Here, kids behead lions and Durga Puja is a period of mourning

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Here, kids behead lions and Durga Puja is a period of mourning

Pinak Priya Bhattacharya & Monotosh Chakraborty, TNN 7 September 2009, 03:10am

IST

 

ALIPURDUAR/KOLKATA: Seven-year-old Anand hates lions. " It's a nasty animal, " he

says, playing with a bunch of plastic animals a camel, a horse, a

cow... and a headless lion. " I wrenched its head the moment I laid my hands on

it, " says the child, eyes blazing in anger. " I am an Asur (Demon). I can't stand

lions. This animal killed the buffalo during the war between Mahishasur and

Durga. This is why we hate it and don't want to see its face. "

 

Welcome to Asur Line', a century-old labourline in Majherdabri tea estate in

Alipurduar, some 120 km from Jalpaiguri, where self-confessed descendants of

demons have made a little world of their own.

 

Anand Asur's anger is the same that generations of the Asur tribe have felt.

This community some 8,000-strong believes it is the bloodline of Mahishasur, the

Asura king who conquered heaven and earth and drove the Devas out of Swargalok

until vanquished by Goddess Durga. The rest of the world may celebrate this myth

as the triumph of good over evil, but for the Asurs it is the darkest period in

their collective consciousness.

 

While the rest of the country is preparing to celebrate, Anand Asur, his family

and about 8,000 others like them in scattered communities in North Bengal and

the Chota Nagpur region are preparing for mourning.

 

All these people bear the surname Asur and do not worship any god. They firmly

believe that all gods and goddesses " illegally joined hands " to kill Mahishasur.

 

Anand Asur believes this story that his grandfather told him as much as a child

in Kolkata believes in the mythology of the demon-slaying goddess. Good and evil

simply switch sides in the twin worlds.

 

So it is that the 26 families 150-odd Asurs of Alipurduar's Asur Line are

preparing for " that terrible time of the year " . With anger and anguish that has

not diluted in generations, these people will lock themselves in from dawn to

dusk for the five days of Durga Puja. The elders stay away from every sliver of

daylight. Windows are barred and pasted over to keep away the sun. Everything

that needs to be done in the day is done after sunset.

 

" Mahishasur was the most powerful man in the two universes (Swarga and Prithvi).

The Devas knew that if he lived for long, human beings would stop worshipping

them. So they joined hands and killed him through deceit. If this is how the

gods are, why worship them? " said Daharu Asur. So passionate are the Asurs about

this that Daharu started talking rapidly in his native language, not realizing

that no one else could understand a word of it. After prolonged persuasion he

agreed to speak in broken Hindi.

 

" We hate the gods and goddesses. Our forefathers stopped worshipping them and we

strictly follow the path they showed us. We have learnt from our forefathers

that gods can do no good to anybody. They only aim to get worshipped, at any

cost, " he said. The Asurs worship only their ancestors or nature, offering them

haria (rice beer) and chicken on a sacred day.

 

No one in Asur Line has gone to school or got any kind of formal education. For

the children in the locality, the only truth and the only knowledge is what

their forefathers have passed down. Their homes are extremely clean and

hygienic, the walls and floors polished smooth with cowdung. But unlike other

rural areas in the country, Asur homes don't have the traditional rice-paste

motifs. Their food habits are, well, different.

 

" They eat all kinds of flesh, including that of snakes, dogs, cats, crows and

vultures. We have even seen them consuming beef from semi-decomposed carcasses.

But they are very competent when it comes to work, and very peace-loving. We

have never seen them involved in any kind of trouble, " said Chinmay Ghosh,

assistant manager of Majherdabri tea estate.

 

There are a few more Asur communities in North Bengal tea gardens Carron,

Gurjangjhora and Nimtijhora in the Dooars in Jalpaiguri district, and a few in

Naxalbari area of Darjeeling district. In all, there are about 600 Asurs in

North Bengal all brought from Chota Nagpur by British planters.

 

" Their main habitat is Chaibasa in Jharkhand and adjacent places in Orissa.

Their look, physique and way of living indicate they must have some relation

with the Asurs. It might seem that Mahishasur is a mythological character, but

let's not forget that mythology doesn't come from nothing. The basics of any

story are based on truth, " said Samar Biswas, an anthropologist from North

Bengal University.

 

Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

http://www.animalcrusaders.org