Adieu! Dr. Ram Dayal Munda

The demise of Dr. Ram Dayal Munda is an irrevocable loss for the cultural movement and all the unsung heroes of ‘Ulgulaan’ who dreamt of forming a state that would be admired by one and all. Dr. Ram Dayal Munda was a persona with a multidimensional trait. He gave a worldwide recognition and admiration to the very modest Nagada, Mandar and flute that are vital for the tribals.

“Nachi se banchi” (dance to survive), he would say but, who would have imagined that Dr. Ram Dayal Munda would succumb to death so soon, but dancing he went. Despite of suffering from Prostate Cancer, he battled it till the end with even greater élan. Ever ready to shake a leg at the very “bang” of the nagada, Munda ji wanted to establish the profound cultural legacy of the tribals on the global dais. The loss of Dr. Munda is not only the loss of a human life but it is a big set back to the cultural, social, political and educational scenario of the state.

Dr. Ram Dayal Munda was born in a tribal village Diuri of Tamad near Ranchi in 1939. He attended his primary schooling at the nearby Luther Mission School at Amlesa. At the age of 17, Dr. Munda got an opportunity to act as a guide to different anthropologists visiting Ranchi. This experience led Dr. Munda to pick anthropology as his subject for higher education. He did his graduation and then a post graduation from Ranchi University. During his days as a student in Ranchi, he popularized a range of tribal dance forms and tribal music through radio. He also made the common man familiar to these by performing in front of live audience during festivals. It was during this time that Dr. Munda pioneered the Sarhul procession in Ranchi, a handful of people participated in the first Sarhul parade that ran from Sarnatoli to Siramtoli in the year 1963. Dr. Munda got an opportunity to get higher education at the University of Chicago. It was here that he got his big break in an ambitious research project on the Indic group (Santali, Mundari and others) of the Austro-Asiatic Languages and the Indo-Aryan languages (Sanskrit and Bengali) under the directorship of Dr. Norman Zide. Dr. Munda obtained Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and was subsequently appointed in the faculty of Department of South Asian Studies. After this, Dr. Munda got a chance to teach at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Munda obtained his fellowships from the American Institute of Indian Studies, the U.S Education Foundation in India and the Japan Foundation.

Dr. Munda has written many books on religion, language and literature. Along with these undertakings, Dr. Munda was always devoted towards the social, economic and cultural well being of the tribals. His initiative towards the welfare of the tribes got fuelled up when he was offered a position by the-then Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Kumar Suresh Singh, to start a Department of Tribal and Regional Languages. The formation of the department gave momentum to all social politico activists engaged in working towards the well being of the tribes. A number of students, passed out from the department, formed a student body All Jharkhand Student’s Union (AJSU) pushing for the formation of an intellectual base for the maintenance of the Jharkhand Movement already going at that time. This indirectly contributed to Dr. Munda’s appointment as Vice Chancellor of Ranchi University in 1986. From then onwards Dr. Munda became a medium of political dialogue between the state and the movement of the people. In 1988, when the then Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi came on a visit to Khunti, Dr. Munda along with some 150 artists welcomed Mr. Gandhi and kept forward his demand of a separate state.

Dr. Munda also got the chance to teach as a guest faculty at the universities of Tokyo, Syracuse and National University of Australia. Dr. Munda always valiantly and devotedly voiced the concerns of the tribals. One of the books penned down by him namely, Aadi-dharm echoes the deep studies about the conceptions and customs of the tribals. In the book, Dr. Munda has further added that it has been a tradition among the tribals to worship the nature that they follow even today.

His achievements remain unparalleled. What he has given to the state, from its formation to the present recognition on the global platform remains incomparable. Whether we talk about his stint as a politico, a cultural ambassador, a scholar or a regional music exponent, he has always amused and inspired people.

In April 2011, Dr. Munda was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. After receiving initial treatments at AIIMS, he went to Mayo clinic, America for further treatment. The man who always stood for the cause of others had to seek help from others for his treatment due to financial crunches. As a result the Government of India came forward to his aid. But destiny wanted him to take rest now and who knew it would be a final rest; within two months of his return to India, he bid farewell to this world on 30^th of September, 2011.

Today, he is no more with us and he went away with only one desire in his heart……he just wanted five more years from life, so that he would get time to accomplish all his dreams. The dream of establishing Jharkhand as the most enviable cultural heritage of India.

All we can say is “May his dream come true”.

By: Niharika Choudhary