Imagine that you are watching the Republic Day parade on TV with a friend and she remarks- "Look at those 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.

The three things I would tell a friend about the Adivasis in India would be:

• Lives of Adivasis are actually very rich but people seem to know very little about the realities of their lives.
• They are usually shown in stereotypical ways in colourful costumes, headgear and dancing.
• Often people wrongly believe that Adivasis are exotic, primitive, backward and immune to development. They have their own customs and education system very different from ours. They are more attached to the mother nature than us and always there to protect it.