These clocks run backwards in tribal standard practice

VADODARA: At retired school teacher Mathur Bhedi’s house in Godhra he proudly shows off a wall clock with picture of tribal hero Birsa Munda on its dial. But see the time and you would start rubbing your eyes as the hour and minute hands move anti-clockwise.
Looks amusing, but tribal homes in central and south Gujarat are fast picking up clocks where hands move in the anticlockwise direction.Lalsing Gamit, a 40-year-old tribal activist in Valod village of Tapi district, has started making these ‘adivasi ghadis’ which are fast gaining popularity among tribals. Around 10,000-15,000 clocks have been sold in the past two years.
There are many reasons for tribals to support this non-conventional movement. “Tribals worship the nature and its elements. In rituals like worshipping the Holi or weddings too, tribals take circles from right to left or anti-clockwise. They even till their lands in a similar fashion. The tribal clock represents this and it is, in fact, the right direction,” says 70-yearold Bhedi, who was gifted the clock by a friend two months ago.
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