Dayabai is a living legend who has dedicated her life for the service of the God Tribal in the Chindhwada district of Madhya Pradesh. Living in a remote village, Barul, among the people for whom she is serving she has shown a way of simplicity, utmost dedication and a life of ‘declassing herself’ for the service of others. When I am using the word ‘serving’ I am not sure whether she will accept it or not. She believes it is ‘living’ not serving. When we analyze her ‘living’ in the perspective of communication we can experience an alternative way of communicating the message of Gospel through her life style.
- Incarnation as communicating God’s love to the Cosmos.
Incarnation was the way that God could communicate God’s love to the World. Even though the word incarnation is not in the Bible, the concept is clear. As John 1:14 says “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. The Word which was God became ‘flesh’ by being a physical, living substance of which human beings are made. This God dwelt among us. I see the emphasis of ‘us’ as a sharing of joy that the mortal human being experience when God dwells among the people. Dayabai calls this as the First Christmas experience, God’s identification with the poor on that day. She calls it as an incarnational experience. Through imitating this model of life, she communicates the love that God has shown to the cosmos. The Gonds feel and experience God’s love in their Bahanji.
- Living as the way of communication
Today in the world we experience void in the communication of Gospel. The content of message produces no yield as it becomes a business of mere proclamation. Dayabai never longs for a platform controlled by event managers or advertise with business techniques to catch the audience. But wherever she goes the large crowd patiently listens for each word she utters. The youth receives it with tears and a dedication and prayer to God to make them also an instrument of God. This is the miracle that she does. Dayabai challenges them with a way of living, in other words, an alternative way of living. As Gandhi has said her life is her message where she expresses the Kenotic Christ, the Self-emptying Jesus. She voluntarily takes this life as her vocation. The luxurious life and the security that she got within the walls of a monastery could not limit her. Through constant prayer and crying before her eternal parent she realized that she is called for a life of insecurity and challenge. Dayabai has sacrificed many for the life now she enjoys. This self-emptying model she has learned from her master was the wealth she has achieved in her life. We can see this in the Christological hymn of Philippians 2. She believes that if God could do this why we can’t. She does not feel that she is doing something special but simply submitting herself for her vocation. Through the constant communication with the uperwala she attains strength for this way of life.
- Culture as a means of Communication
The culture of the Gond tribal is the soil in which she cultivates the values of her life. In this poor people she has seen the strong bond of relationships and human values. She likes and promotes their culture, life style and everything. At the same time she is anxious about the influence of the western culture on this poor people which threatens the identity of the people. She warns them against these influences and asks them to go back to their identity and life style. She takes the cultural festivals and celebrations as a platform to teach them the values of life. For example through the Rakhshabandhan, she teaches about the need of strong relationship between each other. By binding Rakhi on trees she teaches to protect the nature and by floating the diyas in the river she asks the river to protect them. By introducing an alternate way of education, she prepares the pupil to stand on their foot.
- Street Theatre for conscientization and fight for justice
In order to make the Gonds aware of their legal rights and fight for justice and social cause Dayabai deliberately uses street theatre. She is a good actor and also a good director. With the help of folksongs, poems, dramas and skits she performs in the streets, markets and melas. By showing illustration she teaches them how to be united. For example she takes one stick and breaks before the audience and says if we are along, they can be easily defeated. By binding ten such branches and showing its strength she says if they are united nothing can defeat them. By using these simple techniques she could make the people to stand for their rights. The growing agitations against injustice by the Gond women who does not have any voice in the society shows the influence of Dayabai on them
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