It’s 11 pm and the LED bulbs cast a dull, white light in the schoolyard in Ilmidi village, Bijapur district. Around 200 villagers—the men, mostly drunk, the women sleepy but excited—stream in and sit down on the bare earth. Young boys perch on the wall and serve as ushers, flashing their battery-operated torch lights to guide people in. The crowd chat amo­ngst themselves, oblivious to the compere speaking about citizen journalism in Gondi—the language of the Gond tribe that’s spread across most of central India. They do murmur assent though when the talk turns to Gondi pride.

The restless chatter finally stops when 17-year-old Umeshwari’s voice suddenly crackles across the megaphone in a high pitch, “Ri RiLaa, Ri RiLa, Riiiiiiii.” Four other female voices join in, belting out lyrics in Gondi. It’s a charged performance, an hour long, but the energy never flags. The five tribal girls do everything—sing, chant, dance, act out a short, one-act play, even disappear behind the backdrop screen in between to turn...