Page 191 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

166 Badri Narayan

The hero of the story of Reshma and Chuharmal is also the caste
hero of the Dusadhs and other lower castes of the area. It is worth men-
tioning that folk heroes like Loric (Yadav), Sahales (Dom, Dusadh) and
Chuharmal (Dusadh) are also the heroes of the castes they belonged
to. Without examining whether at any point of time in history they
actually existed, we can understand the construction of their hero-
ism through a study of the nature of their heroism. Through it we can
also understand the consciousness of these lower castes and the
outlook of the hegemonic castes towards them. Then, once we have
understood the social meaning of this myth with its various details
in reference to the local communities in the vicinity of Mokama, we
can moreover understand the social composition of this area and get
significant details relating to social processes and their impact in the
present day. Thus, the symbolic construction of these folk heroes
becomes a record of social history. By composing the myth of Reshma
and Chuharmal, Dusadh castes have articulated their protest against
feudal hegemony and its oppressive discrimination. Through creating
parallel myths, rituals and religion, Dusadhs protest against the Great
Tradition and glorify themselves. This is evident in a study by Risley
(1981) on the Dusadhs of Nathpur. Similar incidents have occurred in
Basti and Gorakhpur also when Dom kings had annoyed Brahmans
by proposing marriages of their sons with their Brahman daughters
in the colonial period.

Multiple Texts

From a single text in the oral tradition many others can be framed. The
narrative identity of any community, culture and nation is articulated
in one unique fixed structure, though it is a story which may happen to
be transformed into many stories. The tale of Reshma and Chuharmal
has a single text, giving birth to many texts, every text containing a
peculiar social meaning. It is difficult to say which text is the earlier
one and which one is the latest, or which single text is transformed into
many. The point is to elucidate the unique narrative identity of these
multiple texts. All these texts are part of this single narrative identity.
Using various media, the orthodox dominating ruling power organizes
various festivals to celebrate the original event, so that no possibility