Lo Bir Sendra

Oxford Blue. ICS. Olympic hockey champion. Member of the Constituent Assembly.
A proud jungli.

Jaipal Singh was born in 1903 to a family of priestly Pahans in Jharkhand. He becomes the first Adivasi to study at Oxford University. A sports star, he quits the ICS to captain the Indian hockey team to an Olympic gold in 1928, another first. His globetrotting life brings him a string of cushy jobs. But he is troubled by the condition of the Adivasis. He begins fighting for their rights. He runs newspapers, unions and political parties. To resist the plunder of his homeland, he joins the Adivasi Mahasabha and launches the struggle for Jharkhandi statehood. Jaipal Singh represents Adivasis in the Constituent Assembly, and remains a member of parliament till his death in 1970.

Written on a sea voyage to England in 1969, Lo Bir Sendra was lost to time. In resurrecting this story, we can once more celebrate the man fondly called Marang Gomke, the Big Chief.

 

Born in Takra village, Jharkhand, Jaipal Singh (1903–1970) was taken by missionaries to England at a young age. He graduated from Oxford University, with a glittering career in varsity sports. He captained the Indian hockey team to an Olympic gold in the 1928 Amsterdam games. He joined the Indian Civil Service, then the Burmah-Shell Company. He taught princes in Achimota, Ghana, and in Raipur. He served as minister in the princely state of Bikaner. Then he joined the Adivasi movement and became president of the Adivasi Mahasabha. He represented the Adivasis in the Constituent Assembly and served as a parliamentarian till his death. Jaipal Singh spearheaded the movement for Jharkhandi statehood but did not live to see this dream fulfilled.

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In the media

‘A match in Parliament: A new generation of readers will learn of Jaipal Singh’s life and times’—An excerpt published in The Hindu

‘Lo Bir Sendra is a significant feat of biblio-forensics … an important adjunct to historical memory’—Newslaundry

‘Jaipal Singh’s memoir reveals the legacy of an outspoken Adivasi leader. The intellectual sleuthing behind the making of this book is itself a feat of patient editing in the otherwise rushed landscape of trade publishing in India’—Mint

‘Shows that his personality was even more eclectic and contributions even more wider-ranging than previously known’—Forward Press

Here is a spread of the beautiful cover painted by artist Venkat Raman Singh Shyam: