Vibrant beats of 101 nagadas and bermuda grass in small pots marked the inauguration of the fifth edition of Samvaad, Tata Steel’s annual tribal conclave, here at Gopal Maidan on Thursday.

Tribal delegates from 23 Indian states and 17 countries including New Zealand, Kenya and Cameroon, have gathered for the five-day event.

This year, Samvaad’s theme happens to be ‘coming together for social change’.

Present at the inauguration of the event were Tata Steel member of the board of directors Peter Blauwhoff; the company vice-president (health and sustainability) Sanjiv Paul and representatives from tribes such as Santhal, Khasi, Mauri, Yemond, Vadda, Gond Boto Kui, Munda and Oraon.

Tata Steel executives also garlanded a statue of Jharkhand’s tribal icon and freedom fighter Birsa Munda, whose birth anniversary falls on November 15.

Ruchi Narendran, the better-half of Tata Steel MD T.V. Narendran, and Srimanti Sen, the wife of Tata Steel president (TQM and Steel Business) Anand Sen spontaneously tried out tribal steps with some other delegates.

The mood was upbeat from the start. As many as 101 nagadas played their magic for about 45 minutes to mark the inauguration. The nagada players hailed from Khunti and Ranchi districts of Jharkhand as well as from states with a significant tribal population such as Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

“Nagadas were played usually to keep evil spirits and animals at bay. It’s an intrinsic part of tribal culture. So, we ensured that Samvaad started with a bang on nagadas,” said Jiten Topno, head of CSR, Tata Steel.

The next few days, venues of Samvaad — Tribal Culture Centre in Sonari and Gopal Maidan in Bistupur — will witness a lot of ideas exchanged on tribal issues and cultural performances.

Academic exchanges — discussions on tribal culture and identity; land and forest rights for tribal communities; tribal perspectives on governance and development and conflict resolution — will take place at Tribal Culture Centre. Gopal Maidan will see tribal music and dance performances, handicraft stalls, medicinal practice workshops and culinary displays.

Tata Steel through its initiative Rhythms of the Earth is also trying to bring together tribal music with mainstream music.