If one is interested in referring to the Cambridge dictionary to
understand the meaning of oral traditions, it would mean a system for
preserving a group’s beliefs, customs, and history, in which parents tell their
children about them, and the children tell their children, and so on. Exciting
and very interesting you will have to agree.
In a culture like India which has ebbed and flowed for tens of
thousands of years, the oral tradition has been responsible for the passing
down of knowledge in fields as diverse as medicine, literature, music and
dance. The vocal format has resulted in rich troves of knowledge being passed
down through the ages. From the cure for an upset stomach to musical works from
the classical period known as the Natya Shastra. But the questions that needs
to be asked if whether in today’s day and age the oral tradition is still
flowing strong. Whether there is still the flow of information. Whether people
are interested in gaining information because in these complicated times access
to information and using it intelligently is the need of the hour. Are oral
traditions in the country dying out, it was a question that needed an answer or
answers.
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Dattaprasad Shetkar who is organising the TEDX in Panjim felt
that oral traditions were a very important aspect of Indian tradition from the
time of the vedic period. Grandparents used to pass down stories through the
ages to inculcate values as culture in the next generation. The young would
absorb them and then pass it down to the next generation at the appropriate
time. The village economy, he believed also enhanced this with a meeting point
in the centre of the village where discussions would take place. Points of
importance would be passed down through the ages.
Today even something like TEDX is being consumed via the
platform of the internet. It was still an oral tradition and nothing had really
changed. The experience, he said of listening to someone speak live was dying
out and this was an attempt to keep the tradition alive. This, he said helped
create conversations and society along.
For Goan painter and if one could call him provocateur Subodh
Kerkar had definite ideas about oral traditions and whether knowledge still
flowed through it to the present generation. He said “It is important to
understand history. The Siddis, of African descent, were brought to Goa by the
Portuguese as slaves. They picked up Konkani but in time they escaped to the
forests of Karnataka. This happened 500 years ago. When I as part of a team
went into the forest and met them, they spoke in Konkani and they sang a song
which is still very popular on the party circuit. This song is more than 500
years old and the Siddis remembered it thanks to the oral tradition.
Then there is the Gauda community where the Christians sing
praise to a king called Hari Hara. He had ruled parts of the state for several
years. This was 700 years ago. The Gauda dress up as Hindu brahmins and sing
this song. This has been passed down through the oral tradition”. The oral
tradition, he said was very much there and doing quite fine.
Rajendra Kerkar, environmentalist was not so confident that some
of the old ways would survive the passage of time. He said “We are trying to
revive and maintain old traditions like the music created by the coconut ball
which accompanies women singing. We are trying to revive the Guru shishya
parampara which attracted a lot of attention. It’s a battle we have lost as
some of the traditions went away, following the death of people who knew songs.
They were never recorded. It is knowledge gone for ever”.
However, the most interesting take on this was given by writer
and journalist Sandesh Prabhudessai. He said it is important to ask the
question whether oral tradition meant before letters were invented and did that
then mean that every thing that came after the written word was not part of the
oral tradition. He said “Recipes have been passed down through the ages,
earlier it was through face to face interaction but now it could be through a
phone call or a skype call. But that still remains part of the oral tradition.
The mobile phone is just an addition, the basics still remain the same. It is still
two people talking to each other. I will say they are still exchanging details
of medicines for their sick parents. I will say the oral tradition is strong
and kicking and has adapted to the times.”
Yatin
Kakodkar who is the President & Trustee at The International Centre Goa
felt in the conditions prevalent today, there would be a reluctance to depend
on oral traditions, a reluctance due to the time constraints placed due to a
fast-evolving world. Today he felt it was all about learning to know how to
access knowledge and more importantly how to use it. Maybe , he felt there was
some knowledge which was proprietary and which was only available through the
oral tradition.
