Jenu Kuruba Tribes – Report- Jan 7, 2012
03.02.2010
We reached Mysore by 7.15 am on the 3rd of February 2010, a bit earlier than we expected. We were received by Prof.Kikkeri Narayan and Rajiv. At By 11.00 am we reached MYRADA Guest house in Hand Post, H.D. Kote in Prof.Narayan‘s car after having warm idlies and a hot cup of coffee at Chamundipuram . We freshened up at the guest house and met Mr.Ksheerasagar who guided us to the digital archive office which was located 3km away.
The office was constructed of three buildings, two guest rooms and the archive. We had a meeting with all the people, who gathered to receive us. Mr.Somana, who is one of the leaders of the Jenu Kuruba tribe, Shailendra, field staff, Basava Raj,
We introduced ourselves and explained the aim of our visit. Plans for the following days were also made. Mr. Ksheerasagar made us aware about the various tribal movements which have been working with the tribes in and around the nearby Haadis and also gave a brief demonstration about the different types of toys used by the village children. Prof.Narayan enlightened us with his knowledge on Shamanism. That evening we returned to our guest house pretty early.
04.02.2010
The next day we had early breakfast and rushed to the archive with Mr. Ksheerasagar. Shailendra was waiting in the office with a Jenu Kuruba medicinal expert; Mr.Dassaiah, an elderly man. As the agenda was set on the previous day, we got ready to identify the medicinal plants around the archive. We started with little shrubs, creepers and saplings. Dassaiah introduced the plants in Kannada and explained its medicinal importance and Ksheerasager translated it to us in English.
We saw huge trees in the archive like Sandalwood, Tamarind, silk cotton and black plum trees. These trees were planted during the 80s by Ksheerasagar. The 2.5 acre land was not organized in such a way that makes it look like an herbal garden. When we questioned about it, we got two main reasons. One was that the land was not properly fenced which lead to cattle grazing and the other was that we had come during the dry season (an unsuitable time to document the medicinal shrubs). At around 12.30 an interesting person joined us to share his knowledge on medicinal plants. It was Mr. Chikayia, another Jenu Kuruba medicinal expert. Mr.Chikayia was able to speak Tamil and Malayalam apart from Kannada. It reduced our work load. That day we were able to identify 35 different types of shrubs, saplings and also trees.
Later that evening, we came back to the archive and viewed some of the extraordinary videos of Jenu Kuruba children and their jungle pal, the giant squirrel. We asked for books regarding herbs from Ksheerasagar. He delivered the book through Shailendra that night.
05.02.2010
We were eagerly waiting for Ksheersagar to take us to the Balle Haadi nearby. We finished our breakfast soon and left to the archive. We had to wait for sometime in the archive as there was a meeting in the FEDINA office which Dassaiah and Chikkaiah was attending. At the mean time, we also transferred our pictures which we took on the previous day to the computer. Then we joined Shailendra, Chikkaiah and Somanna and headed to the Balle haadi, a settlement inside the Rajiv Gandhi National Park.
Our journey towards the haadi was really exciting. We had to pass maze fields, a lotus pond, many villages and few tribal settlements to reach our destination. Somanna who was seated in the front seat of the jeep waved at many people and gave them a pleasant warm smile. Somanna was so influential and popular not only among his own community but also with the forest authority. He convinced the forest authority to permit us into the forest to explore the thicket near the Balle Haadi.
Balle haadi contained approximately 200 families. There were no concrete or brick houses. All the houses were built with Palmyra leaves and bamboo sticks. There were few houses with bathrooms. The women were receptive and they greeted us with a warm smile.
Somanna introduced us to another medicinal expert in Balle haadi. His name was Kenchaiah. He was the president of that haadi. He took us deep into the forest to show us the herbs. Many people joined us to explore their natural herbal garden. We saw tall elegant trees, shrubs, bushes and creepers. The soil was black in colour, which symbolized its fertile nature. Now we had many people to help. Kenchaiah was not multi lingual like Chikkaiah. So whatever Kenchaiah said in Kannada was translated to Tamil by Chikkaiah. That day we found more plants than the previous day. Mathi maram, Kanja, Kakke maram, noor thaiy beru are some plants we were able to find that day.
When we asked whether these medicinal experts go to allopathic doctors, the answer was a big ‘NO’. They prepare their medicines by themselves if they are ill.
Here we have to mention about the interesting Maththi Maram, a gigantic tree, with a huge trunk. The trunk had a bulge in its upper part of the truck. Chikkaiah commanded two tribal boys to climb the tree and cut the bark where the bulge was situated. The boy climbed on top of the tree with a knife and a plastic bottle. The boy started to cut the bark. And to our surprise a liquid oozed from the bulge. It was like flowing in a parabolic pattern. The boy collected the transparent liquid in the plastic bottle and offered it to us. In the beginning we hesitated but later we thought of drinking it. It tasted exactly like water.
We were told that the Jenu Kurubas used to cut the bulge of Maththi maram and drink its water when they go hunting in the forests. It quenches their thirst.
We got to know curing methods for snake bites, skin diseases, yellow fever, diarrhea and also certain illnesses for women during their menstruation period.
It was indeed pitiable to know that these experts in medicinal plants are not practicing it nowadays because of certain financial difficulties and have now switched their occupation to field labourers and masons.
After collecting the common names of around 45 plants we decided to visit the temple in the settlement. A female deity was placed inside with worshipping tools like the holy bell, aarathi and joss sticks. Nearby the temple we saw a Tusker. Its tail was cut. A prominent feature, which can be noticed. It was a wild elephant but tamed by the Jenu Kurubas of the Balle haadi.
That day we had late lunch at a small shop nearby the Haadi. On our way back we stopped to capture the beautiful landscape of the Kabini back waters and returned back to the guest house.
06.02.2010
The next day we left in our hired jeep to the Kabini dam, where Mr.Ksheerasagar was supposed to be picked up. We went to his residence and saw his collection of various types of butterflies and feathers of different types of birds. He took us to the Kabini dam where we captured many photographs of migrant birds from Tibet.
Then we headed to another haadi named Mettikuppe. We had to enter through another entrance of the Rajiv Gandhi National park. Somanna and Chikkaiah accompanied us to Mettikuppe Haadi. On this day we did not go inside any haadi and meet people but we went directly to the thicket to explore more plants.
After taking down the names of the plants and its uses, Somanna washed a hand kerchief using a fruit which he plucked from a semi grown tree in the nearby stream. After washing it he told us to smell the hand kerchief. It had a wonderful aroma, way better than the aroma we get from detergents we use these days.
Somanna also made us taste a leaf. It was extremely bitter that we spat it out as soon as we started to chew. He told us that it cures diabetes. Unfortunately no one knew its Kannada or Kuruba name. So he named it “Sugar plant”.
We returned from the haadi to the archive at around 4.00 pm with the sapling of the “Sugar plant” and planted it outside the archive. Then we started to upload all the pictures we took that day in the computer and burnt it to a CD.
07.02.2010
That day we decided to monitor the archive. We decided to clarify the doubts we had regarding the functioning of the archive.
Observations:
· When we asked about the maintenance of the register, we got to know that they do maintain a register but we did not see anyone signing the register nor we saw the register.
· Prof Kikkeri Narayan engages himself in the archive only for four days in a month.
· The field staff have gone to the haadis and trained the people in handling cameras. None of the training activities are done in the office.
· The total of Video documentation in two years comes only up to 86 hours.
· And most of the documentation were done when Rayson and Rajashekar at the archive in 2008.
· There are no racks in the archive to place and store the documented material.
· There is no Back up
· The documentaries were screened only in haadis and not in schools.
· The internet was not working
· The computer corrupted by virus. We tried to install a trial version but it was not possible.
· The I pod was also not functioning because it was corrupted by virus
With the help of MR.Ksheerasagar , we found the botanical names of the medicinal plants.
08.02.2010
We went to a school in Basavanagiri resettlement for a theatre workshop and an interactive painting session. Mr.Sunder taught the children some interesting games. Meanwhile the teacher of the school showed us few fascinating toys which Jenu kuruba children use to play in the forests. All the toys were eco friendly. They had simple, inexpensive toys which produced a similar sound like the crackers used in Diwali. They told us it is an alternative way to enjoy the festival eve without crackers. The usage of these toys was demonstrated to us by a teacher who belongs to the Jenu Kuruba tribe.
Then we had an interactive painting workshop where we instructed the children to draw whatever they like and took their palm prints in a piece of cloth. Later we handed over the cloth to Mr.Ksheerasagar to use it as a curtain till they get a permanent screen for the racks in the archive. We also witnessed a cultural performance by the students of the school. Here we observed the cultural transformation and the influence of the media in their dance and other art forms. Later we got a chance to see a typical Jenu kuruba dance performed by few boys and girls.
Then we left the school after having lunch and reached the archive. Later that evening we settled the bills at MYRADA and left to Mysore to catch the train to Chennai.