3 - ‘The Importance of Being Garo’: Garo Narratives of Self

Summary

‘DID SHE NOTICE THE BAD THINGS?’

To an outsider, Bangladeshi Garos come across as a close-knit, harmonious, peaceful and hospitable community. In view of their efforts to uphold such an image, this is no great surprise. On several occasions, I noticed anxiety about me, an outsider, looking backstage. More than once, when Suborno and I returned from the village to Dhaka for a couple of days, Suborno was confronted with some of his friends worrying about what I, an outsider, had seen and come to know. “Did she notice the bad things?”, they would ask. And then they would instruct Suborno to only show me the positive sides of their community. Such behaviour is by no means exceptional for people or communities that are subject to discrimination, and who, like Suborno's anxious friends, tend to magnify differences between themselves and others, and to play down discord and hide problems within the group in order to maintain a positive image for the outside world.

This chapter centres on Garo narratives of Self and examines how these are influenced by, as well as inform, tribalist discourse. Soon after I began my research, I found that being Garo, whatever that entails, is an important component of the social identity of most Garos. Whether they are villagers or city dwellers, male or female, high class or low class, educated or illiterate, all share a strong ethnic awareness. Being Garo determines to a large extent their self-perception, how they organize their lives, and how they relate to others, within and across ethnic borders. This shared identity does not mean, however, that one and all experience and express their identity in the same way, nor that it has the same relevance for everyone. Close scrutiny of emic discourses at work amongst the Garos reveals a heterogeneous understanding of Self. This chapter analyses five different narratives of Self and ensuing self-expressions.

My study of the Bangladeshi Garos revealed that dominant notions of tribe have a strong bearing on emic discourses of Garo-ness and serve as a guideline or touchstone for Garo images and representations of Self.