Photographer Karan Kumar Sachdev give us a glimpse of the everyday life of the Baiga tribe in which humans and nature are intertwined and coexist together in mutual respect.
“As I sit in his courtyard, sifting through sketches of folk art and legends, Tophsingh Marawi narrates the birth of mankind. “At the birth of mankind,” he says, “God divided Earth’s resources amongst its tribes. To the Gond, He gave the land to cultivate; to the Agaria, the underground and its minerals to extract ores and make tools; to the Pradhan, He gave charge of welfare; and to the Baiga, He gave the forest.”
I am deep in the Sal forests of the Maikal Hills of central India; these are the forests that the Baigas were given – an extension of their homes and lives, taking from the forest only what she gives, including her secrets. “We were born from Mother Earth’s womb and so long as we don’t lacerate her chest with the plough she tells us her secrets,” Tophsingh says.
During the months of March-April, as winter gives way to summer, the Baigas spend their mornings under mahua trees scattered across the forest, collecting the flowers that have fallen overnight. They start collecting from the ground under the furthest branch, gradually circling closer towards the trunk so as not to step on the fallen flowers. As I watch them, I wonder if this is what life was like before the agricultural revolution, before humankind cast off its intimate symbiosis with nature.
The edible mahua flower is often used as a substitute for sugar. Fermented, the flower produces an alcoholic drink known locally as Mahua; distilled at home, it has been an integral part of their cultural lives. Inspired by tradition, as Smokelabs creates its own Mahua, this photo essay is a reflection of life lived in harmony with nature.”
Words by Karan Kumar Sachdev
Artist’s bio
Karan Kumar Sachdev is a photographer based in Mumbai, India. Driven by a desire to step outside his world and into someone else’s, he photographs people and their environment. His work has previously been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London, LeBook Connections in Paris and was a part of the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Humanity 2019.