The Totos - A tribe which is supposed to be smallest in number are also one of the primitive tribal group , going through the transitional phase of modernity into their life and culture . Their number is said to be not more than 1500 or so and are still rooted in Totopara , a small village close to Madarihat, at the edge of rivulet Huari along the Titi Forest in West Bengal. The heavy rains in Bhutan swells the river during the monsoon season , when Totopara gets disconnected from the world. The promised bridge to Jaigaon is still a dream though the govt has given them the facilities like a school, a primary health centre , a hospital and a bank. According to Anthropologists Toto culture and language is unique to the tribe. Medical research has also proved that Totos have a high carrier rate of Thalassemia due to community’s age-old tradition of endogamy because Totos are very conservative and marry within the tribe to preserve their ethnicity. This means marriages take place between cousins too.
During my visit I was lucky to be part of a marriage reception and was introduced to this musician from the tribe. A native skill slowly disappearing as the younger lot trying to bridge the gap between the tradition they grew up with and modernity that is being exposed to them through the mobile handsets and dish antennas that one sees everywhere in Totopara.
And here is the aspiration of the Third graduate from the village which reflects the transition the tribe is going through.
