I was born in Mahupada in Narmada district in Vasava clan of Bhils. It was one of 21 villages on the Maharashtra border (then part of Bombay state) that were mapped into Gujarat when it was being formed as a separate linguistic state after the Mahagujarat Movement (1956-1960). So my parents knew and spoke Marathi. The belt between the Tapi and Narmada rivers is home to Bhil communities who speak Dehwali Bhili. “On the other side of Tapi till Jalgaon in Maharashtra people speak some form of Dehwali. And they speak it on this Gujarat side until Molgi and Dhadgaon villages in Satpura Hills. It is a big area across the two states.
I write in Dehwali Bhili and people who do not know much about us identify our languages by our communities. So, sometimes they say I write in Vasavi – my family belongs to the Vasava clan. The language in which I write is one of the languages that Adivasis in Gujarat speak. Bhils in Gujarat’s Dangs speak Warli. The original Bhils from the area speak Bhili, those who have come from Konkan speak Kokni. In Valsad they speak Warli and Dhodia. In Vyara and Surat, Gamit; Chaudhari, towards Uchchhal; in Nizar they speak Mavchi; between Nizar and Sagbara, the Bhils speak Dehwali. Then there is Ambudi, Kathali Vasavi, Tadvi, Rathwi, Panchmahali Bhili, Dungari Garasia, Dungari Bhili…
Imagine the treasures hidden in each language, like a forest in a seed. They carry literature, knowledge, worldviews. I struggle to cultivate, curate and celebrate this treasure through my work.


