Budhini Manjhiyain: Nehru's Garland and the Exile of an Indian Tribal Woman
Budhini Manjhiyain‘s story is a poignant chapter in the history of modern India, shrouded in obscurity and marked by a series of unfortunate events.
A tribal woman from Jharkhand, she was thrust into the limelight 63 years ago when she garlanded India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, an act that would change the course of her life forever.
Growing up in the coal-rich town of Dhanbad, Manjhiyain was among the thousands employed in the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) project.
This ambitious venture, hailed by Nehru as “the noble mansion of free India,” aimed to lay the foundation for a modernized nation but came at the cost of displacing local tribespeople from their ancestral lands.
In 1959, Manjhiyain's life took an unexpected turn when she was chosen to welcome Nehru during the inauguration of the Panchet dam. Little did she know that a playful exchange of garlands with the prime minister would lead to her ostracism from her tribe, the Santhals.
According to Santhal customs, the act of exchanging garlands is akin to marriage. The village headman decreed that Manjhiyain had become Nehru's bride and, in violating the community's code, she had to forfeit everything and leave her village.
With no support and facing death threats from her own people, the 15-year-old had no choice but to comply. The dam's inauguration was celebrated as a milestone, with Manjhiyain earning the title of “Nehru's tribal wife.”
Her subsequent years were marked by hardship, poverty, and the loss of her job at the DVC in 1962. Ironically, Nehru remained unaware of her suffering, and it took two decades for her to reclaim her job, thanks to the efforts of journalists who approached Rajiv Gandhi.
In 1985, she finally resumed work at the DVC until her retirement. However, the lingering question remains: what was her fault to begin with?
Sarah Joseph, inspired by Manjhiyain's life, underscores the need to recognize the struggles of countless Indian women, crushed under patriarchal traditions and social pressures, in the name of progress.
Manjhiyain's life is a symbol of the victims of development, representing those displaced and forgotten in the relentless pursuit of modernization and nation-building.
While a memorial next to Nehru's statue is sought by many in Jharkhand, it cannot change the past. Still, it serves as a crucial step in recovering and acknowledging the historical and political significance of her story.
In commemorating Budhini Manjhiyain, we shed light on a hidden narrative—one that reflects the resilience of individuals amidst the shadows of progress and the pressing need to confront the societal injustices that persist to this day.
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