60 A Field Worker’s Diary
In 2009, we conducted a study in 6 tribal villages in erstwhile United Andhra Pradesh for a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working for tribes. Sivapuramgudem in Kurnool District was one of those 6 villages. It was situated in the Nallamala forest area; around 100 kilometres from the district headquarters. It was a small habitation with around 70 households. Except for about 3-4 households, collection of non-timber forest produce (NTFP) was the main occupation for the rest of the families. To do a study on the NTFP collected here, we went to the hamlet as a 4 member team.
Many types of NTFP are found in that village, including gum, karakkaya, sarapappu, maredu gaddalu (better known as sharbat gaddalu), vippa flowers, thandrakayalu, shatavari, honey, etc. The villagers either sell the collected products in the weekly shandy or to the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC). Before going to the village, we booked an auto from the mandal headquarters of Kothapalli. Since our work in that village was not a one-day affair, we had to make arrangements for our stay there. So we asked one of the villagers if we could stay in their house. They agreed happily. It was a tiny thatched hut with two rooms. After we had deposited all of our luggage in the hut, it became filled to capacity. We sat in the shade outside the hut to prepare our plan on how to complete our study. As it was a small village, before they realised that some new people had come to their village we took a stroll around all the roads. All throughout our two-day stay in the village, our meals consisted of jonna rottelu (jowar roti) and tomato chutney. Our temporary landlady prepared such a delicious tomato chutney for us on the first day that we asked her to make it again on the second day.
In the afternoon of the first day, we called as many people as possible to one place and started our work. Since I had no contact with tribal areas before that, their occupations, culture, habits, customs seemed to pull me towards another world. The 70 households together possessed 140 acres of agricultural land (assigned land). But only three households practiced agriculture. The remaining had given their land to non-tribal on lease and were continuing to practice their old occupations. I seem to remember them saying that they received 2000 rupees per acre for leasing.
Coming to NTFP, they have quite a nice custom. They have established some rules for themselves. Kovel trees, which secrete gum, have been allotted equally among the gum collection households. Men who collect honey go into the forest as a team. This is one collection that is full of risk. While attacks by honey bees is a danger, collecting honey from the honeycombs hanging on the edge of hills is even more perilous. Therefore they all go as a team and distribute the honey they collect equally among themselves. They collect tamarind from the tamarind trees in the village once a year and divide it equally among all the families. The villagers have equal rights on the remaining products.
For collecting gum, both husband and wife from a household go to the forest. If it is honey, only men go. Women go for the collection of seeds and fruits that have fallen off on the ground. In such a way, they divide the collection work between men and women based on the risk and efforts required.
We spent that whole day learning about the methods of collecting each product, the amount of time it takes to collect, efforts, the returns on product, etc. In the evening, we reached the house we were staying in and asked the owner, “Anna (brother), can we get some tea?”
To our shock, he cycled 4 kilometers to the village of Sivapuram (the place we were staying in was a hamlet of this village) and brought milk. We had it within one hour of asking but we felt so bad that we had to put him through so much trouble for it. When we asked him why didn’t he say that we can’t get tea here, he replied that it was no big deal since he and his villagers go at least 4 times a day to Sivapuram to get whatever they needed.
My team had two ladies including myself. They had set-up two rope charpoi cots for us outdoors. The owners of the house and other male colleagues slept inside the hut. The village was filled with dogs. Every house had at least one or two dogs. Upon asking about this, the people there replied that they rear dogs for protection from wild animals while they go to forest. As they kept moving around the beds as a back during the night, we couldn’t sleep much. Instead, I and my colleague spent time talking through the night.
Early the next morning, they took us to the forest. If we walk 3 kilometres from the Chenchu hamlet into the forest, we can find Kolanu Bharathi temple. This is the one and only Saraswati temple in the whole of Andhra Pradesh. Because it was a temple of my namesake goddess, I was very keen to visit it. It was an old temple beside a decrepit pond. It was a far-flung temple that couldn’t get the benefit of development and pilgrims. We could observe that the path leading to the temple was also not good. Two locals came with the forest and showed us every tree and shrub. They explained about all the sorts of hazards they face in the forest regularly. We could spot many honeycombs that were discarded after taking the honey here and there. Actually, we can take wax from these combs. But collecting and bringing honey from those places is difficult in itself, let alone, making the effort to bring those combs back with them. So they leave them there. We munched on the fresh fruits that were found in the forest and reached the temple.
It is said that it is one among the oldest temples in the country. The Charugosi River flows near the temple. Due to being amidst the wild forest and the hills, it hasn’t become as popular as it deserves to be; however, the beauty of nature there is beyond words. In that deserted place without anything else but the pond, the temple, and some ruins of the temple, seeing the names of some lovers scribbling their names “Vishwam Lalita” and “Praveen Harika” on the ruins of the temple made us break into uncontrollable laughter. Even with locals in tow with us, we had been pretty scared to walk in the forest. It was quite that in some areas of the forest even in broad daylight. We were struck with wonder as to how those lovers managed to come alone so far into the forest. Maybe, love makes people walk even into darkness, no? I heard that this temple had been developed recently. The peace and quiet that we had experienced there back then might not be found now. But the fact that the Goddess of knowledge and studies being in the midst of a tribe who don’t have access to education seemed like quite a contradiction to me, or not!
Bharathi Kode