Irula, the scheduled tribe group, more popularly known for their ancient occupation of snake catching, live in the hilly regions of south India. Many students, scholars and demographers have researched the community for years and reported that they have resorted to occupations other than snake and rat catching — and moved towards white collar jobs. But a college group from Madras School of Social Work reveal more news now!
As part of their on-field project, when the post-graduate students from MSW were asked to visit a village for a few days, the group chose Javadi hills. “We had a reason to choose that particular place. That is where the Irula tribe reside — and there is a lack of infrastructural facilities that we could enlighten them about. They don’t like to come down to the plains from the mountains for newer jobs. But they are excellent farmers,” shares the camp leader Bryan Manasasri.
THE OBJECTIVE
Titled ‘Thunaivom’ — a hybrid of two Tamil words, thunai and inai, the camp by a group of 44 students decided to empathise and work on the basic infrastructure like schools, hospitals and sanitation. “We went around the villages of Jamunamarathur (Javadi hills) like Palankottai, Ettumarathur, Kalliparai and a couple more. We noticed the absence of basic facilities like electricity, proper hospitals, schools, toilets and more. We wanted to educate the community about it,” shares Manjula another student from the group.
Having stayed in the outskirts at a Don Bosco residential school’s rooms, the students travelled and collected data through the five days.
UNEARTHING THE REALITY
“One of the most distressing incidents was that child marriages are still a commonly practiced custom. What’s more interesting to note is that the young females (aged 14-15) and the prospective groom have a live-in relationship for about three to four months to decide if they can live together. If they like each other, they get married and if they don’t the girl is sent away,” reveals Bryan.
He adds, “In the meantime, if a girl gets pregnant and gets rejected later by the groom, the child is aborted. This leads to a lot of teenage pregnancies, late abortions and killings which leave the young women in a mentally-disturbed state or improper abortions sometimes lead to deaths.”
Manjula states, “Men offer to pay dowry to the women, which is quite opposite to the popular culture in Indian weddings.”
Stating that the villages are knowledgeable even about the latest Blue Whale controversy, they say that they care more about the latest Ajith movie Vivegam than their basic needs! The belief about black magic is also high among the communities, as recorded by the students.
Being the largest exporters of the crop samai (millets), from India, the farmer tribes also let women work on the fields. The basic concern is the sanitation for both men and women and electricity in many places.
“Through activities like student parliaments, dance, music, parai and koothu we found out many complaints that the school children had. We realised it was too late to change the current generation but the upcoming one can be better, ” states Bryan.
DOCUMENTING THE GOOD
What one can also learn about the village life is the hospitality. “We loved the way they gave us the food of their table and shelter of their homes. When we don’t even have time to say a ‘hi’ to our families, their routine is to talk to each other for hours at the end of each day. They even provide jobs in their farms to the unemployed neighbour. They know and care for each soul in their village” shares Manjula.
On a concluding note, Bryan remarks, “There’s good and bad in rural life but there’s lots more talent in the people than the cities. If educated well, they will shine better than any of us!”
