Context: Odisha tribal boy from the Bonda tribe becomes the first from the community to clear NEET exam.
About Bonda tribe
- Also known as the Remo, is a tribal people who currently live in the hills of Odisha's Malkangiri district in India.
- They are one of the most isolated and primitive tribes in mainland India. They are one of the 75 Primitive Tribal Groups.
- There are two different Bonda tribes: the Upper Bondas and the Lower Bonda.
- The Upper Bondas have almost no connection to the outside world, preserving their traditional way of life.
- They speak Remo, an Austro-Asiatic dialect closely related to the Gutob language.
- Primarily the Bonda are agriculturists. They practise shifting cultivation (klunda chas) extensively. Their livelihood is supplemented by animal domestication and seasonal forest collections.
- Bonda men wear a narrow strip of loin cloth (gosi). Women wearing a mass of brass and bead necklaces and by large heavy circular collars (neck rings) of brass and aluminium.
- The unfree labour or Goti system in India is known as Gufam by the Bonda people. They are often led to bonded labour through marriage, known as diosing.
- They have a matriarchal society where women prefer to marry men who are at least 5-10 years younger, ensures that the men can continue to earn for them as they grow older.
- They are polytheists. They believe in the existence of a number of Gods and spirits. They worship mostly the deities of nature.
- The Bonda villages are traditionally autonomous. Social order is maintained by a set of traditional functionaries - Naik- the village chief, Challan -the organiser of village meetings and Barik - the village messenger.