In Jharkhand, an Adivasi poet’s fight to document tribal values: ‘Owe this to future generations’

• Parvati Tirkey, an Adivasi poet from Jharkhand, wins the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2025 (Hindi).

• Recognised for her poetry collection Phir Ugna ("To Spring Again"), rooted in Kurukh culture and oral traditions.

• Inspired by grandfather’s storytelling during the Sarhul festival.

• Learned about Kurukh myths, totems, and ancestral knowledge through oral libraries, not textbooks.

• Her surname Tirkey means a wild forest bird; totems like Lakra (tiger) symbolize guardianship and kinship in Adivasi culture.

• Poems like ‘Lakra Kavita’ explore emotional bonds with totem animals.

• Uses poetry to revive and preserve indigenous systems like the Parha system (Adivasi self-governance).

• Advocates for oral traditions to be part of mainstream Hindi literature.

• Writing is her response to cultural displacement.

• Hopes to bridge indigenous and non-indigenous worlds through Hindi.

• "Phir Ugna" symbolizes revival of Adivasi culture, language, and identity.