Anvita Abbi: Ten rare stories and 46 songs of the Great Andamanese

By Dilip -

On the Christmas afternoon of 2006, Nao visited me again, accompanied by his son and, to my surprise, volunteered to narrate a new story of Juro, the headhunter. I shelved my linguistic work and sat down with my notebook. He instructed me, to my amusement, to switch on the recorder. He wanted in return a gift of a mobile phone. I promised to present him one and I kept my promise.

The story of Juro was a bonanza for me, as I had never expected to hear anything after the story of Phertajido. This is one of the stories, where cannibalism was very evident. While narrating the story, he tried to establish the similarity between Juro and the Hindu goddess, Kali, for my understanding, when I asked how a woman could eat human flesh…

https://scroll.in/article/1000057/saving-a-language-this-book-brings-together-10-rare-stories-and-46-songs-of-the-great-andamanese

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