In every culture or language group, there are carpenters and they were traditionally considered as the lower strata of the society or caste system, whether they made ships, stools, or soup spoons. Today all who do carpentry are not carpenters.
Carpenters are an important people group as well as their profession. Consider them and their life struggles. Some carpenters also have moved into other jobs as carpentry is no more a caste’s job and the demand is lesser in the modern way of life.
Here in this post, a carpenter family from Madhya Pradesh, the central part of India is being introduced. His tools, techniques, and product are different; the visuals I captured may interest you.
The Carpenter’s work can make your life different!
Vamsi and his family are happier that they got a new backload tricycle to peddle for a newer life and to make a living. They belong to one of the poorest of the marginal tribal people, the Yenadi.
Yenadis were food gatherers and nomadic, now live in small pieces of lands as colonies assigned to them. Some live in houses built with government grants, while many in small huts with palm leaves. They make a living by firewood collection or by menial jobs available rarely in the backyard of the towns. The area they live is draught affected due to failing monsoon in a row of 5 years. Hence agricultural activity is almost nil and labour opportunities scanty.
Your standing in the gap can make their life different!
Why: Poor, vulnerable, illiterate, living away from the mainstream, on the edge. Children are malnourished. Drinking water is scarce. Livelihood for them is difficult.
What: That they will have rains, labor, livelihood, and access to education and the Goodnews. That their children will be educated, and they will come up in life and have it abundantly!
These are the people who make our lives tastier; but not so their own. The salt makers of Praksam, Andhra Pradesh have a different story to tell.
The Binganappally, Ullapalem, and Pakkala coastal lines have many salt farming families. Saltwater is pumped from bore-wells dug among the fields, powered by electric motors or diesel engines. After all the toil in the scorching heat of the summer, the revenue they fetch is too little; most of the time Rs.35 to 40 for a bag of 70 kilograms!!
You standing in the gap can make their life different!
Why: Much hard labour and high cost of production; every year the field has to be prepared by stamping by legs. Seasonal work in summer only. Summer rain will spoil the process and the salt; not recognized as a crop and so no privileges like other farmers. De-hydration and health hazards to workers. A vicious cycle of poverty.
What: That they will have subsidies and a stable minimum price for salt. They will be influenced by the good news and their life will become sweeter.
When: Whenever you pinch salt, remember the Salt Makers and make it a word of intercession.
I wrote first time about
the Irula (Irular) in 2003 in Malayalam as a feature story in India Focus, the
magazine I was editing. Later, along with many other such stories, I had
published it on my website www.FocusonPeople.org in 2006 and in A Peep into the Tribalscape
in 2008. Later, I had an invitation to do a short film on the tribe living in
Chennai. (See the link to the videos on YouTube at the footer)
People named 'Irula' are
found in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. Each of the groups seemed to be
different in its structure and appearance. More of them are in Tamil Nadu
(about 190,000), next in Kerala (about 24,000) and the rest in Karnataka (about
11,000). I have personally visited several Iruala settlements in Tamil Nadu and
Kerala.
Irular in Kerala
Irulars are seen in the Attapady area of Mannarkadu Thaluk in Palakkad District and also seen in
Nelliyampathy, Pothuppara, Mayamudi, Palakkapandi, and Koonapalam of Chittur Thaluk
and Valayar hills. They are engaged in agriculture and cultivate paddy, ragi,
dhal, plantains, turmeric, etc. Forest produce collection is also a source of
income. They are also seen in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states. The Irular
community in Kerala is different in features and occupation from the Irula
people seen near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
There is a genesis story
of the Irula spoken among the Irular in Attappady around a man named Pattan. I
had documented this story on my website in 2006 and in my first book, A Peep
into the Tribalscape in 2008. Based on this story, Chitra Soundar had published
a children's picture book: Pattan’s Pumpkin in 2016 in the UK by Otter-Barry
Books. (Some in India, including a writer in Kerala, have copied verbatim from
my documentation of the story without any acknowledgement, and it is published on a government website!)
Read about the storyof
Pattan and Irualar from my new book: Trekking the Tribal Trail
The legend continues
that God instructed Pattan to live thereby cultivating the land. The Irular
tribe believes that they descended from Pattan. If iniquity increases with the
rise in the population, a goat or hen has to be sacrificed. One sacrifice is
sufficient to ward off sin for a year. The Lord has kept heaven and hell for
people according to the “wrongdoings and the sacrifice” offered. The word
Irular comes from the word Irul which means darkness. Irular means those who
are in darkness.
I reached a village 10
km away from Gulikadavu, which is situated close to the Anakatty-Mannarkad
road. It was just a day after the village celebration and a sacrifice. The
youth were blaring on trumpets, celebrating the penultimate day of the festival…….
Read the full story on Irular’s occupation, Lifestyle, Child
Birth, Marriage, Death, and much more in Trekking the Tribal Trail.
In Tamil Nadu, Irula settlements
are found in Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Tiruvallur,
districts and a handful of them in Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts. Close to
Chennai, several settlements are seen in and around Padappai and
Mamallapuram.
Philipose Vaidyar: Development Journalist, Writer, and Alternative Media Producer. With over 33 years of experience in Intercessional Communications and Development work, Philipose Vaidyar is dedicated to mobilization, development, and transformation. His expertise covers a range of areas including human interest stories, impact documentation, project profiles, video profiles, and digital media publications for mobilization and promotion. He also had been teaching communications and managing Area Development Programs on invitations.
Connect with Philipose Vaidyar:
Personal Profile: https://sites.google.com/view/philipose-create
Native People Profiles: https://sites.google.com/view/focusonpeople
