Page 189 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

164 Badri Narayan

Nageshar dance troupe is the most famous one in Bhojpur. Nageshar
says: ‘Now we do not play the drama “Reshma and Chuharmal” [any
more]. Feudal lords fire bullets during the performance.’ Still, the
memory of ‘Reshma and Chuharmal’ has been gaining popularity
through these dance troupes. The whole north-eastern part of Bihar is
influenced by this social memory. It is perceived by different classes in
different ways. The lower-caste and -class population glorify this social
memory and assume it as a part of their tradition. According to them,
this is a real event that occurred in their past. The other class consist-
ing of feudal lords and ‘forward’ castes feel insulted by this social
memory and want to get rid of it. They do not want to return to this
area. They want to escape the spell of that memory.

Orality, Festivity and Recurrence

The geographical background of this social memory is the Tal area
(this is the name for vast stretch of uninhabited cultivated land) of
Mokama and Badha Badhaiyya situated at the boundary of Patna,
Begusarai and Nalanda districts of Bihar. As per the narration of the
drama, Reshma and Chuharmal hailed from this area. This drama is
banned, though no public declaration has been made to this effect in
the area. It is the zone most intensely controlled by the Bhumihar,
the landlord caste of Bihar. The reasons given for the undeclared ban
are the following. First, the play degrades upper castes and espe-
cially the Bhumihar caste of feudal landlords. Second, according to
Mahadev Prasad Singh, there is a vardan (Goddess’ blessing) that
whenever a man sings the song of Reshma and Chuharmal, the women
of the area will leave home and follow him. Mahadev Prasad Singh
(a folk artist, who did extensive fieldwork to trace the genealogy of
Chuharmal and Reshma) believes that descendants of Reshma–
Chuharmal are still alive today. Reshma belonged to a rich family of
Bhumihar Kshatriya of Mokama village and Chuharmal to a Dusadh
family in a village named Anjani. Table 5.1 locates the empirical sources
of the characters of the narrative.
A significant detail relating to the caste title of the folk characters
is noteworthy. Those who were called Bhumihar Kshatriya now
call themselves Bhumihar Brahman, and those who were called
Dudhvanshi, now call themselves Dusadh. This was told to me by a