinku, Shanti Khalkho, Yashoda Murmu, Jyoti Lakra, Jacinta Kerketta, and Vandana Tete.
As of 2025, this important volume has not been translated into English. On this site, we have included a very limited number of translations of poems from the collection to give a sense of the scope of the poetry in the collection. (Scroll down to have a look at the translations.)
Kavi Man Jani Man features an introduction by Vandana Tete, the title of which can be translated as "Because Adivasi Women Carry the Future on Their Backs." The anthology also features a second Preface by Dr. Rohini Agarwal, "Manifesto of Adivasi Literature -- in Poetry."
In the introduction, Tete indicates that this collection is the first anthology of literature by Adivasi women. She credits Sushila Samad (not included in the current anthology) as being the "first Adivasi woman poet in Hindi literature." Other pioneering Adivasi writers who were women are also mentioned here:
प्रस्तुत संकलन में वृहत्तर झारखंड के आदिवासी समुदायों के स्त्रियों की कविताएँ शामिल हैं। दो प्रमुख कवयित्रियाँ इस संकलन में नहीं हैं। पहली आदिवासी स्त्री कवयित्री सुशीला सामद और संताली कवयित्री आशा सुषमा किस्कू, जो सुशीला की तरह ही मूल रूप से हिन्दी में गीत-कविताएँ लिखती थीं। सुशीला की रचनाएँ स्वतंत्र रूप से पुस्तक की शक्ल में इसी संकलन के साथ-साथ आ चुकी हैं। उम्मीद है आशा किस्कू की कविताएँ भी जल्द ही आपको पढ़ने को मिलेंगी। और हाँ, एक अन्य मुंडा स्त्री रचनाकार हैं काजल डेमटा। गीत, कहानियाँ और नाटक लेखन सभी में समान रूप से सिद्धहस्त । यह संकलन जब प्रेस में जा रहा था, तब उनके बारे में जानकारी मिली। दूसरे संस्करण में वे जरूर साथ होंगी।
This anthology includes poems by women from Adivasi communities of the greater Jharkhand region. Two major women poets are not included in this collection. The first is Sushila Samad, the earliest Adivasi woman poet, and the second is Asha Sushma Kisku, a Santali poet who, like Sushila, originally wrote songs and poems in Hindi. Sushila’s works have now been independently published as a book alongside this anthology. It is hoped that Asha Kisku’s poems will also soon be available to readers. And yes, another Munda woman writer is Kajal Demta, who is equally adept in writing songs, stories, and plays. When this collection was going to press, information about her work came to light. She will certainly be included in the second edition.
Tete also indicates in her introduction that most of the writers included in the anthology write and publish in their own "Adivasi mother tongues," though the poems included in the anthology were all written in Hindi ("some are translations into Hindi, done by the poets themselves").
Later in the introduction, Tete also indicates that gender relations in Adivasi communities looks somewhat different than it does in mainstream Indian society:
Vandana Tete has also made a version of this point in other writings. We take it to mean not that there is no male dominance in Adivasi communities, but rather that patriarchy as a social system was not necessarily present in many Adivasi cultures before contact with the outside world. (To date, marriage rituals, family structure, and attitudes about sex and sexuality continue to be different in many Adivasi communities from the norms in mainstream Hindu culture.) That said, Tete is insistent that if patriarchy is not endemic to Adivasi life, then the Adivasi relationship to "feminism" must be different.प्राकृतिक विभेद के अलावा जहाँ इनसान अथवा सत्ता द्वारा कृत्रिम रूप से थोपा हुआ कोई दूसरा भेद नहीं है। हालाँकि कुछ बन्दिरों हैं, परन्तु सामन्ती क्रूरता और धार्मिक आडम्बरों के किले में आदिवासी स्त्री बिलकुल कैद नहीं है। आदिवासी समाज में पुरुष सत्ता नहीं होने से स्त्रीवाद भीनहीं है। यदि आदिवासी स्त्रियाँ पुरुष उत्पीड़न पर भी रचनात्मक लेखन कर रही हैं, तो उसकी वजह 'सभ्यता' नामक बीमारी है। आदिवासी दर्शन और संस्कृति नहीं। 'सभ्यता' से सम्पर्क के पहले पुरुष सत्ता जैसी कोई अवधारणा आदिवासियों की सामाजिक व्यवस्था में हमें नहीं मिलती। इसीलिए आदिवासी स्त्री की संवेदना वेदना, चिन्ता, सौन्दर्यबोध और भौतिक संसार को सामने लाने का यह एक जरूरी उपक्रम है।ताकि खुद को मुख्यधारा कहने वाला समाज और साहित्य समझ सके कि आदिवासी स्त्रियों का लेखन उसी रचाव-बचाव का अभिन्न हिस्सा है, जो सामूहिक है।
It must be kept in mind that the emotional and intellectual ground of the Adivasi jani man (woman's mind) is entirely different. It is rooted in the philosophy of Adivasiyat (Adivasi-ness), where equality is a fundamental nature. Aside from natural differences, there is no other form of discrimination artificially imposed by humans or power structures. Though there are some boundaries, the Adivasi woman is not imprisoned in the fortresses of feudal cruelty and religious pretense. Since there is no male dominance in Adivasi society, there is no feminism either. If Adivasi women are now writing creatively on male oppression, the cause is the disease called "civilization," not Adivasi philosophy or culture. Before contact with "civilization," we do not find any concept of male dominance in the social structures of Adivasi life.
Tete's preface ends with a strong advocacy for Adivasi self-determination and decolonial resistance to externally imposed values and norms:
सवाल है, विकास किसका और कैसे ? कौन-सा विश्व दृष्टिकोण ? घृणा, भेद और लूट पर आधारित सौन्दर्यबोध या कि इनसानी गरिमा की पक्षधरता वाला सांस्कृतिक मूल्य ? यह अजीब बात है कि धरती, स्त्री, समष्टि को रंग, नस्ल, धर्म, लिंग और जाति में विभाजित करने वाला भारतीय समाज व साहित्य, जो खुद को मुख्यधारा घोषित करता है, वह समताजीवी आदिवासी समाज को इनसानियत की सीख दे रहा है। किसी भी भाषा और समाज को हेय बताकर विकास और संवाद की इच्छा जाहिर करना राजनीतिक धूर्तता है। हिन्दी व अंग्रेजी की श्रेष्ठता और वर्चस्व आदिवासी भाषाओं को उनके समुदाय की तरह ही दबाए-कुचले और शोषित बनाए रखने के लिए थोपा गया है। ऐसा नहीं है तो फिर गैर आदिवासियों द्वारा किए गए शोध प्रबन्धों व अध्ययनों को आदिवासी साहित्य क्यों कहा जा रहा है ?
The real question is—whose development, and how? Which worldview? An aesthetic based on hatred, division, and exploitation—or cultural values rooted in human dignity? It is strange that Indian society and literature, which divide earth, women, and the collective into color, race, religion, gender, and caste—and still declare themselves the mainstream—are attempting to teach humanity to the egalitarian Adivasi society. Declaring a language or society inferior while claiming a desire for development and dialogue is political cunning. The supremacy and dominance of Hindi and English have been imposed in order to keep Adivasi languages—and their communities—oppressed and exploited.