Imagine that you are watching the Republic Day parade on TV with a friend, and she remarks, “Look at these tribal people. They look so exotic. And they seem to be dancing all the time.” List three things that you would tell her about the lives of Adivasis in India.

Answer: Adivasis have a deep knowledge of forests. They were hunters and gatherers and lived like nomads. They practised shifting agriculture and also cultivated in a single place. Their deep knowledge of forests made them indispensable to the rulers of various empires during the pre-colonial period in India. They have their own language and have influenced the formation of various Indian languages, Bengali being one of them.