‘How People Arrange Their Food in India’
In the deep forest and through the hills, there is an isolated village named Jadigaon, in Muniguda block of Rayagada district, Odisha, India.
This village has around 25 households inhabited by the Kondh tribe.
We were having a conversation with the villagers about what food they eat and how they procure it. Mering Majhi brought a tuber she had dug out from the forest. She roasted it. It was a bit bitter, but it was good with salt.
She said, ‘children don’t like it much, but elders eat it. Tubers are one of our diets’.
I requested her if she could take me to the forest to dig the tubers. I want to take a photo of them.
It was raining, on and off. Immediately, she carried her umbrella, and we set off to the forest.
On the way to the forest, one of the villagers made indigenous ‘Mahua’ (Machuca longifolia) liquor next to a water stream. He asked me if I wanted to try it!!
There was a fig tree and the mango trees. We had figs and mangoes.
After walking for almost a kilometer, we reached near to the forest.
She started to dig, but there was no tuber there. She said, ‘we will have to dig deep. She tried another place, and there was a small tuber. Further ahead, she dug another site, and there were a few tubers. They have a way to identify where they can find the tubers.
Mering and each member in her family get 5 kg of rice through the public distribution system, but it’s not enough. It gets over within 10-15 days; it depends on how carefully they eat. They exchange some part of their crop yield of ‘range and cowpea with rice from the traders.
Rice with its starched water and salt-rice are regular food along with ‘range porridge. Limited availability of rice is an issue for the villagers. Their main vegetable is jackfruits and the seeds and leaves they collect from the forest.
Summertime is challenging for the villagers to arrange their food.
As per my experience here, villagers/tribes like to stay in their remote villages. If they go out for work in states like Kerala or Tamilnadu, they work for two months, in many cases. They save around rs10000 for their annual expenditures. If they need more money, they work in the nearby area. Still, if they don’t earn enough, they borrow money from schedule caste community traders at double interest. Generally, they borrow around Rs 1000.
They live mentally and psychologically peaceful life. They live in small communities. No one governs their life. They live self-ruled or free energy. Though, they are not so confident with or are afraid of forest officials and other government officials.
However, their self-rule and peaceful communities won’t sustain for long. I feel that many development schemes, programs, mobile phones, and migration bring urban influence and needs.
Part of photo story ‘How People Arrange Their Food in India?’
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