Kandukur

Kandukur! It’s a place. I lived there for two years and had to leave two years ago. A peaceful place for quiet living. The landscape is different and plain. Welcome to the land of Kandukur, a drought-affected area, 300 km away from Chennai.

For two and a half years, I traveled every weekend between Chennai and Kandukur, initially by train but more often by government buses. I visited about a hundred villages or settlements in those 18 panchayats and the municipal town of Kandukur. In this semi-urban area, most settlements are community-based. All kinds of caste and religious groups who speak Telugu have migrated to Kandukur as the town grew and made the town grow more. By the way, there is also a teashop keeper from Kerala, in the town.  

I did not make much effort to learn Telugu except to ask for directions and read limited bus boards for my destinations. I enjoyed every opportunity I got to visit a village, wading through herds of buffalos on the suburban roads with wide stretches of social forestry and tobacco fields. Tricycles peddled by load men and wood gatherers, tractors with heavy loads of wood, and leaf-scrap bags occupy the village roads.

The native nature dependant people are Yenadi and Yeruakulas. Observing their lives make you humble and thankful for every better opportunity you have to make a living.    

Many of the landless laborers have a life and a living during summer. They make a living on leaves.  

Lives on Leaves 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GliwmI4u9P0